Scotland
Educational attainment at age 11
Key points
- The proportion of P5 (9-year-old) pupils in deprived schools failing to achieve level B in reading, writing and maths has fallen considerably since 1998/99, but is still much higher than P5 pupils on average.
- The proportion of P5 pupils in the fifth of schools with the highest proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals who fail to achieve level B in writing has fallen from 34% in 1998/99 to 18% in 2003/04 (compared to a fall from 21% to 11% for pupils on average), that for reading has fallen from 22% to 14% (14% to 8% of pupils on average), and that for maths has fallen from 18% to 13% (12% to 7% for pupils on average).
Graph 1: Over time
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Definitions and data sources
The graph shows the proportion of P5 pupils (typically aged 9) failing to achieve level A in writing, reading and maths (level A being the lowest level, with levels B, C etc being higher). The data is shown separately for pupils in the fifth of schools with the highest proportion of their pupils eligible for free school meals (a proxy for level of deprivation) and for all pupils. The data covers the years from 1998/99 onwards (data for earlier years is not available).
The data source is unpublished statistics from the Scottish Executive. Note that this data is no longer collected which is why the latest data shown is for 2003/04.
Overall adequacy of the indicator: medium. The data is considered reliable but using the proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals as a proxy for deprivation is clearly a rough guide only.