Literacy and English within Scotland’s curriculum

Published
31/01/2026
Last updated
12/03/2026

The focus of this thematic inspection emerged from several factors, including international comparisons, recommendations in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) report ‘Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence: Into the Future’, and national policy priorities.

Included in the OECD recommendations was a curriculum review. It is recommended that Scotland should:

“Develop a systematic approach to curriculum review: Scotland could consider establishing a curriculum review cycle with a planned time frame and specific review agenda, led by the specialist stand-alone agency.”

Additionally, inspection evidence has revealed variability in the quality of how settings and schools within different local authorities deliver Scotland’s literacy and English curriculum. This has a direct impact on the learning outcomes of children and young people.

To support the Curriculum Improvement Cycle, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education announced a national thematic inspection of literacy and English. The purpose was to provide evidence of what was working well and what needed to improve in the curriculum. The findings of this inspection are detailed in this report.

Scotland’s national measures of attainment and achievement in reading, writing, and listening and talking, based on the Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) Levels (ACEL), show steady improvement since academic year 2021-22.

In academic year 2024-25:

  • for pupils in primary 1, primary 4 and primary 7 combined, the proportion achieving the expected levels is the highest to date for literacy

  • for pupils in S3, the proportions achieving third level or better in literacy are the highest to date

  • for the individual literacy organisers (listening and talking; reading; and writing) at primary level, attainment was highest in listening and talking and lowest in writing

  • for S3 pupils, attainment across the individual literacy organisers at third level was more consistent

  • the attainment gap among primary pupils combined was at its narrowest ever for literacy

  • attainment in literacy has improved for pupils from both the most and least deprived areas

As attainment for the most deprived has improved by more than the least deprived, the attainment gap has narrowed, from 20.2 percentage points in 2023-24 to 19.4 percentage points in 2024-25.

The literacy attainment gap among S3 pupils for the proportion achieving third level was at its narrowest ever. For S3, both the most deprived and least deprived areas have seen an increase in the proportion of pupils achieving third level for literacy to the highest since records began in 2016-17. As attainment among pupils in the most deprived areas has risen by more than it has for those in the least deprived areas, the attainment gap has narrowed from 12.7 percentage points in 2023-24 to 10.8 percentage points in 2024-25.

Attainment in National Qualifications at grades A to C in Higher English in 2024-25 has remained broadly stable compared with 2018/19. However, attainment at grades A to C in Advanced Higher English and National 5 English in 2024/25 is lower than in 2018/19.

International comparisons of Scottish attainment in reading through the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) show that Scotland’s reading performance in 2022 was above the OECD average and comparable to many peer countries. The proportion of low-performing readers and top performers had increased since 2018. The PISA report states that socioeconomic background continues to have a significant impact on attainment. Girls continued to outperform boys in reading, and children and young people demonstrated resilience and a strong sense of belonging, despite challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

This report begins with the main findings across all sectors, followed by detailed sectoral evidence. We conclude with recommendations for staff in schools and early learning and childcare (ELC) settings, local authorities, national bodies and the Scottish Government.

We found strengths in each sector. However, aspects of the literacy and English curriculum and the quality of learning and teaching in literacy and English need to continue improving. From our evidence, we have set out what is working well, what needs to improve and the barriers to improvement that settings and schools are facing.

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