Chapter 3  Achievement of CfE Levels by pupil characteristics

Sex

In 2024-25, female pupils outperformed male pupils across all literacy organisers at all stages. The biggest difference was in writing where there was a ten percentage point gap at primary stages combined and a three percentage point gap at S3 (third level or better).

For numeracy, there was very little difference between female and male pupils, except at P1 where female pupils were three percentage points ahead of male pupils. For primary stages combined there was a one percentage point gap and no gap at S3 level.

For literacy as a whole, female pupils outperformed male pupils by ten percentage points at primary stages combined and the gap for S3 pupils at third level or better was three percentage points.

Chart 5: Females outperformed males at all stages in literacy

Percentage of pupils achieving expected CfE levels in literacy, by sex and stage, 2024-25

Chart 6: There was little difference between females and males in numeracy

Percentage of pupils achieving expected CfE levels in numeracy, by sex and stage, 2024-25

Detailed results by sex can be found in Table 3 and Pivot Charts 3a and 3b of the supplementary tables.

Ethnicity

The majority of pupils in the Achievement of CfE Levels data collection were White – Scottish (71 per cent of all pupils), followed by White – non-Scottish (13 per cent of all pupils). Of the remaining ethnic groups, African/Black/Caribbean was the largest, accounting for 3.2 per cent of all pupils, with Asian – Pakistani 2.2 per cent, Asian – Indian 1.5 per cent and Asian – Chinese 0.8 per cent.  The relative sizes of these groups of pupils should be kept in mind when interpreting results.

For primary pupils, performance was highest for those of an Asian - Chinese background. Eighty-four per cent achieved the expected level in literacy and 93 per cent in numeracy. This pattern has been broadly consistent over time.

Chart 7: Asian - Chinese primary pupils performed best in literacy and numeracy

Percentage of P1, P4 and P7 pupils combined achieving literacy and numeracy CfE levels, by ethnicity, 2024-25

At S3 (third Level or better), performance in literacy was highest for pupils from Asian - Indian and Asian - Pakistani backgrounds (96 per cent). In numeracy performance was highest for pupils from Asian - Chinese backgrounds (98 per cent).

Chart 8: Asian - Indian and Asian - Pakistani pupils performed best in literacy and Asian - Chinese pupils performed best in numeracy at S3 level

Percentage of S3 pupils achieving third level or better by ethnicity, 2024-25

Detailed results by ethnicity can be found in Table 4 and Pivot Charts 4a and 4b of the supplementary tables.

Urban Rural Classificiation

At primary stages (combined), performance in both literacy and numeracy in 2024-25 was highest for pupils from accessible rural areas and lowest for pupils from remote small towns (excluding pupils for whom the urban rural classification was unknown).

Similarly, in S3 the percentage of pupils achieving literacy and numeracy at third level or better was lowest in remote small towns. It was highest in accessible rural areas for literacy and in remote rural areas and accessible rural areas for numeracy.

Chart 9: Attainment of expected levels was highest in accessible rural areas and lowest in remote small towns

Percentage of pupils achieving expected CfE levels, by urban rural classification and stage, 2024-25

Detailed results by urban rural classification can be found in Table 5 of the supplementary tables.

Additional Support Need (ASN) status

The number of pupils identified with additional support needs (ASN) has increased markedly over a number of years and there continues to be year on year increases (see Table 1.5 of the pupil census supplementary tables). The increase in pupil numbers is partly driven by increased awareness and identification of additional support needs, but also by a change in how ASN statistics were gathered in 2010, to ensure that these record any type of additional support provided to pupils. This should be kept in mind when interpreting achievement of CfE Levels data by additional support needs.

Table 3: The percentage of pupils recorded as having an Additional Support Need increases through the stages

Percentage of pupils recorded as having an Additional Support Need by stage, 2024-25

The percentage of pupils achieving the expected CfE level was lower for pupils with an ASN compared to pupils without an ASN, across all stages and organisers.

For all organisers the difference in performance between pupils with and without an ASN was greater in the primary stages than at S3 (third level or better). For all primary stages combined, the biggest differences occurred in writing, with a 30 percentage point gap. The gap at S3 (third level or better) was similar for all individual organisers at 13 to 14 percentage points.

Chart 10: Differences in attainment of pupils with and without an additional support need were greater at primary stages than at S3

Percentage of pupils achieving expected CfE levels by additional support needs and stage, 2024-25

Detailed results by ASN status can be found in Table 6 of the supplementary tables.

English as an Additional Language (EAL) status

Eight per cent of pupils in the 2024-25 data collection were recorded as having English as an Additional Language (EAL).

The percentage of pupils achieving the expected CfE level was lower for pupils with EAL than for those with English as their main language across all stages and organisers except for S3 numeracy.

At primary stages combined the gap was narrowest in numeracy at four percentage points. However, S3 pupils with EAL performed better than their counterparts at third level by two percentage points.

For all organisers, the gap was lower at S3 than at primary stages combined.

Chart 11: Pupils with English as an Additional Language performed less well in literacy across all stages but better in numeracy at S3

Percentage of pupils achieving expected CfE levels, by English as an Additional Language status and stage, 2024-25

Detailed results by EAL status can be found in Table 7 of the supplementary tables.