Education scores – how they work

Pupils are assessed at the age of 15 – generally S4 in Scotland – as this is regarded as a reasonable point at which to test the impact of compulsory education before pupils move into more specialised subjects or workplaces.

A total of 109 Scottish schools with 3,123 pupils took part in the survey.

Scores are given depending on the pupils’ proficiency in each area and an average reached which is then compared to those of other countries in the OECD taking part in Pisa.