Figure CRF6.2 shows the average reading scores for this group and for year six students in Small Island States in previous PILNA cycles. The score in 2021 was higher than in all previous PILNA cycles and the standard deviation for these scores in 2021 (SD = 93.87) was similar to that in 2018 (SD = 93.90) and higher than that in 2015 (SD = 57.19). This shows that the spread of year six reading scores in PILNA 2021 was similar to that in 2018 but slightly wider than in 2015.

Standard deviation shows how close data points are to the average. A lower standard deviation means that data points are, overall, closer to the average; a higher standard deviation means that data points are, overall, further away from the average.