Marks and national tests, lower secondary school, 2014

The subject with the most marked difference between girls and boys is Norwegian, both for overall achievement marks and examination marks, where the girls achieved an average of 4.2 compared with the boys who achieved 3.5. Both the boys and the girls achieved an average examination mark of 3 in Mathematics, which was the subject with the lowest marks for both genders.

The county with the smallest difference between the genders is Vest-Agder, where the girls on average achieved 3.1 school points more than the boys. In Finnmark in comparison, the boys achieved 5.5 school points less than the girls.

Social background has a lower impact in Sogn og Fjordane

The counties with the highest marks are Akershus and Sogn og Fjordane – with an average of 41.5 school points. Looking exclusively at pupils with the least educated parents, Sogn og Fjordane holds the pupils with the highest marks. Moreover, the difference between the pupils with the least and the most educated parents is smaller in Sogn og Fjordane than in any other county. In total, pupils whose parents had a long higher education attained an average of 45.8 school points, while pupils with the least educated parents had 12 school points less.

In Sogn og Fjordane, pupils whose parents had a long higher education attained 9.7 school points more than pupils with the least educated parents. In comparison, the difference between these pupils in Hedmark was 14.6 school points.

The difference between private and public schools

As in previous years, pupils who attend private schools have slightly higher overall achievement marks and examination marks than pupils who attend public schools. In English, mathematics and first choice of Norwegian, the average overall achievement marks for pupils in private schools is 0.3 higher than pupils who attend public schools.

Overall achievement marks vs. examination marks

One way to measure if the teacher set the correct overall achievement mark is to look at the difference between the overall achievement mark and the examination mark in a specific subject. Overall, the pupils get higher marks on overall achievements than on written examinations, and they achieve higher marks in oral examinations than written examinations. For example, the pupils get an average of 0.5 marks more in overall achievement in mathematics than mathematics examinations.

There are some differences between private and public schools, where the difference between overall achievement marks and examination marks in mathematics and first choice form of Norwegian is slightly higher among pupils who attend private schools.

Results from national tests coheres with marks

As in previous years, almost 80 per cent of the pupils who achieved the highest mastering level in mathematics, reading Norwegian and reading English in national tests in the 8th grade attained the marks 5 or 6 in mathematics, first choice form of Norwegian and written English overall achievements.

On the other hand, more than 80 percent of the pupils who achieved the lowest mastering level in mathematics in national tests attained 1 or 2 in mathematics overall achievements. A lower share of the pupils who achieved the lowest mastering level in reading Norwegian and English attained 1 or 2 in overall achievements. In general, the marks the pupils attained in oral examinations seem to be higher compared to the mastering level they achieved in the national tests in reading Norwegian and English.