Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy (SSLN) was replaced with the more comprehensive Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels (ACEL) data collection as part of the development of the National Improvement Framework for Scottish education. This was partly in response to advice from the OECD following its 2015 review of Scottish education which said that said the sample approach of the SSLN did not give national agencies enough evidence - “The light sampling of literacy and numeracy at the national level has not provided sufficient evidence for other stakeholders to use in their own evaluative activities or for national agencies to identify with confidence the areas of strength in the years of the Broad General Education across the four capacities of CfE."

The SSLN did not provide any detailed information for local authorities and schools about the progress of individual children. The ACEL data provides the attainment levels of every child in Scotland at key stages in primary and secondary school, and provides detailed data at all levels of the system, allowing schools and local authorities to better target improvement activity. Moving to ACEL data also empowers teachers, placing primacy on their professional judgement as the key indicator of children’s progress prior to national qualifications.