Targets for Standard Grade and Higher Grade attainment were set by June 1998 and targets for 5-14 attainment by December 1998. The rate of progress may be greater in future years. Where an education authority target appears particularly high in percentage terms, this may reflect either a correspondingly high starting level or a significant level of challenge being adopted by an authority. Policy and operational considerations in certain education authorities led to varying approaches to setting targets. Further information should be available from the education authorities concerned.
Some education authorities have small numbers of schools.
In such cases, the performance of one or two larger schools may dominate the pattern of performance across the authority. Data for Standard Grade and Higher Grade attainment are based on 3 year averages. This means that a notable increase in attainment in any single year may not be evident. Data for 5-14 attainment and for absence are based on single years. As noted in Section 1.2 of this report, a small number of schools indicated that they were not in a position to make judgements that any pupils had attained relevant 5-14 levels.