Highland primary school attainment is on the up, with 10% boost in literacy this year

Early figures from Highland Council show a much improved performance at every level of primary school attainment.

P1 reading and writing scores showed a 12% increase on last year’s figures.

In reading, 73% of pupils are now meeting the expected level, with 69% achieving their level in maths. There is also a 12% improvement in literacy overall and 10% in numeracy. Meanwhile, 81% of pupils are where they should be in L&T – that’s listening and talking.

P7 also delivered a stronger performance, with scores up by at least 10% in every measure.

Pupils assessed in P4 made gains of between 6% and 8%.

The council notes that primary school attainment figures are estimates at present. The data is based on June 2022 figures, but all schools submitted final results in August.

This may cause a variance of around 2% but the council believes it gives a general picture of attainment.

Taking steps to boost Highland primary attainment

Overall, primary school attainment improved in every measure, with an 11% and 10% boost on reading and writing results.

However, Highland Council still lags behind the national average. According to 2020 figures from the Local Government Benchmarking Framework, the area sits bottom of the league table of Scottish local authorities.

In 2020 only 49% of Highland pupils were achieving their level in literacy, compared to a national average of 67%. In numeracy, the national average was 75% and Highland achieved 60%.

These latest figures show the gap has narrowed.

Education bosses say they intend to catch up by next year, and hope to exceed the national average by 2024.

They say the key to improving literacy is through high quality, professional learning throughout the teaching career.

Highland Council is delivering training to ensure the literacy curriculum prioritises secure foundational reading and writing skills. They also want to raise attainment through a structured approach to reading comprehension.

Primary schools will have access to support in areas including writing development, addressing learning gaps and accurate reporting. The education team is also pointing staff towards a suite of online professional learning resources.

Highland Council plans to track uptake of training against school performance, and provide school ‘stretch’ targets to get attainment back on track.

In numeracy, Highland Council is running a project with five school groups including Lochaber, Golspie and Thurso high schools, Dingwall Academy and Inverness Royal Academy.

Many of the project’s aims focus on boosting teachers’ confidence in their own understanding of maths, so they can better support learners.

It’s all part of an action plan created to bring Highland primary schools back up to national attainment levels.

At the same time, Highland education chairman John Finlayson emphasises the region’s strengths in other areas, such as pupil wellbeing and life skills. In an exclusive interview with the P&J, he called on Scottish education to take a broader view of attainment.

Exam results roughly in line with national picture

At senior school level, Highland exam results are roughly in line with trends across Scotland.

This means they’re generally better than 2019 – the last time pupils sat formal exams – but down a bit on last year’s high, under the alternative certificate model.

At National 5 level, 79.3% of Highland pupils achieved an A-C grade, compared to 80.8% nationally.

Highers performed a little better than the Scottish average, with 79.5% getting an A-C against a Scottish rate of 78.9%.

In Advanced Highers, 80.5% of Highland pupils got an A-C compared to 81.3% nationally.

Highland Council says schools made particular gains in National 5 Maths – 6.8% up on last year – thanks to a concerted focus on encouraging pupils to study maths.

The encouraging statistics will go before councillors on education committee later this month. Members previously raised strong concerns about Highland’s poor primary school attainment results, so the committee is likely to take some time to consider the pace of improvement.

This early data certainly suggests they’re moving in the right direction.

Are you interested in more exclusive and breaking Highland and Islands news from the P&J? If so, why not join our dedicated Facebook page HERE