The Scottish Government publishes attainment data for all schools each September on a platform called Insight. We have included a selection of this data below. Behind the scenes, we carry out detailed analysis to ensure our strategic planning is thorough, robust, and grounded in evidence.
We are pleased with the progress we have achieved and welcome the opportunity to share these outcomes with you.
Dear Parents and Carers,
I am writing to share some very positive news about our school’s most recent leavers’ attainment data, published nationwide through Insight for the 2024-25 session. This data provides one of the clearest pictures of how well our young people achieve by the time they leave school and is an important measure of our improvement work.
Following our HMIE inspection in November 2025, this year’s Insight data shows clear and meaningful improvements across almost every key measure. These improvements reflect the hard work of our young people, the commitment of staff, and the strong support we receive from families and our wider community.
High-level messages are detailed below but I have also included graphs from Insight as well as excerpts from the School Inspection Findings (SIF) to demonstrate the improvements being made.
Lowest-attaining 20% achieved their highest results in five years.
Middle 60% achieved much greater than the Virtual Comparator (VC).
Highest-attaining 20% show a positive five-year trend.
Young people who require additional support achieved their highest outcomes in five years, performing well above the VC.
Almost all leavers achieved SCQF Level 5 or better in literacy and numeracy.
Strong upward trend continues at SCQF Level 6.
Young people from SIMD 1 and 2 have shown improvement in literacy, numeracy, and tariff points.
Free School Meal learners continue to achieve strongly at Levels 5 and 6.
SIMD 10 attainment has improved and is no longer significantly lower than the VC.
More of our young people are moving on to employment, training, further or higher education.
Thank you for your continued support of our school and our young people. We are proud of their achievements and remain committed to ensuring that every learner at Oldmachar Academy leaves with the skills, confidence and qualifications needed for a positive future.
Yours sincerely,
Ryan Robertson
Depute Head Teacher
SIF: “Overall, average complementary tariff scores over the last five years demonstrate no clear pattern of attainment for most leavers. The performance of the lowest attaining 20% of leavers has been broadly in line with the VC from 2019-20 apart from 2022-23 when it was significantly higher than the VC.”
In 2024-25, Oldmachar Academy’s attainment for the lowest attaining 20% of leavers was much greater than the VC. This was also the highest attainment for this group in the past 5 years. There would appear that there is a clear improvement in the pattern of attainment for the lowest attaining 20% of leavers, with the exception of 2023-24 where attainment was lower than previous years.
SIF: “The performance of the middle attaining 60% of leavers has improved from being in line with the VC for all years from 2019-20 to 2022-23 to being significantly higher than the VC in 2023-24.”
Attainment for the middle 60% of attainers has increased further in 2024-25 and once again is much greater than the VC.
SIF: “The performance of the highest attaining 20% of leavers is in line with the VC for the last three years. This represents an improvement in attainment from 2020-21 when this was significantly much lower than the VC.”
The highest attaining 20% of leavers in 2024-25 continue to be in line with the VC. Attainment for this group is now on a 5-year positive trend.
SIF: “Based on average complementary tariff scores, young people with ASN attain well and above the VC from 2021-22 to 2023-24.”
Attainment for young people with ASN in 2024-25 was the highest in 5 years and was well above the VC for the lowest 20%, middle 60% and highest 20% of attainers.
SIF: “Performance in literacy is a positive picture. Most young people left school with SCQF level 5 or better in literacy in 2023-24. This is in line with the virtual comparator (VC) but is a decline from 2021-22 and 2022-23 when it was almost all young people.”
In 2024-25 almost all leavers attained literacy at SCQF Level 5 or better. Additionally, performance was much greater than the VC.
SIF: “Most young people attained SCQF Level 6 or better in literacy in 2023-24. This is significantly higher than VC and in the preceding year.”
This continues to be a positive picture with a 5-year positive trend. A significantly higher number of leavers attained SCQF Level 6 or better in literacy in 2024-25 compared to previous years.
SIF: “Most young people who require additional support left school with SCQF Level 5 or better in literacy and the majority with SCQF Level 6 in 2022-23 and 2023-24. There is an increased pattern of attainment at SCQF level 6 from 2019-20 to 2023-24.”
Attainment in literacy at SCQF Level 6 continues to improve for those young people who require additional support with most achieving Level 6 or better. There is now a positive 5-year trend.
Performance in numeracy at SCQF Level 5 has shown an improved pattern of attainment from 2021-22 to 2023-24. Most young people left school with SCQF Level 5 or better in numeracy in 2023-24. This is now significantly higher than the VC, having previously been significantly lower in 2019-20 and 2021-22 and significantly much lower than the VC in 2020-21.
Almost all young people left school with SCQF level 5 or better in numeracy in 2024/25. This is once again significantly higher than the VC and is a further improvement on previous years.
SIF: “A minority of young people left school with SCQF level 6 or better in numeracy in 2023-24. Performance in numeracy at this level has increased from 2019-20 to 2023-24. It was significantly higher than the VC in 2023-24 after being significantly much lower or lower than the VC in 201-20, 2020/21 and 2021-22.”
The majority of young people left school attaining numeracy at SCQF level 6 or better. This was significantly higher than the previous 4 years. There is now a clear 5 year positive trend.
SIF: “The majority of young people who require additional support left school with SCQF Level 5 or better in numeracy from 2021-22 to 2023-24. A minority of young people who require additional support left school with SCQF Level 6 or better in numeracy in 2022-23 and 2023-24. This has increased since 2020-21, when no young person with an ASN left with a numeracy qualification at SCQF Level 6.”
Most young people who require additional support left school with SCQF Level 5 or better in numeracy. This was an increase from 2023-24 where a majority left with this level of qualification. The majority of young people who require additional support left school with SCQF Level 6 or better. Again, this was an improvement from 2023-24 where only a minority left with this level of qualification. Oldmachar Academy performed much better than the VC in both measures.
SIF: “Senior leaders should continue to track and monitor the attainment of specific groups of young people facing financial challenges but who are not in SIMD deciles 1 and 2. This would include, for example, young people who receive free school meals.”
The majority of young people who left school and who were in receipt of free school meals, attained SCQF Level 5 literacy or above. A minority attained SCQF Level 6 or above. Both measures were above the VC.
The majority of young people who left school and received free school meals attained SCQF Level 5 numeracy or above. A minority attained SCQF Level 6 or above.
From the lowest 20% and middle 60% attaining leavers, those who were in receipt of free school meals, attained broadly in line with the VC, Aberdeen City, Northern Alliance and National Establishment. From the highest attaining 20% of leavers, those who were in receipt of free school meals, attained less well.
SIF: “Attainment for young people in SIMD 10 has been significantly lower in 2019-20 and each year from 2021-22 to 2023-24. Senior leaders should consider how best to support these learners to ensure their attainment improves.”
Although still lower than the national average, there has been improvement in the attainment for young people in SIMD 10. Data from 2024-25 demonstrates that this is no longer significantly lower.
