National tests, 2014

The statistics on national tests and marks in lower secondary school normally show a positive correlation with school achievements and social background. The statistics also show that immigrants achieve lower results than other pupils, and that girls are likely to get better results than boys.

However, the results from the national tests in 2014 show that the pupils achieved more or less equal results in English, regardless of gender or immigration category. About 25 per cent of the pupils in 5th grade achieved the highest mastering level in English irrespective of immigration category and gender. However, pupils whose parents have tertiary education are more likely to achieve higher results compared with other pupils, but the distinction is still less in English than in reading and mathematics.

Immigrants achieve lower results in reading…

While pupils with different immigration backgrounds achieve more or less the same results in English on average, the variations in the results in reading and mathematics are much greater. There is, for instance, a difference of 8 score points between immigrants and other pupils in the reading test in 8th and 9th grade, and boys achieved lower results than girls. Almost 30 per cent of immigrant boys achieved the lowest mastering level in the reading test in 8th grade, while the corresponding figure for other boys was 19 per cent.

…but many immigrants are exempt from the reading test

The exemption rate among immigrants is relatively high compared with other pupils, and it is especially high in reading. This is partly because many immigrant pupils receive additional language training, which along with special education can qualify as exemption from national tests. Figure 1 shows that 17 per cent of the immigrants in 5th grade were exempt from the reading test, while an additional 4 per cent did not show up for the test. In total, 5 per cent of the pupils were exempt from the reading test and 2.5 per cent did not show up for the test.

Country background has impact on the results

Norwegian-born to immigrant parents from EU/EEA, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand achieve higher results than the other pupils in all of the tests and in all the grades, and the disparity is greatest in English. While Norwegian-born to immigrant parents from EU/EEA etc. on average achieved 55 score points in English in 8th grade, the rest of the pupils got an average of 50 score points.

On the other hand, the figures show that both immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents from Asia, Africa, Latin America, Oceania except Australia and New Zealand, and Europe except EU/EEA achieved considerably lower results compared with the other pupils, and especially in reading. Immigrants from Asia, Africa etc. achieved on average 9 score points fewer than the other pupils in the reading test in 8th grade.