Marks and national tests, lower secondary school, 2011

Girls achieved higher marks in all subjects except for physical education, where boys achieved slightly higher marks. In Norwegian, arts and crafts, and food and health, girls attained on average a half grade higher than boys. The gender differences are stable also when we control for social background.

Social background influences marks

Parental level of education influences marks. Average school points vary from 33.8 points for pupils whose parents had the lowest education, to 45.7 for pupils whose parents had long tertiary education. Parental level of education has the strongest impact on marks in mathematics, natural sciences and social sciences.

Immigrants achieve lower marks than non-immigrants

On average, immigrants achieve lower marks than non-immigrants. In first choice form of Norwegian and mathematics, immigrants get more than a half grade lower than non-immigrants.

Marks compared with national tests

The marks that pupils attain when they complete lower secondary school to a certain degree reflect the results the same pupils achieved in national tests in 8th grade. Almost 80 per cent of the pupils who achieved the lowest mastering level in mathematics in 8th grade attained a 1 or 2 in mathematics overall achievement. Similarly, 80 per cent of the pupils who achieved the highest mastering level in mathematics in 8th grade attained a 5 or 6 in mathematics overall achievement. In contrast, almost half of the pupils who achieved the lowest mastering level in reading Norwegian in 8th grade attained a 3 in first choice form of Norwegian overall achievement.

Tables:

• Table 1 Average lower secondary school points, by gender, county and parents' educational attainment level. 2011
• Table 2 Average overall achievement marks, selected subjects, by gender and parents' educational attainment level. 2011
• Table 3 Average examination marks, selected subjects, by gender and parents' educational attainment level. 2011
• Table 4 Average overall achievement marks, selected subjects, by immigration category. 2011
• Table 5 Average examination marks, selected subjects, by immigration category. 2011
• Table 6 Average lower secondary school points, by immigration category, country group and gender. 2011
• Table 7 Average overall achievement marks and examination marks, selected subjects, by school ownership and parents' educational attainment level. 2011
• Table 8 Distribution of overall achievement marks in Mathematics, English and Norwegian, by mastering levels on national tests in 8th grade in 2008. 2011. Per cent