Members of Highland Council’s education committee have offered thanks to primary schools across the region, who delivered a strong improvement in attainment.
Literacy is up 10% on last year across primary school levels, while numeracy has improved by 9%.
While this is still behind the national average, it’s a substantial increase in one year. It makes Highland the second most improved council in Scotland.
Highland Council’s education committee considered a detailed primary school attainment report this morning. They welcomed the good news but also observed that they still have a long way to go.
Highland attainment is second most improved in Scotland
In 2022, Highland was languishing at the bottom of the national league table for literacy and numeracy scores in primary school.
It prompted outrage in the council chamber, and a new strategy to improve attainment across the board.
Now, education bosses have returned to councillors with a big jump up in performance.
Literacy has improved by 12% in primary one, 7% in primary four and 11% in primary seven. Numeracy is up 9%, 6% and 11% in the same age levels.
Overall, in 2021/22, 59% of primary school pupils achieved the necessary standard in literacy. That’s a 10% increase on the previous year.
However, it’s still 12% behind the national average of 71%.
Numeracy results are better, at 69% across primary schools – a 9% improvement on 2020/21. But the Scottish average is 9% higher again, at 78%.
While they’ve not yet closed the gap, Highland councillors took time to congratulate primary school staff and pupils on their achievement.
“This is a good news story and we should be thanking all our schools in turning around the statistics,” said councillor Drew Millar. “We have all come through difficult times. This is a bit of light at the end of a long, dark tunnel, but there’s still a long way to go.”
Education bosses emphasised that attainment isn’t just about academic assessment – it’s also about pupils’ wellbeing.
Councillor Sarah Atkin said she got the message.
She said: “This is not just about improving attainment, it’s about cultural change.”
Were Highland schools marking pupils too low?
Even with double-digit improvements in several measures, Highland primaries are still falling short of the national average.
But education bosses believe this could be more about assessment than attainment. Executive chief officer Nicky Grant put it plainly: “Some teachers were over-assessing and making judgements that were too harsh.”
Ms Grant pointed out that going to medical school generally requires straight As, but an A is upwards of 75%. By contrast, she said, some teachers were looking for 100% scores to give a pupil a ‘pass’ in literacy and numeracy levels.
Ms Grant and chairman John Finlayson said the council has since rolled out training to give staff the confidence to award the top marks. Schools are working together to achieve a consistent approach to assessment and moderation.
And the council has set ambitious stretch aims to catch up with the national average within two years.
It’s already bearing fruit, but there’s still a lot of work to do. Councillor Alasdair Christie said Highland is still in the lower quartile nationally, adding: “None of us want to be there. There’s a lot to be celebrated but let’s move up a division.”
Mr Finlayson has always compared the attainment scores as a journey of improvement. Today, both he and Mr Christie seized on that metaphor and said: “It’s time to put our foot down.”
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