National Standardised Assessments for Scotland: national report 2024-2025
Summary of outcomes at a national level on the 'Scottish National Standardised Assessments' (SNSA) and ‘Measaidhean Coitcheann Nàiseanta airson Foghlam tron Ghàidhlig’ (MCNG) (collectively known as NSA) in the 2024 to 2025 academic year.
3 Reading/Literacy
3.1 The scope of the reading/literacy assessment
3.1.1 Reading and literacy for P1, P4, P7 and S3
For P4, P7 and S3, the assessments of reading and writing are delivered separately. For P1, learners are presented with a single assessment combining elements of reading and writing – this is referred to as the P1 literacy assessment. There are two reasons for combining reading and writing at P1. First, literacy skills tend to be quite integrated at this early stage of development (and may be referred to as 'precursor' or 'component' literacy skills). Secondly, a combined literacy assessment reduces the burden of the assessment, which is an important consideration for the very young children in this stage. The P1 literacy assessment is scaled with the reading assessments for higher stages, using the same set of curriculum organisers, and is therefore discussed in this section in conjunction with the outcomes of the P4, P7 and S3 reading assessments.
The P1 literacy assessment comprised both stand-alone items and 'units', which are groups of questions focusing on a single stimulus text. At P4, P7 and S3, all the reading items were grouped into units of four or five items, to economise on the reading load. Using this unit structure, items of differing difficulty and covering different organisers could be asked with reference to the same text.
3.1.2 Alignment with Curriculum for Excellence
The assessments of reading and P1 literacy are based on elements of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE), as articulated in the Benchmarks: Literacy and Gàidhlig, published in March 2017 and the Benchmarks: Literacy and English, published in June 2017.
3.1.3 A note on texts used in NSA reading assessments
For NSA reading in English and Gaelic, a broad definition of texts was used, in line with the statements in Benchmarks: Literacy and English (June 2017): 'Challenge in literacy … involves engaging with a wide range of increasingly complex texts which are suitable to the reading age of each learner.' In NSA, this range includes narrative fiction and non-fiction, description, explanation, argument and instructions. A further dimension to the definition of texts in NSA reading relates to format, as described in Curriculum for Excellence: Literacy and English, Principles and Practice: 'Texts can be in continuous form, including traditional formal prose, or non-continuous, for example charts and graphs.'
3.2 Coverage of Curriculum for Excellence
NSA are just one part of the range of assessments that teachers use in making their evaluations of children's and young people's learning. As a standardised assessment with a defined number of items -which are capable of being scored automatically, only some parts of the specified reading Benchmarks could be addressed. In consultation with Scottish literacy experts, it was agreed that the reading and P1 literacy assessments should be based on the organisers Tools for reading (TFR), Finding and using information (FUI), and Understanding, analysing and evaluating (UAE). The assessment questions for the NSA reflect the knowledge, skills understanding, and standards embedded within the Curriculum for Excellence Experiences and Outcomes for reading, writing and numeracy across the CfE Levels, in accordance with the most up to date Education Scotland advice and curricular guidance on Experiences and Outcomes and Benchmarks.
Although all three organisers are represented in the P1, P4, P7 and S3 reading assessments, there are different proportions across the stages. In the reports provided to schools, teachers received information about organiser-level outcomes if the learner was presented with at least five items from the organiser. Similarly, in this report, outcomes for organisers that were addressed by at least five items in each learner's assessment are analysed. The organisers included in the reports are shown by stage, in Table 2.
Table 2: Reporting organisers for reading by stage, academic year 2024 to 2025
Stage
Primary 1
- Organisers: Tools for reading; Finding and using information; Understanding, analysing and evaluating.
Primary 4
- Organisers: Tools for reading; Finding and using information; Understanding, analysing and evaluating.
Primary 7
- Organisers: Tools for reading; Finding and using information; Understanding, analysing and evaluating.
Secondary 3
- Organisers: Tools for reading; Finding and using information; Understanding, analysing and evaluating.
The following sections provide more information on each of the reading organisers in NSA 2024 to 2025, along with some example items. These items were not used in NSA 2024 to 2025, and they will not be used in future Scottish National Standardised Assessments.
The information in sections 3.2.1 - 3.2.3 apply to SNSA. MCNG examples and descriptions can be found in sections 3.2.4 - 3.2.6 of this report.
3.2.1 SNSA Tools for reading
In the P1 assessment, this organiser comprised items related to phonological awareness, word decoding and word recognition; in the assessments for the upper stages, assessment content mainly referred to learners' use of strategies to work out the meaning of words. In accordance with established organiser ratios, the P4, P7 and S3 assessments contain relatively small numbers of items from Tools for reading.
Figure 16 shows a typical item from the P1 literacy assessment, which reflects the organiser Tools for reading. It is designed to assess children's knowledge of sounds (phonological awareness). Note that the 'audio’ icon indicates to the learner that there is a voiced component to the item, enabling the learner to listen to the instruction. In this case, clicking on the icon prompts a reading of the item text to the child.
This item asks the learner to match the grapheme to the aurally presented phoneme, a skill which, in English, is a key precursor to mastery of reading. The focus of the item is unambiguously on phonological awareness the sounds (phonemes) and corresponding letter/s (graphemes) which represent them) rather than decoding. This item was classified as being at the bottom of the P1 literacy item difficulty range. It was presented to learners near the beginning of the assessment, with almost all learners able to answer it correctly.
Figure 17 shows another example of a P1 Tools for reading item.
This item draws on a learner's letter recognition skills, which is part of very early literacy development. It required learners to identify a letter from a set of options including numbers and symbols. An audio prompt provided support to the onscreen instruction. In this case, learners were not required to decode the letter, or demonstrate understanding of its sound.
This is an information text. This item asks a learner to identify the meaning of a word in context in an information text. It required learners to identify the meaning of a word from a set of options. To help the learner locate the word in the text, the sentence where the word appears is highlighted in italic blue in both the question and the source text. This link allows the learner to understand the context of the item in order to identify the meaning of the word.
3.2.2 SNSA Finding and using information
This organiser focuses on the critical literacy skills of locating information in a text and employing the information to meet a purpose. These skills are often applied in the context of non-fiction texts but can also be applied to fiction. In the SNSA, items for P1 and P4 learners that corresponded to this organiser generally focused on finding information that was literally stated or required a low level of inference (for example, recognising synonyms linking the question with the text). More advanced items addressing similar skills – for P7 and S3 – were likely to be applied to longer and more complex texts. At P7, the organiser Finding and using information also included items requiring learners to sort information in a text into relevant categories. The S3 reading assessment presented Finding and using information items that asked learners to find key information in one or more texts, or to make connections between the information they located, sometimes across more than one source of information.
Figure 19 provides a good example of a P4 item where typically a learner is asked to find information that is literally stated in text.
This item asks the learner to identify a step in a process in an instructional text. The learner can locate the step by linking the word string in the item to the step where the word string appears. This item is very much about the learner finding the correct bit of information.
This item was classified as being at the bottom of the P4 reading item difficulty range. It was presented to children near the beginning of the assessment, with almost all learners able to answer it correctly.
Figure 20 shows a typical item from the P7 reading assessment, from the organiser Finding and using information. The stimulus for this item is a non-fiction information text of typical length within the context of the P7 reading assessment, and mainly uses relatively simple vocabulary and language structures. The item presented here required learners to find information in the non-fiction text.
This item asks the learner to locate a paraphrased detail in the text. The information uses familiar synonymous language to help the learner link the information in the text to the correct answer. The phrase “specialised software supports the processes.” in the text is the information that needs to be located by the learner.
Figure 21 shows a Finding and using information item from a S3 reading assessment. The stimulus for this item is a descriptive, non-fiction text. The text uses more complex vocabulary, including some technical terminology, and the sentences are longer and use more complex structures, providing learners in S3 with greater challenge.
The item presented here required learners to select relevant information and identify a paraphrase of a detail given in a complex information text. Learners can relate the wording in the question directly to the identical expression in the text. However, in other ways this item is considerably more difficult than the P7 example provided in Figure 14, as the text is more complex and sophisticated and the learner has to understand that a lunar crater is a part of a moon.
This unit was only seen by learners if they did relatively well in the initial items within the assessment and the item was classified as being at the high end of the S3 item difficulty range.
3.2.3 SNSA Understanding, analysing and evaluating
The essence of this organiser is comprehension, beginning with word and sentence level texts (for learners at P1) and with progressively longer and more complex passages of text providing greater challenge across all the reading assessments. While items for the P4 assessment tended to focus on main or prominent ideas, learners at P7 and S3 were asked to answer a range of literal, inferential and evaluative questions that, for example, might require learners to distinguish between fact and opinion, recognise persuasive language, use evidence from a text to support answers, or evaluate the reliability and credibility of texts.
Figure 22 is an example of a P1 item from the organiser Understanding, analysing and evaluating. It assesses reading comprehension at sentence level. In this kind of item, the child chooses an answer from a selection (multiple choice item). This skill was modelled in the practice assessment.
This item was rated as being at the high end of the P1 item difficulty range. The text instruction can be read to the learner using the audio button. The question and answer options also have audio support. In contrast to the Tools for reading items presented in Figures 16 and 17, the learner is required to read the actual text independently. As well as being able to decode the words, the learner needs to infer which part of the activity Archie enjoys the most from the sentence ‘After that, he loves jumping in the puddles he has made!’ This item therefore relies on understanding information, rather than just finding and using it. Only a minority of P1 learners presented with this item were expected to complete it successfully.
It can be seen that the example item shown in Figure 22 requires the child both to decode the words by themselves (that is, to read independently) and to understand the meaning of the sentence. Another approach to assessing the development of reading comprehension at the earliest stages is to present written texts orally. This is because young learners may have higher skills in comprehension than their decoding skills allow them to demonstrate. Accordingly, at P1, a combination of written texts with audio support and without audio support was used to assess the skills, knowledge and understanding associated with the organiser Understanding, analysing and evaluating.
Figure 23 is an example of a P4 item from the organiser Understanding, analysing and evaluating.
This item asks learners to identify the purpose of an instructional text. To answer this item successfully, learners must understand and synthesise information contained within the 6 steps before concluding and summarising what the text is about. This item was in the middle of the item difficulty range for P4. It was presented to learners who had done relatively well in the initial items within the assessment.
In accordance with established organiser ratios, the majority of items in the S3 reading assessment focused on Understanding, analysing and evaluating. Like the reading assessments for P4 and P7, the texts used for the S3 assessment covered a range of text types, contexts and topics, from narrative through to information or persuasive texts, and fiction through to scientific texts or blogs. As would be expected, the texts for S3 were generally longer and more complex than for the lower stages.
The text in Figure 24 is an example of a typical text for S3.
Items in this organiser at S3 asked learners to demonstrate skills such as infer from a direct quotation a viewpoint held by a person described in a complex information text. The question requires the learner to interpret the final paragraph “Despite such accolades, Dr Rubin remained keenly aware of how much more there is to learn about the universe, saying in 2009, “I’m sorry I know so little. I’m sorry we all know so little. But that’s kind of the fun, isn’t it?” The learner is required to draw a conclusion based on the information provided in the text.
3.2.4 MCNG Tools for Reading
In the P1 assessment, this organiser comprised items related to phonological awareness, word decoding and word recognition; in the assessments for the higher stages, assessment content mainly referred to learners' use of strategies to work out the meaning of words. In accordance with established organiser ratios, the P4, P7 and S3 assessments contain relatively small numbers of items from Tools for reading.
Figure 25 shows a typical item from the P4 reading assessment, which reflects the organiser Tools for reading.
This item is designed to assess learners’ ability to recognise common words and suggest an appropriate synonym. Note that the 'speaker' icon indicates to the learner that there is audio support available, enabling the child to listen to the item text.
Figure 26 shows a typical P1 Tools for reading item.
This item assesses learners’ ability to identify what the sound is at the start of a word. This item had audio support for the answer options as well as the question stem, which makes this item easier for learners. Similar items without audio supported answer options would be more difficult for learners.
3.2.5 MCNG Finding and using information
This organiser focuses on the critical literacy skills of locating information in a text and employing the information to meet a purpose. These skills are often applied in the context of non-fiction texts but can also be applied to fiction. In MCNG, items for P1 and P4 learners that correspond to this organiser generally focus on finding information that is literally stated or requires a low level of inference (for example, recognising synonyms linking the question with the text). More advanced items addressing similar skills – for P7 and S3 –are likely to be applied to longer and more complex texts. At P7, the organiser Finding and using information also includes items requiring learners to sort information in a text into relevant categories. The S3 reading assessment presents Finding and using information items that ask young people to find key information in one or more texts, or to make connections between the information they locate, sometimes across more than one text.
This multiple-choice item assesses learners’ ability to identify information which is directly stated in the text; as such it would be an easier item for P4.
3.2.6 – MCNG Understanding, analysing and evaluating
The essence of this organiser is comprehension, beginning with word and sentence level texts (for learners at P1) and with progressively longer and more complex passages of text providing greater challenge across all the reading assessments. While items for the P4 assessment tended to focus on main or prominent ideas, learners at P7 and S3 were asked to answer a range of literal, inferential and evaluative items that, for example, might require learners to distinguish between fact and opinion, recognise persuasive language, use evidence from a text to support answers, or evaluate the reliability and credibility of texts.
This item assesses learners’ ability to understand a simple sentence in Gaelic and match it to an image. This item has audio support for the question stem, but the answer options do not. The learner must understand what they read/hear and correctly identify the image that matches the sentence. In this instance, the simple sentence states ‘Beth is walking with her dog’.
This item is an example of a sentence completion item and asks learners to identify one key word that is contained within the text. This item would be easy to mid difficulty for P4 learners as the answer is not a direct lift from the text, and it requires learners to closely read more than one sentence in order to answer it correctly.
This cloze response item asks learners to identify a phrase within the text to complete the end of the given sentence. This would be an easier item for P4 as the answer is directly stated in the text. The difficulty of this item would increase should the answer not be a direct lift from the text, or if some degree of inference was required.
3.3 SNSA National outcomes for reading/literacy[5]
3.3.1 Overall outcome
Charts 13a to 13d show for each stage (P1, P4, P7 and S3) the overall outcomes of learners for reading/literacy. Where learners are presented with more than 5 items per organiser, they additionally show the outcomes of learners according to the knowledge organisers: Tools for reading (TFR), Understanding, analysing and evaluating (UAE) and Finding and using information (FUI). The bars show outcomes across the six capacity bands that are specific to each stage, in line with SNSA reports for the academic year 2024 to 2025.
For all stages, the majority of learners achieved outcomes in the mid to upper bands, a pattern that holds across the overall summaries and organiser outcomes.
Overall, for P1, the most commonly achieved bands were bands 4 and 6. For P4 learners, the upper bands were the most commonly achieved by learners. For P7 learners, the most commonly achieved bands were bands 9 and 10. For S3 learners, the most commonly achieved bands were bands 10 and 11.
Please note that for all charts, a notable difference refers to a difference of 10 percent or more, a small difference refers to any difference between 5 percent and 10 percent.
In line with the Office for National Statistics (ONS guidelines) data is not available for any assessments where there are fewer than 10 learners in any category or band. These cases are indicated where appropriate in this section of the report.
Overall, the band achieved by the largest proportion of P1 learners was band 6. Outcomes in bands 4 to 6 were achieved by 81% of learners.
For the 'Tools for reading' organiser, 60% of learners achieved bands 5 and 6 and 78.1% of learners achieved outcomes in the three highest bands. As with the overall summary, the 'Tools for reading' organiser had the largest proportion of learners achieving outcomes in band 6.
For the 'Understanding, analysing and evaluating' organiser, 58.9% of learners achieved bands 5 and 6 and 78.3% of learners achieved bands 4 to 6. The 'Understanding, analysing and evaluating' organiser had the largest proportion of learners achieving outcomes in band 6.
Overall, the band achieved by the largest proportion of P4 learners was band 9. This was achieved by 27.23% of P4 learners. Just over 50% of learners achieved bands 8 or 9 and 81.8% of learners achieved bands 6 to 9.
For the 'Finding and using information' organiser, 67.8% of learners achieved bands 7 to 9 and 80.8% of learners achieved bands 6 to 9. As with the overall summary, the 'Finding and using information' organiser had the largest proportion of learners achieving outcomes in band 9.
In the 'Tools for reading' organiser, 77.2% of learners achieved bands 8 and 9 with the largest proportion of learners achieving outcomes in band 9.
For the 'Understanding, analysing and evaluating' organiser, 68.4% of learners achieved bands 7 to 9 and 82.2% of learners achieved bands 6 to 9.
For P7, the band achieved by the largest proportion of learners overall was band 9. This was achieved by 26.28% of learners. Band 6 was achieved by the smallest proportion of participants, with only 5.77% scoring in this band. Bands 8 to 10 were achieved by 65.2% of learners and 94.2% of learners achieved bands 7 to 11.
For the 'Finding and using information' organiser, 62.9% of learners achieved bands 8 to 10 and 94.2% of learners achieved bands 7 to 11. The modal band for this organiser differed from the overall summary, with the band achieved by the largest proportion of learners instead being band 10.
For the 'Tools for reading' organiser, 56.8% of learners achieved bands 8 to 10 and 89.3% of learners achieved bands 7 to 11.
For the 'Understanding, analysing and evaluating' organiser, 61% of learners achieved bands 8 to 10 and 93.6% of learners achieved bands 7 to 11.
The modal band for ‘Tools for reading’ and ‘Understanding, analysing and evaluating’ was band 11, which was again different to the overall organiser.
Overall, for S3, the band achieved by the largest proportion of learners was band 10. This was achieved by 25.07% of learners. The band achieved by the smallest proportion of participants was band 7 with only 7.84% scoring in this band. Band 9 to 11 were achieved by 61.2% of learners and 92.2% of learners achieved bands 8 to 12.
For the 'Finding and using information' organiser, 53.7% of learners achieved bands 9 to 11 and 89.8% of learners achieved bands 8 to 12. The modal band for this organiser differed from the overall summary, with the band achieved by the largest proportion of learners instead being band 12.
In the 'Understanding, analysing and evaluating' organiser, 61.1% of learners achieved bands 9 to 11 and 91.7% of learners achieved bands 8 to 12. As with the overall summary, the 'Understanding, analysing and evaluating' organiser had the largest proportion of learners achieving outcomes in band 10.
3.3.2 Sex
Charts 14a to 14d show for each stage (P1, P4, P7 and S3) the outcomes for male and female learners for show reading/literacy, both overall and by organiser.
For P1 and P4, for the overall outcomes, the majority of learners achieved outcomes in the mid to upper bands, while for the organisers this was in the upper two bands. At P1 there was a minor difference between male and female learners, while the difference was more pronounced at P4, with a greater proportion of female learners achieving outcomes in the higher bands than males.
For P7, the majority of female learners scored in the upper two bands, whereas the majority of males scored in the two mid to upper bands (9 and 10).
At S3, the largest proportions of male and female learners achieved outcomes in the mid to upper bands, with a greater proportion of females scoring these outcomes than male learners. This was the case for the overall outcomes, and generally was also the case when considering only assessment material related to each of the organisers.
For all year groups, there were no notable differences between the proportion of female and male learners achieving outcomes in each band for both overall summaries and for each organiser.
There were no notable differences between the proportion of females and males achieving outcomes in each band overall and for each organiser. Overall, there were no differences between the proportion of females and males achieving outcomes in each band.
There were no differences between the proportion of females and males achieving outcomes in each band for the 'Tools for reading' organiser.
There were no differences between the proportion of females and males achieving outcomes in each band for the 'Understanding, analysing and evaluating' organiser.
There were no notable differences between the proportion of females and males achieving outcomes in each band overall and for each organiser. Overall, there were small differences between the proportion of females and males achieving outcomes in band 9. There was no difference for all other bands.
For the 'Finding and using information' organiser there were small differences between the proportion of females and males achieving outcomes in band 9. There was no difference for all other bands.
There were no differences between the proportion of females and males achieving outcomes in each band for the 'Tools for reading' organiser.
For the 'Understanding, analysing and evaluating' organiser there were small differences between the proportion of females and males achieving outcomes in band 9. There was no difference for all other bands.
There were no notable differences between the proportion of females and males achieving outcomes in each band overall and for each organiser. Overall, there were no differences between the proportion of females and males achieving outcomes in each band.
There were no differences between the proportion of females and males achieving outcomes in each band for the 'Finding and using information' organiser.
For the 'Tools for reading' organiser there were small differences between the proportion of females and males achieving outcomes in band 11. There was no difference for all other bands.
There were no differences between the proportion of females and males achieving outcomes in each band for the 'Understanding, analysing and evaluating' organiser.
There were no notable differences between the proportion of females and males achieving outcomes in each band overall and for each organiser. Overall, there were no differences between the proportion of females and males achieving outcomes in each band.
There were small differences between the proportion of females and males achieving outcomes in bands 7 and 12 for the 'Finding and using information' organiser. There was no difference for all other bands.
For the 'Understanding, analysing and evaluating' organiser there were small differences between the proportion of females and males achieving outcomes in band 12. There was no difference for all other bands.
3.3.3 Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation
This section reviews the distribution of learners for all stages across categories that reflect the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). To simplify the display of outcomes and aid their interpretation, we have divided the original 20 categories (vigintiles) into three combined categories of socio-economic background. These combined categories are: SIMD 1–4, indicating the lowest socio-economic quintile (that is, the most deprived children and young people, those in vigintiles 1 to 4); SIMD 5–16, indicating the three middle quintiles (vigintiles 5 to 16); and SIMD 17–20, indicating the highest socio-economic quintile (that is, the least deprived children and young people, those in vigintiles 17 to 20).
Charts 15a to 15e show for each stage (P1, P4, P7 and S3), the proportions of learners achieving each capacity band for learners within these SIMD categories, for both overall outcomes and outcomes in each organiser.
At each stage, the proportions of learners with outcomes corresponding to the upper capacity bands was larger in the least deprived group (SIMD 17–20). Likewise, there were also relatively higher proportions of learners who achieved outcomes in the two lower bands among learners classified in the most deprived group (SIMD 1–4). This pattern was present across all stages, both for reading/literacy overall and by organiser, but was more pronounced in later stages compared to P1, where differences are comparatively small.
3.3.4 Ethnic background
This section looks at differences in outcomes between learners from different ethnic backgrounds. Charts 16a to 16d show the percentages of learners in each of the major ethnic groups for P4 Reading. Outcomes for learners with missing or undisclosed ethnicity data are not included in the charts. A more granular breakdown of the number and percentages of learners in different ethnic groups who completed each assessment is available in Tables 17 to 20 in Appendix 6.
For the ethnicity outcomes, to allow for the presentation of data the MCNG ethnicity groupings differ from those used in SNSA where more granularity can be provided without identification of completers.
The outcomes show that, generally, there were only relatively small differences across the groups, both in terms of overall reading/literacy outcomes and when considering assessment outcomes regarding each of the organisers. For P4, generally, the mid to upper bands were the outcome achieved by the greatest proportion of learners for each ethnic background.
For White Scottish learners, at P4 they most frequently achieved the highest band and the least common outcome amongst these learners was the lowest band.
At P4, the highest band was most frequently achieved by 'White - Scottish' learners. The greatest proportion of learners achieving the lowest band were from the 'Other' group and the fewest were in the 'Mixed or multiple ethnic groups' group. The greatest proportion of learners achieving the highest band were from the 'Mixed or multiple ethnic groups' group and the fewest were in the 'Other' group.
For S3, the greatest proportion of learners achieving the lowest band was from the 'Other' group and the fewest were in the 'Asian' group. The greatest proportion of learners achieving the highest band was from the 'Mixed or multiple ethnic groups' group and the fewest were in the 'Caribbean or Black' group.
In line with ONS guidelines the data for P1 and P7 is not reported to avoid identifying individual learners.
Overall, there were notable differences between outcomes in band 12 and there were small differences between the proportions of learners in bands 7 to 9.
Across all ethnic backgrounds, the bands achieved by the largest proportion of learners were bands 10 and 11.
There were proportionally more learners from Mixed or multiple ethnic backgrounds and White - all other groups backgrounds achieving outcomes in the highest capacity band compared to the other ethnic groups presented.
There were proportionally more learners from Other and Caribbean or Black backgrounds achieving outcomes in the lowest capacity bands compared to the other ethnic groups presented.
For the 'Finding and using information' organiser, there were notable differences between outcomes in band 12 and small differences between the proportions of learners in bands 7, 9 and 10.
Across all ethnic backgrounds, the bands achieved by the largest proportion of learners were bands 11 and 12.
There were proportionally more learners from Mixed or multiple ethnic groups and White - all other groups backgrounds achieving outcomes in the highest capacity band compared to the other ethnic groups presented.
There were proportionally more learners from Other' and Caribbean or Black backgrounds achieving outcomes in the lowest capacity bands compared to the other ethnic groups presented.
For the 'Understanding, analysing and evaluating' organiser, there were notable differences between outcomes in band 12 and there were small differences between the proportions of learners in bands 7, 8 and 11.
Across all ethnic backgrounds, the bands achieved by the largest proportion of learners were bands 10 and 11.
There were proportionally more learners from Mixed or multiple ethnic groups and White - all other groups backgrounds achieving outcomes in the highest capacity band compared to the other ethnic groups presented.
There were proportionally more learners from Other and Caribbean or Black backgrounds achieving outcomes in the lowest capacity bands compared to the other ethnic groups presented.
3.3.5 Free School Meal Entitlement
Charts 17a to 17d show literacy/reading outcomes of learners according to entitlement to free school meals (FME), distinguishing those with entitlement from all other learners, for each stage (P1, P4, P7 and S3). Outcomes are given for the overall outcomes and by organiser.
Across all stages, there were noticeably larger proportions with outcomes in the top capacity bands among learners not entitled to free school meals than among those with FME. At all stages, there were higher proportions of outcomes in the lower two capacity bands among learners with FME.
3.3.6 Additional Support Needs
Charts 18a to 18d show literacy/reading outcomes of learners according to whether or not learners were registered as learners with Additional Support Needs (ASN), distinguishing those registered as learners with ASN from all other learners, for each stage (P1, P4, P7 and S3). Outcomes are given for the overall outcomes and by organiser.
For all stages, the proportion of learners in the top band was notably larger among learners without ASN. Similarly, there were relatively larger proportions of learners with ASN in the two lower bands. These differences were similar overall as well as when considering each organiser separately.
Across all stages, notable differences can be found in the proportion of learners achieving the highest bands in each of the organisers.
The difference in the proportion of learners with and without ASN in the two lower becomes more pronounced at P4, P7 and S3, where the proportion of learners with ASN in the two lower bands tended to be approximately double the proportion of learners without ASN.
3.3.7 Looked After Children
Charts 19a to 19c show literacy/reading outcomes of learners according to whether or not learners were learners who were classified as Looked After Children (LAC) either at Home or Away from Home. The information was taken from the national database, SEEMiS, and compares LAC with all other learners, for P4, P7 and S3. Outcomes are given for the overall outcomes and by organiser.
Across all stages, among learners classified as Looked After Children, smaller proportions achieved outcomes in the two upper capacity bands, compared to other learners without these classifications. Similarly, for the lower capacity bands, there was a higher proportion of learners classified as Looked After Children achieving these outcomes compared to all other learners. These patterns can be seen across stages and generally hold for organiser outcomes in addition to the overall summaries.
In line with ONS guidelines the data for P1 is not reported to avoid identifying individual learners.
3.3.8 English as an Additional Language
Charts 20a to 20d show literacy/reading outcomes of learners according to language background and compares learners who have English as an Additional Language (EAL) with all other learners, for each stage (P1, P4, P7 and S3). Outcomes are given for the overall outcomes and by organiser.
At P1, there were minimal differences in the proportion of learners achieving outcomes in the lowest two capacity bands and more noticeable differences in the proportions achieving the highest capacity bands, particularly band 6.
For P4 and P7, a greater proportion of learners for whom English is an Additional Language achieved outcomes in the lowest bands compared to the learners for whom English is their first language. The reverse was true for the highest capacity bands.
When comparing learners for whom English is an Additional Language (EAL) and those for whom English is their first language at S3, we observed only relatively small differences in the proportion of learners achieving outcomes in the lowest two and highest two capacity bands.
3.4 MCNG National outcomes for reading/literacy
3.4.1 Overall outcome
Charts 21a to 21c show the overall outcomes of learners for reading/literacy for stages P4, P7 and S3. Where learners are presented with more than 5 items per organiser, they additionally show the outcomes of learners according to the knowledge organisers: Tools for reading (TFR), Understanding, analysing and evaluating (UAE) and Finding and using information (FUI). The bars show outcomes across the six capacity bands that are specific to each stage, in line with MCNG reports for the academic year 2024 to 2025.
For P7 and S3 learners, the highest capacity bands were the most commonly achieved bands. P4 learner outcomes were more evenly spread across the 6 bands, with band 4 and 9 being the most commonly achieved.
Please note that for all charts, a notable difference refers to a difference of 10 percent or more, a small difference refers to any difference between 5 percent and 10 percent.
In line with ONS guidelines the data for P1 is not reported to avoid identifying individual learners.
3.4.2 Sex
Charts 22a to 22c show the outcomes for male and female learners for reading/literacy, both overall and by organiser for P4, P7 and S3.
For P4, for the overall outcomes, the majority of learners achieved outcomes in highest capacity band, while for the UAE organiser this was in the middle bands. For P7, the majority of learners, both male and female, achieved the highest capacity band for both reading overall and the organisers. At S3, the largest proportions of male learners achieved the lowest capacity band whereas the greatest proportion of female learners achieved outcomes in the upper band. Also, in S3, there was a greater proportion of learners achieving outcomes in the lowest capacity band compared to previous stages.
Across all stages, there were differences in the proportion of male and female learners achieving the lowest and highest capacity bands, with a greater percentage of males scoring in the lowest band and more females achieving the upper band. This pattern is more pronounced in the later stages, with only slight differences seen at P4.
In line with ONS guidelines the data for P1 is not reported to avoid identifying individual learners.
Overall, there were no differences between the proportion of females and males achieving outcomes in each band.
3.4.3 Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation
In line with ONS guidelines the data for all stages is not reported to avoid identifying individual learners.
3.4.4 Ethnic background
This section looks at differences in outcomes between learners from 'White Scottish' and other ethnic backgrounds. Charts 23a to 23d show the percentages of learners in each of the comparison groups at P4. A more granular breakdown of the number and percentages of learners in different ethnic groups who completed each assessment is available in Tables 27 to 30 in Appendix 7.
For the ethnicity outcomes, to allow for the presentation of data the MCNG ethnicity groupings differ from those used in SNSA where more granularity can be provided without identification of completers.
The outcomes show that, generally, there were only small differences across the two comparison groups, both in terms of overall outcomes and when considering assessment outcomes regarding each of the organisers.
For P4, generally, the highest band was the outcome achieved by the greatest proportion of learners for each ethnic background, with a slightly higher proportion of the learners from other ethnic backgrounds achieving this outcome. The proportion of learners achieving outcomes in the other bands was comparable between the two groups.
In line with ONS guidelines the data for P1, P7 and S3 is not reported to avoid identifying individual learners.
3.4.5 Free School Meal Entitlement
In line with ONS guidelines the data for P1 is not reported to avoid identifying individual learners.
3.4.6 Additional Support Needs
Charts 24a and 24b show reading/literacy outcomes of learners according to whether or not learners were registered as learners with Additional Support Needs (ASN), distinguishing those registered as learners with ASN from all other learners, for P4 and P7. Outcomes are given for the overall outcomes and by organiser.
For P4 learners, the only overall notable difference was found in the higher proportion of ASN learners achieving band 4. For P7, there was a higher proportion of ASN learners in band 6, with a notable difference also seen in the proportion of outcomes achieved in band 11.
Similar patterns can be seen in each of the curricular organisers across both reported stages.
In line with ONS guidelines the data for P1 and S3 is not reported to avoid identifying individual learners.
3.4.7 Looked After Children
There are no Looked After Children in the MCNG data.
3.4.8 English as an Additional Language
In line with ONS guidelines the data for all stages is not reported to avoid identifying individual learners.