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⭐School education Prepared by Audit Scotland
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1 School education Prepared by Audit Scotland June 20142 The Accounts Commission The Accounts Commission is the public spending watchdog for local government. We hold councils in Scotland to account and help them improve. We operate impartially and independently of councils and of the Scottish Government, and we meet and report in public. We expect councils to achieve the highest standards of governance and financial stewardship, and value for money in how they use their resources and provide their services. Our work includes: securing and acting upon the external audit of Scotland s councils and various joint boards and committees assessing the performance of councils in relation to Best Value and community planning carrying out national performance audits to help councils improve their services requiring councils to publish information to help the public assess their performance. You can find out more about the work of the Accounts Commission on our website: Audit Scotland is a statutory body set up in April 2000 under the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act We help the Auditor General for Scotland and the Accounts Commission check that organisations spending public money use it properly, efficiently and effectively.3 School education 3 Contents Summary 4 Key messages 6 Part 1. School expenditure 8 Part 2. Pupil attainment and wider achievement 15 Part 3. Improving pupil performance 31 Endnotes 44 Appendix 1. The ten measures of school-level attainment used in the report 46 Appendix 2. Membership of the advisory group 47 Exhibit data When viewing this report online, you can access background data by clicking on the graph icon. The data file will open in a new window.4 4 Summary Background 1. Education is fundamental in shaping a child s life. Getting a good education improves the likelihood of earning a higher income, enjoying better health and living longer. An effective school education system is an important factor in supporting the Scottish Government s strategic objectives to be a Smarter Scotland and a Wealthier and Fairer Scotland. 1 Better educational outcomes are a strong predictor of economic growth, and success in a global economy means that Scotland needs to keep pace with the best countries in the world. 2. In 2013, there were 665,499 primary and secondary pupils in Scotland being taught by 47,770 teachers in 2,418 council-run schools. 2 Education is compulsory between the ages of five and 16 in Scotland. Children spend seven years in primary school (P1-P7) and at least four years in secondary school (S1-S4). Pupils can then leave school at 16 or stay on for one or two more years (S5 and S6). Pupils undertake a range of qualifications between S4 and S6. These are delivered not only in schools but also through colleges and third sector organisations. Pupil numbers have been declining since the mid-nineties, but started to increase in 2013 and are projected to continue increasing. 3. The main organisations involved in the Scottish education system are: The Scottish Government, develops national policy and sets the overall direction of education policy. Councils, responsible under the Standards in Scotland s Schools Act 2000 for providing school education for every child of school age. This includes developing local education policy, and planning and managing resources to improve the quality of school education. Education Scotland, works to improve the quality of education, for example by inspecting schools and by developing the curriculum. The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), accredits and awards qualifications at both secondary and college level. The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework Partnership, manages the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework. This sets out the level and type of qualifications that are available. The General Teaching Council Scotland, the independent professional body that promotes and regulates all teachers in Scotland. 4. In 2002, the then Scottish Executive set up a 'National Debate on Education' to develop its long-term education policy. A year later, it established a Curriculum Review Group to identify the purposes of education for the 3-18 age range and to determine key principles for curriculum design. The group published its report, A Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) in5 Summary , setting out the aims of education and the principles that should underpin the modern curriculum. 3 Exam performance (attainment) is still an integral part of the system but CfE also aims to ensure pupils develop a range of skills for living and working in the wider world (wider achievement). Pupils receive a broad general education from early years through to the end of S3 and take formal qualifications in the senior phase. CfE was formally implemented in schools in About this audit 5. School education accounts for a significant proportion of local government spending, and a number of important education policy developments have taken place in recent years, such as the introduction of CfE. However, there has been no independent evaluation of how much councils spend on education and what this delivers in terms of improved attainment and wider achievement for pupils is the first year in which pupils are sitting new qualifications introduced as part of CfE. Comparisons with previous years will not be possible for some time. This audit is therefore timely as it provides an assessment of attainment over the last decade and identifies how effectively councils made improvements during this time. 6. Our audit assessed how efficiently and effectively councils are using their resources to maximise pupil achievement in schools. We examined: how much councils spend on school education and what they spend it on how effectively councils are driving forward improvements in pupil achievement how efficiently councils are using their resources to maximise pupil achievement. 7. The audit focused on primary and secondary school education in Scotland. We did not examine early years, pre-school, or special school education; independent schools; or further and higher education establishments. We also did not look at progress in implementing CfE or the quality of teaching in Scotland. We reviewed how councils deliver education, but did not examine the role of the Scottish Government, Education Scotland or other stakeholders such as the SQA. 8. There is a range of attainment measures used within Scottish education. We have selected ten of these to examine performance across the entire senior phase, S4-S6. The selected measures are closely aligned to the measures that councils report to their own education committees. 9. This report has three parts: Part 1 examines how much councils spend on education and how this has changed Part 2 assesses exam performance over the last decade for S4-S6 and examines what wider achievement activities are available for pupils to prepare them for life and work Part 3 comments on what councils have been doing to improve attainment and wider achievement and how they are targeting their resources to seek improvement. 10. Appendix 1 outlines performance in the ten attainment measures we use in the report. Appendix 2 lists members of our advisory group who provided support and advice throughout the audit. We have also produced a separate checklist of issues (PDF) for elected members to consider when scrutinising education services. Details of our audit methodology are provided in a separate supplement (PDF).6 6 Key messages In 2012/13, councils spent 4.8 billion on education services, of which 3.8 billion was spent on primary and secondary education. Around two-thirds of this expenditure (68 per cent) was on staff costs. Councils spending on education fell by five per cent in real terms between 2010/11 and 2012/13, largely as a result of employing fewer staff. Councils education services are likely to continue to face budgetary pressures, and they need to be alert to the potential impact of increased workloads on remaining staff. Performance has improved against all ten of the attainment measures we examined over the last decade. However, there is significant variation in attainment between individual councils, schools, and groups of pupils; and there is a considerable gap between Scotland and the top performing countries. Current measures at both national and council level focus on the attainment of secondary pupils at S4-S6 level. There are no comparable measures available at a council and national level on wider achievement, or the performance of pupils from P1-S3. Levels of deprivation have a large influence on attainment. Some schools have achieved better attainment results than their levels of deprivation would indicate, suggesting that the gap between the lowest and highest performing schools cannot be wholly attributed to different levels of deprivation. Closing the gap in performance between schools is likely to be critical to improving overall attainment levels. Councils that have made the most improvements have focused on areas such as developing leadership skills, and improving both teacher quality and systems for monitoring and tracking pupil data. There are also increasing opportunities for pupils to develop a wide range of skills for living and working in the wider world. Councils are starting to target resources to improve both attainment and wider achievement but there is scope to improve strategic planning and strengthen the role of elected members in holding education services to account.7 Key messages 7 Recommendations The Curriculum for Excellence represents a significant shift in the way education is delivered in our schools. This has important implications for the economic wellbeing of Scotland, and the future prospects of young people. The recommendations outlined below are intended to support further progress and will involve councils working with key stakeholders. Councils should: ensure they fully understand why levels of attainment vary between their schools and different groups of pupils develop and implement strategies to reduce the gaps in performance between the highest and lowest performing schools continue to work with the Scottish Government and Education Scotland to develop a suite of agreed performance measures which would provide an overall picture of educational attainment and achievement across Scotland review the sufficiency of information provided to education committees on attainment at S4-S6, pupil performance between P1-S3 and wider achievement. They should also ensure committees have the time and support to adequately challenge and hold to account education services develop more coordinated approaches to gathering and recording information on the range of wider achievement activities offered in schools, including the levels of pupil participation and the outcomes they achieve. This will help councils to scrutinise performance and ensure resources are being used as efficiently as possible ensure education strategic documents contain clear priorities and actions that set out what is to be achieved in the short, medium and long term. Performance management arrangements should monitor outcomes and report regularly on delivery against strategic objectives, such as raising attainment among the lowest performing pupils consistently use the Scottish Local Government Benchmarking Framework to compare their performance against other councils, and share good practice to improve educational attainment and wider achievement fully assess the potential long-term impact on attainment and wider achievement of budget reductions monitor and act on the impact of revised working practices and staff reductions across all affected groups (eg, teachers, administrative staff, classroom assistants) on staff wellbeing by, for example, monitoring sickness absence levels, and through specific questions in staff surveys.8 8 Part 1 School expenditure Key messages 1 2 In 2012/13, councils spent 4.8 billion on education services, of which 3.8 billion was spent on primary and secondary education. Two-thirds of this expenditure (68 per cent) was on staff costs. Councils spending on education reduced by five per cent in real terms between 2010/11 and 2012/13, largely as a result of employing fewer staff. Spend per pupil varied across councils in 2012/13 from 4,433 to 10,821. Factors influencing how much councils spend on school education per pupil include rurality, the proportion of promoted posts and the number of chartered teachers employed. 3 As well as employing fewer staff, councils have adopted other strategies and approaches to reducing their education spending. These include changes to teachers terms and conditions, increasing classroom teaching time, seeking efficiencies in school transport, and reducing training budgets. Councils education services are likely to continue to face budgetary pressures, and they need to be alert to the potential impact of increased workloads on remaining staff. Education is the single largest area of council expenditure 11. School education is mainly funded through the block grant that the Scottish Government provides to councils. The Scottish Government provides indicative funding allocations for each of the main council services. Councils then decide how best to allocate funding to individual services, based on their own priorities. In addition to the block grant, councils raise funding through council tax and service charges. They can also receive funding for specific education programmes and initiatives from a range of bodies including sportscotland, and independent trusts and charities. Schools and parents also contribute through fundraising activities. spending on school education has been reducing, largely through councils employing fewer staff 12. In 2012/13, councils spent 4.8 billion on education, of which 4 billion was provided through the block grant. 4 Education is the single largest area of council expenditure, accounting for almost a third (31 per cent) of total revenue expenditure in 2012/13. The majority of education expenditure, 3.8 billion (80 per cent), was on primary and secondary school education ( school expenditure ). The remaining expenditure was on community learning and development, pre-school education, and special schools. Over half of school expenditure, 2.1 billion (56 per cent), was spent on teachers. Councils spent another 470 million (13 per cent) on other staff such as classroom assistants, laboratory technicians and administrative staff (Exhibit 1, page 9).9 Part 1. School expenditure 9 Exhibit 1 Breakdown of primary and secondary education revenue expenditure, 2012/13 Over half of council education spending is on teachers. 3% 2% 3% Teachers 3% 4% Other employees 4% Property PFI/PPP payments 4% School meals 56% 8% Support services Supplies and services 13% School transport Repairs, maintenance and alterations Other Note: 1. PFI and PPP stand for Private Finance Initiative and Public Private Partnerships. PFI/PPP charges are made against councils' education and corporate budgets, depending on the nature of the spend. The costs shown here relate only to the school education budget. 2. 'Other' includes parent council funding and expenditure on school textbooks. Source: Audit Scotland analysis of councils' Local Financial Returns and additional information provided by councils, 2012/ Councils spent almost as much on the primary sector as they did on the secondary sector in 2012/13, with 1.8 billion (48 per cent) spent on primary education and 2 billion (52 per cent) spent on secondary education. Spend per pupil across Scotland in 2012/13 was higher in the secondary sector at 6,525 per pupil, than in the primary sector at 4,667 per pupil (see paragraph 17, page 10 for further explanation of spend per pupil). School expenditure reduced by five per cent over the last three years 14. Between 2010/11 and 2012/13, councils reduced spending on primary and secondary education by five per cent in real terms, that is, taking into account the effects of inflation. The reductions in spending were similar across both the secondary school sector (five per cent reduction in real terms) and the primary school sector (four per cent reduction in real terms). However, the reductions do not fully reflect changes in pupil numbers over the same period. Between 2010 and 2013, the number of secondary school pupils declined by four per cent. In contrast, the number of primary school pupils increased by three per cent. At a council level, changes in school expenditure over the past three years varied widely, ranging from an almost 14 per cent reduction in Clackmannanshire to an increase of almost one per cent in South Lanarkshire (Exhibit 2, page 10). 15. It is important to note that these figures represent a snapshot in time. Councils started making changes to education budgets at different times, so over the period on which we have based our analysis, councils were at different stages in making savings. It is also not possible to compare education expenditure between 2010/11 and 2012/13 with earlier years. This is due to changes in international accounting standards and how councils account for unitary charges for Private Finance Initiatives and Public Private Partnership contracts. 510 10 Exhibit 2 Changes in school revenue expenditure in real terms, 2010/ /13 Most councils have reduced spending on schools over the past three years. Percentage change Clackmannanshire Inverclyde Aberdeenshire Comhairle nan Eilean Siar Dundee City Fife West Dunbartonshire Angus Aberdeen City Falkirk East Ayrshire Argyll and Bute Glasgow City Moray Dumfries and Galloway Renfrewshire Scotland average Orkney Islands North Ayrshire South Ayrshire East Dunbartonshire City of Edinburgh Stirling East Lothian Scottish Borders Perth and Kinross Midlothian North Lanarkshire Highland Shetland Islands East Renfrewshire West Lothian South Lanarkshire Source: Audit Scotland analysis of councils' Local Financial Returns and additional information provided by councils, 2010/ / Reductions in education expenditure between 2010/11 and 2012/13 mirror wider reductions in council funding and expenditure. The Scottish Government s overall block grant to councils reduced by eight per cent in real terms between 2010/11 and 2012/13. 6 Councils' overall expenditure reduced by five per cent over the same period. 7 Spend per pupil varies widely across the country with rural councils spending the most 17. In 2012/13, the average spend per pupil across Scotland was 5,468 (Exhibit 3, page 11) 8 and varied: across urban councils, from 4,782 in Renfrewshire to 5,899 in West Dunbartonshire 1,117 difference among councils with a mix of urban and rural areas, from 4,433 in Clackmannanshire to 5,799 in North Ayrshire 1,366 difference across rural councils, from 4,966 in Moray to 6,796 in Argyll and Bute 1,830 difference among the island councils, from 9,005 in Orkney to 10,821 in Shetland Islands 1,816 difference.11 Part 1. School expenditure 11 Exhibit 3 Spend per pupil by council, 2012/13 Spend per pupil varies widely across Scotland. 2012/13 Education Spend per Pupil ( ) 12,000 10,000 8,000 6,000 4,000 2,000 0 Renfrewshire Falkirk City of Edinburgh Urban Mixed Rural Inverclyde Dundee City Glasgow City East Renfrewshire East Dunbartonshire Aberdeen City North Lanarkshire West Dunbartonshire Clackmannanshire South Lanarkshire Fife West Lothian Angus Midlothian South Ayrshire East Ayrshire Stirling North Ayrshire Scotland average Moray East Lothian Aberdeenshire Scottish Borders Perth and Kinross Highland Dumfries and Galloway Argyll and Bute Orkney Islands Comhairle nan Eilean Siar Shetland Islands Note: Councils were categorised using the Scottish Government's Urban Rural classification, 2011/12. Source: Audit Scotland analysis using councils' Local Financial Returns and additional information provided by councils, 2012/13; and data from Pupils in Scotland, Scottish Government, Councils with more rural areas, including the island councils, generally spend more per pupil for a number of reasons: In general, there is a lower average number of pupils in each school. As a result, teacher costs per pupil are higher. In 2013, there was an average of 113 pupils per primary school in rural councils compared to an average of 265 primary pupils per school in urban councils. Because distances are greater and pupils are more widely spread, school transport costs are higher. For example, Aberdeenshire, Argyll and Bute and Highland councils spent six per cent of their total school expenditure on school transport in 2012/13, the highest of all mainland councils. In comparison, school transport accounted for 0.2 per cent of Dundee City Council s total school expenditure in 2012/13. The school estate tends to be larger due to high numbers of small primary schools. This brings increased maintenance and running costs. Recruiting both permanent and supply teaching staff can be more challenging for rural councils. As a consequence, employment costs can be higher as councils try to attract staff. For example, Aberdeenshire Council has found it difficult recently to fill teacher vacancies. To address this, the council ran an international recruitment campaign offering benefits such as help with housing to successful applicants.12 In urban councils, differences in spend per pupil are mainly influenced by how much is spent on teachers. Higher proportions of promoted posts in the teacher workforce; more chartered teachers; and greater incidences of salary conservation among teachers (ie, when a salary is protected for a specified length of time) all impact on how much councils spend on teachers. 9, 10 To ensure services are being provided as efficiently as possible, councils must fully understand the factors influencing their spend per pupil, and how this compares to other councils. Councils have reduced what they spend on school education mainly by employing fewer staff 20. Councils have reduced spending on schools in the past three years largely as a result of employing fewer teachers. Between 2010/11 and 2012/13, spending on teachers reduced by seven per cent in real terms. All councils (except East Lothian which remained the same) reduced expenditure on teachers over this period. This ranged from a two per cent reduction in South Lanarkshire to 19 per cent in Stirling. 21. Overall teacher numbers reduced by 815 full-time equivalent (FTE) (two per cent) between 2010 and 2013 (Exhibit 4, page 13). 11 Teacher numbers reduced in the secondary sector over this period by 1,081 FTE (four per cent) and in the primary sector by 190 FTE (one per cent). In contrast, teachers classified as centrally employed increased by 456 FTE (64 per cent) over the same period. These are teachers who may work across more than one school, for example music teachers. However, because of the way data is collected, we are unable to assess the extent to which these changes are a result of: councils re-categorising staff from school-based teachers to centrally employed, or councils employing additional centrally employed teachers. 22. The biggest reduction is in teachers in their 50s leaving work, either through retirement or voluntary early release schemes. In 2012/13, 29 out of 32 councils used early departure and early retirement schemes to reduce staff numbers. 12 The average age profile of teachers is now 41.9 years, a reduction of 0.9 years since Twenty-seven councils have reviewed teaching staff formulas in the past three years to help make efficiency savings. 13 Pupil/teacher ratios have remained almost the same in the secondary sector since 2010, increasing by 0.1 pupils per teacher to 12.2 in In the primary sector, the pupil/teacher ratio increased from 15.8 pupils per teacher in 2010 to 16.5 in Councils also reduced their spending on other education staff by 11 per cent in real terms between 2010/11 and 2012/13. Reasons for this include: councils using Quality Improvement Officers (QIOs) in a more proportionate and risk-based way, encouraging schools to evaluate their own performance. QIOs provide support and challenge to schools to help them improve and those that remain in post are increasingly targeting their efforts only at those schools that need extra support. service efficiency reviews and restructurings that have taken place within many council education departments.13 Part 1. School expenditure 13 Exhibit 4 Changes in FTE education staffing numbers, Reductions have been made across all staffing groups. Teachers (school-based and centrally based) Business managers (school-based) -2% Change 48,585 47, % Change Admin and clerical Office managers; other admin, professional, technical and clerical staff (school-based) -5% Change 5,415 5, Laboratory assistants and technicians -12% Change 1,272 1, Classroom assistants Quality Improvement Officers -2% Change 5,048 4, % Change Notes: 1. The staff types are those used in the Scottish Government annual census of education staff. 2. Changes to staff are shown in calendar years rather than financial years as the data is gathered through an annual census of education staff carried out in September each year. Source: Audit Scotland, using Teachers in Scotland, Scottish Government, 2010 and Other than staffing, councils have been reducing their education spending in a range of other ways. Examples include: Making savings from changes to teachers terms and conditions of service, following the 2011 Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers pay and conditions agreement. This reduced annual leave for teachers on maternity and long-term sick leave from 66 to 40 days, increased time in the classroom for probationer teachers and introduced changes to supply contracts. Reducing the length of secondary school classroom periods from 55 minutes to 50 minutes and increasing the weekly number of periods from 30 up to 33. This has helped maximise teachers' class contact time and reduce the need for supply teachers. In keeping with the aims of CfE, schools also now have more flexibility to provide vocational opportunities and wider achievement activities for pupils. Re-tendering school transport when contracts are renewed. Some councils have also reviewed how they provide transport, for example by replacing larger vehicles with smaller ones and reviewing routes to reduce the amount of fuel usage. Reducing Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programmes and training budgets to schools and using in-house staff to deliver training instead of external providers.14 14 Councils education budgets will continue to face pressures 25. Public sector finances will continue to be under pressure for the foreseeable future. An ageing population, changes to the welfare system, and the impact of the recent recession are also increasing demand for many public services. Councils need to allocate limited money, staff and other assets to individual services in line with their priorities and needs. As a result, elected members will need to consider and balance the demand for resources from education services with those of other services. 26. Education services are also likely to face a number of specific challenges that will place increasing pressure on finances. These include: increasing demand for teachers and education services, as a result of rising pupil numbers in some areas, especially in the primary sector Scottish Government commitments to reduce class sizes, especially for younger pupils in P1-P3 public and political opposition to proposals to close schools, which may mean councils are unable to make the financial savings that closures could bring meeting the requirements of pupils with additional support needs in special schools and classes, and in mainstream schools maintaining and upgrading the school estate. Although councils have made significant progress in recent years, 18 per cent of schools remain in poor or bad condition Many of the approaches to reducing budgets have only been introduced in the last two or three years. Given that staff costs comprise over two-thirds of councils expenditure, employing fewer staff is an obvious way to reduce spending. However, councils need to be aware of the potential impact on remaining staff. More work is needed to monitor the impact of staff reductions on front-line services and also on the capacity of functions such as central education staff. Pressures arising from additional responsibilities or extra workload could result in increased sickness absence or low staff morale. Councils also need to understand the longer-term effect that budget reductions could have on efforts to raise attainment among pupils. Recommendations Councils should: fully assess the potential long-term impact on attainment and wider achievement of budget reductions monitor and act on the impact of revised working practices and staff reductions across all affected groups (eg, teachers, administrative staff, classroom assistants) on staff wellbeing by, for example, monitoring sickness absence levels, and through specific questions in staff surveys.15 Part 2. Pupil attainment and wider achievement 15 Part 2 Pupil attainment and wider achievement Key messages There is a lack of information on overall pupil performance at both a local and national level. Current measures focus on attainment of secondary pupils at S4-S6 level. There are no comparable measures of wider achievement, or the performance of pupils in P1-S3 available at both a council and national level. Attainment in S4-S6 has improved over the last decade. However, it is not clear whether these improvements are greater or less than expected due to a lack of national targets. There is significant variation in attainment between individual councils, schools and groups of pupils, and there is a considerable gap between Scotland and top performing countries. Deprivation continues to have a large influence on attainment. There are significant differences in attainment between pupils from deprived areas and those from more affluent areas. However, some schools have achieved better attainment results than their levels of deprivation would indicate, suggesting that the gap between the lowest and highest performing schools cannot be wholly attributed to different levels of deprivation. Closing the gap between schools is likely to be critical to improving overall attainment levels. There are increasing opportunities for pupils to participate in activities that aim to improve their confidence and help them develop the skills required as they leave school and move into employment, training or continued education. Schools and councils need to ensure that they can scrutinise the outcomes from these activities to ensure that they meet the needs of pupils. attainment has improved over the last decade but there is significant variation between councils and pupils Pupils' learning experiences have become much broader in recent years 28. Pupils in Scotland undertake a variety of courses and qualifications aimed at ensuring they gain both nationally recognised qualifications and wider employability and social skills. Traditionally, schools were the main providers of courses although learning has always taken place outside the classroom, at home and in the community. However, the range and types of courses available to pupils are now much wider and there is greater opportunity for pupil personalisation and choice (Exhibit 5, page 16).16 16 Exhibit 5 Pupil learning in Scotland Pupils learn in a wide variety of ways, with examples shown below. WIDER ACHIEVEMENT SQA QUALIFICATIONS Employability Leadership Personal development ACCREDITED WIDER ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS Dynamic Youth Duke of Edinburgh John Muir PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT VOCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS Volunteering Taking part in sports club Taking part in music club Caring responsibility at home NON-VOCATIONAL COURSES AND EXAMS Hairdressing Early education and childcare Computer skills Sports and recreation English and maths Geography History Source: Audit Scotland17 Part 2. Pupil attainment and wider achievement In delivering educational opportunities to pupils, councils are increasingly working in partnership with colleges to provide vocational qualifications. For example, Falkirk Council has had a formal partnership with Forth Valley College for more than a decade, providing pupils with opportunities to attend college during the school day to gain qualifications in a range of vocational subjects. Third sector organisations such as the John Muir Trust are involved in delivering wider achievement awards and programmes. Existing measures do not fully capture a pupil s performance throughout their time at school Measures of attainment focus on pupils in S4-S6 30. Pupil performance in Scotland is measured nationally by the number and level of qualifications passed by pupils in secondary school. There are a range of attainment measures used within Scottish education. We have selected ten of these to examine the range of performance across the entire senior phase (S4-S6) (Appendix 1). The selected measures are closely aligned to the measures that councils report to their own education committees. 31. The achievements of some pupils who take vocational courses at local colleges are not captured by existing attainment measures. Pupils can complete courses at college but their achievements are not recognised in existing school performance measures. The Interim Report of the Commission for Developing Scotland s Young Workforce in 2013 recommended that the delivery of vocational qualifications for school pupils should be explicitly measured and published alongside other school performance measures. 15 In addition, pupils can complete groups of units at school or college, without completing the full course. These are also not captured in existing measures. Some assessment of pupil performance between P1 and S3 is made but it is not possible to compare the results between councils 32. Pupil performance during primary and up to S3 is collected nationally through the Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy (SSLN). 16 Introduced in 2011 to reflect the changes brought about by the Curriculum for Excellence, the SSLN is an annual survey of a sample of P4, P7, and S2 pupils across the country that tests literacy and numeracy skills in alternate years. The SSLN is designed to provide national-level results. Results cannot be used at a council level due to the small numbers of pupils selected to participate in each council. 33. At a council level, there is no consistent approach to tracking and monitoring the progress of pupils from P1 to S3. Twenty-seven councils use some form of standardised testing at council level to assess and track the progress of their pupils from P1 to S3. This involves testing pupils at various stages to assess their progress in literacy and numeracy and comparing this with expected progress. The type of testing used and the extent to which pupils are tested varies across the country. For example, some councils test pupils in P1, P3, P5, P7 and S2 while others test less frequently than this. There are no comparable performance measures addressing pupils' wider achievement 34. There are no national performance measures on pupils wider achievements, for example the number of pupils participating in specific award programmes such as the Duke of Edinburgh. Sixteen councils were able to provide us with data on their pupils wider achievements in formal awards and programmes but there is significant variation around what each council collects.18 The Scottish Government is currently working with councils, national education agencies and other partners to develop a new benchmarking tool. The aim is that this tool will include a new set of performance measures that will take some account of pupils wider achievement. This new tool is scheduled to be in place by August We discuss wider achievement in more detail in (paragraphs 56 60). Attainment levels have improved over the past decade 36. Nationally, attainment has improved across all ten of the attainment measures we selected over the past decade, although the level of improvement has been mixed (Exhibit 6). Attainment improved by four per cent for the measures at S4 level between 2004 and At S5 and S6 levels, attainment improved between five and ten per cent. The vast majority of the improvements in attainment have been made in the past five years. Exhibit 6 Percentage of pupils achieving each of the ten attainment measures we selected in 2004 and 2013 Attainment has improved across all ten measures in the past decade although to differing degrees. 100 Percentage of pupils achieving each measure S4: English and maths at level 3 or better S4: 5 awards at level 3 or better S4: 5 awards at level 5 or better S5: 5 awards at level 5 or better S5: 1 award at level 6 or better S5: 3 awards at level 6 or better S6: 1 award at level 6 or better S6: 3 awards at level 6 or better S6: 5 awards at level 6 or better S6: 1 award at level 7 or better Note: Appendix 1 explains what each attainment measure means. Source: Audit Scotland, using data from Scottish Government Education Analytical Services Division 37. There are no national targets for exam performance. Therefore it is not clear whether the rate of improvement across the ten attainment measures over the last ten years is above or below what should be expected by councils. 38. The attainment gap between the highest and lowest-performing pupils in secondary education has closed slightly over the past five years. Every level and type of qualification in Scotland has an accompanying points score. The points gained by each pupil are added to create an overall tariff score. In 2012 (the most recent year available at time of reporting), the highest performing 20 per cent of19 Part 2. Pupil attainment and wider achievement 19 S4 pupils in Scotland had an average tariff score of 298. The lowest performing 20 per cent of S4 pupils had a tariff score of 71. The national average is 187. The gap between the highest and lowest performing 20 per cent of pupils narrowed slightly from 235 points in 2008 to 227 points in Nationally, most P4 and P7 pupils are performing well but performance is not sustained into secondary school 39. Results from the Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy show that: The majority of P4 and P7 pupils tested are performing well, very well or beyond their expected stage in numeracy and literacy. However, the percentage of pupils performing at this level in numeracy declined by eight per cent for P4 pupils and by six per cent for P7 pupils between 2011 and Literacy was first tested in the SSLN in 2012 so trend figures are not yet available. S2 pupils performance in literacy is similar to those of P4 and P7 pupils. However, S2 pupils performed significantly worse against the standard expected than primary pupils in numeracy in both 2011 and In 2013, 42 per cent of S2 pupils performed well or very well in numeracy compared to 69 per cent of P4 pupils and 66 per cent of P7 pupils. Onethird (35 per cent) of S2 pupils in 2013 were not working at their expected level in numeracy compared to only 0.2 per cent of P4 pupils and two per cent of P7 pupils. There is a considerable gap between Scotland and top performing countries 40. International comparisons show that the academic performance of Scotland s pupils in recent years is static, after a period of relative decline. As part of its national performance framework, the Scottish Government uses the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), run by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), to compare how Scotland is performing against other OECD countries. 17 A sample of pupils in each participating country is assessed in reading, maths and science every three years. Between 2000 and 2006, Scotland s performance in reading deteriorated and between 2003 and 2006 performance in maths also fell. 18 Since 2006, performance in reading, science and maths has remained static. Scotland s performance has been above the OECD average in reading and science since 2009 and has been similar to the OECD average in maths. 41. Compared to other UK countries, Scotland s performance since 2006 (the first year that can be compared) has been similar to England and Northern Ireland in most areas and better than Wales. 19 More widely, a number of other countries have continued to improve in recent years compared to Scotland (eg, Poland), while some have seen a relative decline (eg, Australia and New Zealand). Overall, there is a considerable gap between Scotland and the top performing countries (Exhibit 7, page 20). All countries have different education systems and the focus of these will differ according to each country s national and local priorities. However, it is important that Scotland is able to keep pace with the best performing countries if it is to compete effectively in the global economy.20 20 Exhibit 7 PISA scores in mathematics, 2012 There is a considerable gap between Scotland and the top performing countries. Ireland 501 UK 494 Norway 489 Sweden Finland Switzerland Poland Estonia Bulgaria Shanghai-China OECD average 494 South Korea Scotland 498 Greece Wales England Singapore Note: These are mean scores for each country. As with all sample surveys, the values shown are subject to sampling error which means the true value could be slightly higher or lower than that shown. Source: Audit Scotland using PISA 2012 Results in Focus, OECD, 2013 There is significant variation in attainment levels between councils and between individual schools 42. There are wide differences in attainment levels between councils in Scotland across almost all of the ten measures we use in the report (Appendix 1). Seven of the measures had a gap between the highest and lowest performing councils of 30 percentage points or more. The widest performance gap was in the percentage of S4 pupils achieving five awards at SCQF level five with a gap of 43 percentage points in In 2013, 28 per cent of S4 pupils in Clackmannanshire and Dundee City achieved five awards at level five, compared to 71 per cent in East Renfrewshire (Exhibit 8, page 21). View more
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