Chapter 2  Achievement of CfE Levels by Deprivation

When considering data by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), it is important to note that the data show the difference between young people living in the most and least deprived areas. Not every person living in a deprived area will themselves be experiencing high levels of deprivation and not everyone experiencing deprivation will live in a deprived area.

The figures shown in Charts 1, 2, 3 and 4 provide four of the 13 key National Improvement Framework measures used to measure the poverty-related attainment gap. These key measures are:

• Percentage of P1, P4 and P7 pupils combined achieving expected Level in Literacy;
• Percentage of P1, P4 and P7 pupils combined achieving expected Level in Numeracy;
• Percentage of S3 pupils achieving third level or better in Literacy and;
• Percentage of S3 pupils achieving third level or better in Numeracy.

The charts show Achievement of CfE Levels by SIMD since 2016-17, with the ‘pp’ abbreviation indicating percentage point difference between pupils from the most and least deprived areas (referred to as the attainment gap).

Primary Stages

The attainment gap among primary pupils combined was at its narrowest ever for literacy.

Attainment in literacy has improved for pupils from both the most and least deprived areas. As attainment for the most deprived has improved by more than the least deprived, the attainment gap has narrowed from 20.2 percentage points in 2023-24 to 19.4 percentage points in 2024-25.

Chart 1: The attainment gap in literacy at primary level has narrowed to its lowest ever level

Percentage of P1, P4 and P7 pupils (combined) achieving expected CfE level in literacy by SIMD, 2016-17 to 2024-25

The attainment gap in numeracy was narrower than in any previous year.

In the most recent year, attainment in numeracy decreased slightly for the pupils in the least deprived areas and increased for the pupils in the most deprived areas, leading to a narrowing of the attainment gap from 17.4 to 16.6 percentage points.

Chart 2: The attainment gap in numeracy at primary level decreased to the lowest on record

Percentage of P1, P4 and P7 pupils (combined) achieving expected CfE level in numeracy by SIMD, 2016-17 to 2024-25

Secondary (S3) Stage

The literacy attainment gap among S3 pupils for the proportion achieving third level was at its narrowest ever.

For S3, both the most deprived and least deprived areas have seen an increase in the proportion of pupils achieving third level for literacy to the highest since records began in 2016-17.

As attainment among pupils in the most deprived areas has risen by more than it has for those in the least deprived areas, the attainment gap has narrowed from 12.7 percentage points in 2023-24 to 10.8 percentage points in 2024-25.

Chart 3: The attainment gap in literacy at S3 narrowed in the latest year to the lowest on record

Percentage of S3 pupils achieving third level or better in Literacy by SIMD, 2016-17 to 2024-25

The attainment gap in numeracy for S3 pupils achieving third level or better has narrowed to its lowest ever level.

The proportion of S3 pupils achieving third level or better in numeracy for both the least and most deprived areas has increased. It has risen by more for pupils from the most deprived areas, leading to a narrowing of the attainment gap from 12.0 percentage points in 2023-24 to 11.6 in 2024-25.

Chart 4: The attainment gap in numeracy at S3 narrowed to its lowest ever level

Percentage of S3 pupils achieving third level or better in Numeracy by SIMD, 2016-17 to 2024-25

Detailed results by SIMD can be found in Table 2 and Pivot Charts 2a, 2b, 2c and 2d of the supplementary tables.