Best ever performance by West Lothian primary pupils
Primary children in West Lothian had a record-breaking year for numeracy and literacy in 2022/23.
Hard-working West Lothian children recorded their best ever performance, and were above the Scottish average in all 15 of the national measurements.
The Scottish Government's Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels (ACEL) for 2022/23 report shows that in Primary 1, 79% of pupils in West Lothian are meeting the expected levels of literacy, which is 3 percentage points above the national average.
This rises to 81% in Primary 7, which is eight percentage points above the Scotland-wide average.
Numeracy show a similar picture with 86% of pupils in West Lothian meeting the expected levels, one percentage point above the national average. The figure for Primary 7 in West Lothian is 85%, which is seven percentage points above the average for Scotland.
West Lothian pupils were ranked top for achievement at primary school level amongst our comparator authorities, which are other council areas with similar demographics and levels of deprivation.
They were rated as third highest for literacy achievement and fourth highest for numeracy achievement out of all 32 local authority areas in Scotland.
The report also shows West Lothian primary pupils regarded as being from the most deprived areas exceeded national performance in all measures.
Executive councillor for education Andrew McGuire said: "Thanks to everyone who has played a role in this remarkable achievement from teachers and colleagues from across education, parents/carers and, of course, the dedicated pupils themselves.
"West Lothian continues to be one of the top local authority areas for primary education in Scotland. The council areas ahead of us tend to be much more affluent that West Lothian, which makes the achievement all the more impressive.
"It's essential we do all we can to give our children the best possible start in life to help them have a successful future. The achievement of our primary pupils, together with exam attainment in West Lothian rising consistently for the last decade for secondary pupils, is evidence that our approach of prioritising education is proving successful.
"We know deprivation is a major factor when it comes to educational achievement, so I'm especially delighted to see children from our most deprived areas exceeding national performance."
