SNP promise to close attainment gap ‘in ruins', say Lib Dems
The party's education spokesperson Willie Rennie said that the SNP has "betrayed a whole generation of young people from poorer backgrounds"
The Liberal Democrats have said the SNP's promise to close the attainment gap "lies in ruins" after Scottish exam results showed "minuscule progress".
(Image: PA Archive/PA Images)
The Liberal Democrats have said the SNP's promise to close the attainment gap "lies in ruins" after Scottish exam results showed "minuscule progress".
The party's education spokesperson Willie Rennie said that the SNP has "betrayed a whole generation of young people from poorer backgrounds" and called for urgent action to drive up performance.
He pointed to comments by then-first minister Nicola Sturgeon in 2016 when she said her government would push to substantially reduce the attainment gap by 2026, writing in that year's programme for government document that elimination of the gap was "a yardstick by which the people of Scotland can measure our success".
Latest exam results published this month show that the poverty-related attainment gap – the difference between the A-C rate for those from the 20% of the most deprived areas of Scotland compared with the most affluent – has shrunk narrowly.
The National 5 rate dropped from 17.2% to 16.6% while Highers saw a small dip from 17.2% to 17.1% and Advanced Highers from 15.5% to 12.8% compared with last year.
Meanwhile, figures from the Scottish Funding Council show that in 2023-24, 16.7% of Scottish-domiciled full-time first degree entrants to university were from the 20% most deprived areas, up from 16.3% in 2022-23.
Article continues below
The Scottish Government has a target that by 2030, 20% of full-time, first-degree entrants to higher education should be from Scotland's 20% most deprived backgrounds.
Mr Rennie said: "The SNP's promise to close the attainment gap lies in ruins. By Nicola Sturgeon's own yardstick, her party has betrayed a whole generation of young people from poorer backgrounds.
"The minuscule progress that they have made is nowhere near good enough. On the SNP's watch, Scotland has tumbled down the international rankings, and parents are hugely worried about what that means for their children's futures.
"In schools, there are lots of issues that need addressed, from behaviour challenges to teachers stuck on supply lists and fundamental problems with the curriculum, but all of them have gotten worse under the SNP.
"We urgently need a plan to drive up education performance and improve outcomes for our young people."
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "Substantial progress is being made on widening access to higher education. The latest UCAS data shows the number of Scots accepted to a UK university from deprived areas increasing by 11% since 2023.
Article continues below
"Ministers remain resolute in meeting the goal of 20% of all entrants being from the 20% most deprived communities by 2030, and will continue to work constructively with the sector to achieve this.
"We are determined to drive continued improvement, which is why the curriculum improvement cycle is underway and we are progressing with qualifications reform.
"We will continue to engage with our school and local authority partners as part of the annual review of the national improvement framework, to ensure we continue to drive up standards for all our children and young people, and our investment in the Scottish attainment challenge is ongoing to tackle the attainment gap."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
25 minutes ago
- The National
UK's first trans judge launches case against Supreme Court sex ruling
Dr Victoria McCloud – the only judge in the UK to publicly say they are transgender – is seeking a rehearing of the case, arguing that the Supreme Court undermined her article 6 rights to a fair trial when it failed to consider human rights arguments that would have been put by trans people – including herself. In April, the Supreme Court ruled that "women" were defined by biological sex under the Equality Act 2010. The court took interventions from a number of gender-critical groups including Sex Matters and For Women Scotland, who first brought the case and is now attempting to sue the Scottish Government – accusing it of refusing to abide by April's judgment, particularly when it comes to schools and prison policy. READ MORE: MoD claims serious radioactive leak at Faslane 'posed no risk to public' McCloud, who is supported by Trans Legal Clinic and W-Legal, said the application was brought under articles 6, 8 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights. 'Following the 'For Women Scotland' case in the Supreme Court, the UK has been red flagged with a genocide warning internationally and harsh measures such as segregation within hospital wards behind special screens and curtains, strip searches by police using male officers to search anatomically female trans people, bathroom bans, and a range of other measures,' she wrote. 'Amid all this hundreds of us with our families are leaving the UK where we can afford it, for safer shores. But there can be no question of abandoning our community for any of us. The immediate future will necessarily involve a great deal of strategic legal action and other steps within the legal sphere. "We have much to do, and many many avenues to pursue here and abroad in pursuit of the restoration of normality to the UK for trans, non-binary and even lesbian women affected by the FWS decision, and everyone else being impacted by this obnoxious state of affairs.' McCloud added that the group is taking on the case 'in defence of the rights and freedoms of trans people'. 'I encourage anyone who can, to participate and support our fight. There is no space for decision making about us, without us,' she went on. 'I intend, with our wonderful team at the Trans Legal Clinic, our counsel Oscar Davies, Jenn Lawrence and Amanda Weston KC, and all the dedicated people working with us, to ensure that there will be no peace for the Gender Critical Ideological Movement, the Labour Government appeasing it, or space in our schools, homes and workplaces for an ideology which causes harm, misery and oppression of a small and law abiding minority in our formerly tolerant country. '
Western Telegraph
36 minutes ago
- Western Telegraph
Sturgeon making Salmond claims because he cannot defend himself, niece says
Christina Hendry said if the former first minister and Alba Party leader was alive today he would have defended himself 'with every fibre of his being'. Ms Sturgeon made several claims about her predecessor in her memoir Frankly, which was published last week. Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon made several claims about Alex Salmond in her new book (Jane Barlow/PA) She accused Mr Salmond of creating conspiracy theories over sexual harassment allegations and said he did not read the independence white paper before the referendum in 2014. Ms Sturgeon also said Mr Salmond 'wanted to destroy me' and would have rather seen the SNP fail than succeed without him. Appearing on the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme, Ms Hendry criticised Ms Sturgeon. She said: 'The way I see it is if my uncle was here today, these things would not be being said. 'I believe they are being said because he's not here to defend himself, as he would have done with every fibre of his being.' Alex Salmond died last year (Jane Barlow/PA) Asked what she thought had motivated Ms Sturgeon to make the claims now, Ms Hendry said: 'I'm unsure. I think there's been a few people questioning that. 'But I think the timing of these things being said – there's been a number of years where they've not been said, that these things could have been said, and the timing of it now, where she's released the book and is looking to publicise that. 'I think many people have thought that could be the case.' In her book, Ms Sturgeon said Mr Salmond had never produced a 'shred of evidence' that he was a victim of a conspiracy, adding that he admitted to her the substance of one of the complaints against him. A judicial review into the Scottish Government's handling of complaints against Mr Salmond found the investigation was tainted by apparent bias while a court cleared him of all charges. Alex Salmond's niece Christina Hendry, Alba Party chair Tasmina Ahmed-Skeikh and Alba Party leader Kenny MacAskill (Jane Barlow/PA) Ms Hendry said: 'The bottom line is he was cleared in the highest court in Scotland and I think I'm unsure as to why it's being brought up. 'I do think there were people conspiring against him, and I think there's the truth will still come out. 'There are things to still come out in the public, and I think there are many people who should be thinking about their actions.' Ms Hendry added that her family was united in pursuing legal action against the Scottish Government over its botched harassment probe. In December, she announced she would run to be an MSP in one of Mr Salmond's former seats. Ms Hendry said she would contest the Banffshire and Buchan Coast seat for Alba that her uncle had planned to campaign in before his death in North Macedonia in October.
Scotsman
an hour ago
- Scotsman
Alex Salmond would have defended himself against Nicola Sturgeon's memoir 'with every fibre of his being'
Alex Salmond's family say the allegations against him in Nicola Sturgeon's memoir are a tactic to try and sell her new book. Sign up to our Politics newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Alex Salmond's niece says the former first minister would have defended himself against the allegations in Nicola Sturgeon's book 'with every fibre of his being'. Christina Hendry said she believed there was a conspiracy against her late uncle and suggested the allegations were being raised now to try and sell Ms Sturgeon's new memoir. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Over the weekend it was revealed Mr Salmond's widow Moira is planning to push ahead with her late husband's legal action against the Scottish Government. Mrs Salmond has appointed a KC, two junior counsel and a lead investigator to pursue the case. Former first ministers Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon. | Press Association It is understood the criticisms of Mr Salmond in Ms Sturgeon's memoir has strengthened Mrs Salmond's resolve to pursue the legal action. Mr Salmond had been pursuing legal action against the government over its handling of sexual harassment allegations against him when he died in North Macedonia in October. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ms Sturgeon also dismissed the idea of a 'conspiracy to destroy' her predecessor and former mentor. Speaking to BBC Good Morning Scotland on Monday, Ms Hendry said: 'The way I see it is if my uncle was here today, these things would not be being said. They are being said because he's not here to defend himself, as he would have done with every fibre of his being.' She said people were 'questioning the timing' of the memoir's publication as there were many years before Mr Salmond's death when these issues could have been resolved. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ms Hendy said she believed Ms Sturgeon was making these allegations publicly as a tactic to try and sell her book. She said: 'The bottom line is he was cleared in the highest court of Scotland, so I am unsure why this keeps getting brought up. I do think there were people conspiring against him and I think the truth will still come out. 'There are still some things that are to come out in the public, and many people should be thinking about their actions.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad When asked if the stress of dealing with the fall-out from the court case and the botched government investigation impacted on Mr Salmond's health, Ms Hendry said: 'I think for anybody they would find that very difficult and very stressful, and as Kenny MacAskill [Mr Salmond's successor as leader of the Alba Party] has already said, he believes that led to the events that followed.' Ms Hendry added: 'As a family, we are most definitely united on continuing the things my uncle started before he passed. As a family, we are very close and very strong, and we will continue to do anything we can to defend his name.
