Attainment Scotland Fund evaluation: reporting on National Improvement Framework attainment and health and wellbeing measures 2025

Footnotes

1 This collection was cancelled for primary schools in 2019-20, due to difficulties collecting data during COVID-19.

2 This Collection was cancelled for secondary schools in 2019-20 and 2020-21, due to difficulties collecting data during COVID-19.

3 The most and least deprived are based on SIMD quintiles.

4 Figures were collected every two years up to 2022/23 but are now being published annually.

5 Figures were collected every two years up to 2022/23 but are now being published annually.

6 Evaluation Question 15: To what extent did the fund contribute to a closing of the attainment gap between the most and least socio-economically disadvantaged children and young people, in line with the refreshed Scottish Attainment Challenge Mission?

7 A summary of local authority stretch aims for raising attainment and closing the poverty related attainment gap is available at the following link which takes you to the document - Scottish Attainment Challenge - Local stretch Aims: 2023/24 to 2025/26

8 The ACEL collection and publication was cancelled in 2019/20 due to the difficulties in collecting data whilst schools were closed due to COVID-19.

The 2020/21 ACEL publication covers Primary school children (P1, P4 and P7) only. Secondary school and special school data was not collected due to other pressures on these schools including implementation of the SQA National Qualifications Alternative Certification Model, which was used to award National 5s, Highers and Advanced Highers in 2021. The time period covered by the 2020/21 statistics means that the results will be affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This should be kept in mind when making comparisons between years.

9 The time series includes years where school leaver destinations have been affected – either directly or indirectly – by the COVID-19 pandemic. The impacts of COVID-19 should therefore be kept in mind when considering changes over time in school leavers’ destinations. The greatest effect of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on school leaver destinations is likely to have been seen in 2019/20 although it is likely that there has been some ongoing impact on the destinations of some 2020/21 and 2021/22 school leavers.

10 When considering the school leaver attainment data, it is important to be aware that the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic led to the cancellation of 2020 and 2021 National 5 (SCQF Level 5), Higher (SCQF Level 6) and Advanced Higher (SCQF Level 7) exams and alternative approaches were taken to determining grades. In 2020 grades were determined based on teacher estimates. In 2021 teachers and lecturers used their professional judgement of a learner’s demonstrated attainment to determine results in line with subject-specific guidance. In 2022, there was a return to the use of exams. These were supported by a package of measures such as course modifications and revision support, which were designed to address the ongoing disruption to learning and teaching which young people had experienced, while maintaining standards. In addition, a more generous approach to grading was adopted to help ensure fairness for learners. The approaches taken to determining results in 2020 and 2021 saw pass rates in National Qualifications increase. The approach taken in 2022 resulted in pass rates decreasing from those levels, although they remained higher than pre-pandemic levels. In addition, care should also be taken when comparing the attainment of 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23 school leavers. Interpretation of changes must take full account of the different certification methods used in different years, and changes in the attainment levels in 2019/20 and 2020/21 should not be seen as an indication that performance has improved or worsened, without further evidence.

11 Attainment in this section relates to the passes in National Qualifications such as National 4, National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher. A separate measure of attainment in all qualifications and awards on the SCQF can be found in the Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations publication.

12 The 2022 and 2024 statistics included data from DWP about Universal Credit (UC) claimants to comprehensively identify those out of work. The effects of Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and associated lockdown and re-opening measures will have impacted on young adults’ participation in 2021 and 2022. The impacts of the pandemic and the absence of Universal Credit in prior years should be kept in mind when comparing more recent data with earlier years.

13 When considering the APM as a measure in the ASF Evaluation it is important to note that the APM is measured from 1st April - 31st March annually, as opposed to the academic year considered in the ASF Evaluation. As such, the figures are not considered across a directly comparable time period.

14 The most and least deprived are based on SIMD quintiles.

15 The attendance rates reported for 2020/21 use the ‘attendance or absence – schools open’ measure. This measure includes attendance or absence only for the occasions when schools were open to pupils and are therefore comparable to attendance rates from previous years provided the impact of COVID-19 is borne in mind.

16 A number of changes to the approach to development assessments and recording of outcomes were implemented in April 2017. The decline in the percentage reporting ‘no concerns’ around 2017/18 is mainly due to this change. Trends in this measure should therefore be interpreted carefully. The COVID-19 pandemic led to changes in how reviews were delivered, as well as in the circumstances of daily life for many children in 2020/21 and 2021/22. It is therefore possible that both factors relating to assessment and recording, and genuine changes in the occurrence of developmental problems are contributing to the changes in the trends.

17 The HWB Census statistics are the aggregated results for the 16 local authorities who collected data, and are not weighted to population totals. These statistics are not directly comparable with the Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS) estimates previously used to report this measure. As such change in this measure will be reported as data becomes available in future years.

18 The National Improvement Framework and Improvement Plan published in December 2024 notes - Of the 13 key NIF measures, the data source has changed for one measure (HWB: Children total difficulties score (age 13&15)) and so data is available for 2022 only. Of the remaining 12 measures, there has broadly been a narrowing of the gap in seven of the measures, and a widening of the gap in five of the measures over time. The Plan can be found at this link which takes you to the document.