England's Achievement in TIMSS 2007: National Report for England

Graham Ruddock, Hanna Vappula, Ben Styles, Linda Sturman, Bethan Burge, Yin Lin

09 December 2008

Download Executive Summary

TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) is a worldwide research project, taking place every four years and providing data about trends in mathematics and science achievement over time. It assesses the knowledge and skills of pupils aged 9-10 (otherwise known as grade 4) and 13-14 (grade 8). It also enables researchers to collect extensive background information about the quantity, quality, and content of teaching, which can be used to make comparisons between participating countries. Findings from the survey are used to inform education policy and to improve teaching and learning in mathematics and science for pupils around the world.

TIMSS 2007 involved approximately 425,000 pupils in 59 countries around the world. Grade 4 results were reported for 36 of those countries and grade 8 for 49 of them. Of the 59 countries, 26 had results reported for both grades. Two UK countries participated in TIMSS 2007. In England, 143 primary schools and 137 secondary schools participated. In Scotland, 139 primaries and 129 secondaries participated. The NFER would like to thank these schools, their teachers and pupils for representing their country and helping to make TIMSS 2007 a success. The DCSF Research Brief provides further information.

The national report for Scotland can be downloaded free of charge at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/12/08150124

The national report for England

Executive Summary Booklet (0.8Mb)

Download the Full Report (37Mb)

• Preliminary pages
• Chapter 1: Executive Summary (0.1Mb)
  summary of outcomes and findings from TIMSS 2007
• Chapter 2: Background to TIMSS 2007 (0.1Mb)
  Information about TIMSS, its Assessment Framework and the TIMSS 2007 samples
• Chapter 3: Pupils’ achievements in mathematics and science (5.9Mb)
  Achievement in 2007, trends in performance over time
• Chapter 4: Performance at the international benchmarks (4.6Mb)
  Performance in mathematics and science at the TIMSS ‘advanced’, ‘high’, ‘intermediate’ and ‘low’ benchmark levels, in 2007, and compared with previous cycles of TIMSS
• Chapter 5: Performance in the content and cognitive domains (0.7Mb)
  Performance in specific areas of the mathematics and science curriculum, and in the areas of ‘knowing’, ‘applying’ and ‘reasoning’
• Chapter 6: Gender differences (6.8Mb)
  Analysis by gender of achievement in mathematics and science, overall and by content and cognitive area; trends over time, comparison with gender findings in other assessments
• Chapter 7: Pupils’ attitudes (1.7Mb)
  Pupils’ attitudes to their learning in mathematics and science, in 2007 and compared with previous cycles of TIMSS
• Chapter 8: The teachers and schools (8.8Mb)
  Information about the school and classroom context in TIMSS 2007 compared with previous TIMSS cycles; discussion of school and classroom factors that had an impact on achievement
• Chapter 9: The pupils and the home (3.9Mb)
  Characteristics of the TIMSS pupils and their home lives in 2007 compared with previous TIMSS cycles; discussion of factors that had an impact on achievement
• Chapter 10: Factors associated with mathematics and science achievement (0.3Mb)
  Description of factors found to have a significant impact on achievement in 2007; comparison with related findings in TIMSS 2003
• Appendix 1: Sampling
  Summary of sample numbers in England
• Appendix 2: Comparability of trend variables
  Comparison of responses to attitudinal questions in 2007, compared with previous TIMSS cycles
• Appendix 3: Technical details
  Details of factor analysis, and the multi-level modelling analysis used to identify factors associated with achievement
• References (1.2Mb)
  References for national and international TIMSS reports and for related studies referenced in the report