SSA - 2008 Survey of Mathematics and Core Skills

The 2008 Scottish Survey of Achievement was on Mathematics and Core Skills. Between April and June of that year just under 40,000 pupils in P3, P5, P7 and S2 from around 1,200 Scottish schools took part. The survey reflected learning and teaching under the 5-14 Curriculum.

Some of the findings were:

• The picture of attainment from this SSA is similar to that seen in previous SSA surveys in other subjects, with the proportion of pupils attaining the expected levels in maths and numeracy decreasing through primary and into secondary. Teacher judgement of pupil performance at all stages shows a similar pattern.
• Over 85% of P3 pupils were well-established or better at the expected level of maths. A further 9%, while not yet having securely attained the level, had made a good start towards it. At S2 around 30% were well established at the expected level with a further 25 per cent having made a good start at the level.
• For numeracy there has been no change in attainment from previous surveys in 2005 and 2006. The 2008 SSA shows that over 90% of pupils met expected levels in P3, with a further 5% having made a good start at the level but without securely achieving it. Around 45% of pupils in S2 were well-established at the expected level. In addition over 20% of pupils had made a good start at this level.