Clackmannanshire Council Online

Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels

Official statistics were released on 13 December 2022 by the Scottish Government on school pupils’ Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) Levels (ACEL) in the reading, writing, listening & talking and numeracy ‘organisers’.

The statistics, based on teacher judgement, report on the percentage of school pupils in Primary 1 (P1), Primary 4 (P4), Primary 7 (P7) and Secondary 3 (S3) who have achieved the expected CfE Levels relevant to their stage. The data was not collected in 2019/20 due to the closure of schools resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.  In 2020/21, data was collected for Primary school (P1, P4 and P7) pupils only.

Across Clackmannanshire the percentage of primary school pupils achieving the expected CfE Level has increased in 2021/22 across all organisers and stages, compared to 2020/21. However the expected CfE levels were lower than in 2018/19 which mirrored the picture nationally:

• 73.5% of Clackmannanshire’s primary school pupils achieved the expected CfE Level for Reading; increase of 1.2pp on previous year
• 66.1% of Clackmannanshire’s primary school pupils achieved the expected CfE Level for Writing; increase of 2.9pp on previous year
• 83.7% of Clackmannanshire’s primary school pupils achieved the expected CfE Level for Listening & Talking; increase of 3.4pp on previous year
• 63.3% of Clackmannanshire’s primary school pupils achieved the expected CfE Level for Literacy; increase of 3.7pp on previous year
• 71.7% of Clackmannanshire’s primary school pupils achieved the expected CfE Level for Numeracy; increase of 3.1pp on previous year
• Clackmannanshire’s P1 cohort performing stronger than the national cohort
• At S3, 87.5% achieving third level or better in Literacy, higher than the national average (85.5); 44% achieving fourth level
• At S3, 83% achieving third level or better in Numeracy; 62.1% achieving fourth level; higher than the national average (59.3%)

The poverty related attainment gap narrowed in Literacy by 1.4pp compared to the previous year and is smaller than the national gap (19.3pp compared to 21.3pp nationally). Although the poverty related attainment gap in Numeracy doesn’t reflect the national picture (as it grew slightly by 2.6pp compared to the previous year) it remains smaller than the national gap (15.6pp compared to national gap of 17.8pp).

At senior level, 87.5% are achieving third level or better in Literacy which is higher than the national average (85.5%); more than 4 in 10 are achieving fourth level.83% are achieving third level or better in Numeracy; lower than the national average of 89.1%; 62.1%  are achieving fourth level; higher than the national average (59.3%).

The poverty related attainment gap narrowed in Literacy at third level and above by 2.6pp however remains larger than the national gap (19.5pp compared to 16.3pp nationally). The gap also grew at fourth level. The poverty related attainment gap in Numeracy grew at both third and fourth level compared to 2018/19 and is double the national gap at third level and above (30.6pp compared to 15pp nationally).

Clackmannanshire is continuing its work with partners as part of collaborative improvement, with a specific focus on achieving excellence and equity for all learners as an integral part of recovery approaches.  Spokesperson for Education Councillor Graham Lindsay explained: "There is no doubt that the Covid-19 pandemic and cost of living crisis has impacted upon many of our families and young people. I'm very proud that many of our learners have demonstrated great resilience and that our educational establishments have responded to support our learners' needs. The schools should be commended for the support they continue to offer our young people to overcome many of the challenges they face. The Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence levels across Clackmannanshire shows that our learners are continuing to make progress in our schools and I'm pleased to see the narrowing of the poverty related attainment gap in key areas.” 

Chief Education Officer Colin Bruce added: “Behind every learner’s success is a massive amount of support from parents, carers, education staff and range of partners. It takes team work to ensure our learners flourish.”