Michael Gove’s bookshelf with David Irving’s holocaust denying The War Path on it.
Professor John Robertson OBA
Thanks to reader Legerwood for alerting me to this:
Published in Herald today, a letter by Graeme Arnott of Stewarton, claiming:
Premier league of achievement? Stuck with a failing model?
This thesis does not survive a collision with the evidence.
From UK Poverty 2025 The essential guide to understanding poverty in the UK, published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, today:
There are differences between the statistics on attainment in schools in the four UK nations which limit comparisons but the size of the gap between the most and least deprived at the ages of 11 and 16 can be usefully compared.
First, 11 year-olds, percentage of most deprived and of least deprived achieving literacy and numeracy and size of gap:
- England – 44% for both literacy and numeracy, 66%, 22%
- Northern Ireland – no data collected
- Scotland – 64% for literacy, 70% for numeracy, 84% and 88%, 21% and 18%
- Wales – No data collected
So, far more of both the least and the most deprived in Scotland achieve target literacy and numeracy levels than in England and with a smaller gap. Shamefully no recording by Northern Ireland and Wales
Second, 16 year-olds, percentage of most deprived and of least deprived achieving target qualifications and size of gap:
- England – 25%, 52%, 27%
- Northern Ireland – 57%, 82%
- Scotland – 74%, 95%, 20%
- Wales – 41%, 71% and 30%
So, far more in Scotland attaining target levels and smallest gap.
Source: https://www.jrf.org.uk/uk-poverty-2025-the-essential-guide-to-understanding-poverty-in-the-uk
From Literacy and numeracy standards reach record high, published today:
The proportion of pupils achieving the expected level in literacy and numeracy across primary and secondary schools has reached a new high, officials figures show.
For numeracy, a record 80.3% of pupils across P1, P4 and P7 reached expected levels, while S3 also reached a new high of 90.3%. For literacy, achievement is also now at a record high in both primary (74%) and secondary (88.3%).
The attainment gap between young people from the most and least deprived areas meeting standards in literacy has also reached a new low, according to the latest Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence levels 2023-24 (ACEL) statistics.1
In England, on 9 July 2024, for 11 year-olds [P7]:
[Only] 61% of pupils reached the expected standard in all of reading, writing and maths, up from 60% in 2023. This is below 2019 attainment, where 65% of pupils met the standard.2
Direct comparison with education in other countries is not always reliable but had this stark contrast [32% better] operated in the opposite direction, with England at 80% and Scotland at 61%, you can be sure our media would be all over it.
What has made Scotland’s success possible after 17 years of SNP rule?
While there will be other factors, the ratio of pupils to teachers is recognised by researchers and in common sense, to be crucial.
In Scotland, as of 10 December 2024, there was a teacher for every 13.3 pupils.3 This ratio has been in the range 13.6/1 to 13.2/1 for six years.
In England? a teacher for every 18 pupils, 5 more, – 36% better.4
Sources:
- https://www.gov.scot/news/literacy-and-numeracy-standards-reach-record-high/?s=03
- https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/key-stage-2-attainment-national-headlines#:~:text=In%202024%2C%2061%25%20of%20pupils,of%20pupils%20met%20the%20standard.
- https://www.gov.scot/publications/summary-statistics-for-schools-in-scotland-2024/
- https://www.gov.scot/publications/pupil-projections-implications-teacher-resourcing-needs-scotland-education-workforce-modelling-research/pages/4/
Official figures from EuroStat show Scotland has the best-educated population in Europe, showing that the our education system has improved and performed better under the current SNP Scottish Government.
With 50.4% of the population educated to degree-level, Scotland leads Denmark with 48.6%, Finland with 47.5% and Luxembourg with 47.1%.
In the UK, Wales has 41% and Northern Ireland has 40.6%. No separate figures for England are offered but the UK has 44.7%.
Notably, in the period of SNP-rule, the figure for Scotland has climbed from 36.1% to 50.4%. In 2008, Scotland was 5th.
I could go on. See: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/?s=attainment
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Michael Grifter!?
Jaysus!
You had a plethora of politicians to use to substantiate your claim and you picked that old boaky coke-head.
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Professor of Education and Public Policy, Stephen Gorard, Durham University (January 14, 2025) responds to the current Labour government’s plans for academy schools: ‘Academies haven’t raised pupil achievement – there’s no need for them to have privileges that other schools do not’.
Source: https://www.durham.ac.uk/research/current/thought-leadership/2025/01/academies-havent-raised-pupil-achievement–theres-no-need-for-them-to-have-privileges-that-other-schools-do-not/
‘It is time to halt the absurd practice of introducing new kinds of school that are claimed to be better than existing ones, but are only available for a minority of children. The variety of schools in England includes foundation schools, academies, free schools, grammar and faith schools.
‘None of these is necessarily better (or worse) than local community schools. Once differences in intakes are controlled for, the type of school attended in England is not linked at all to differential attainment results.
‘I argue, therefore, we may as well have only one type of school. This will help reduce the clustering of pupils by poverty, and so lower the poverty attainment gap. It will allow all schools to offer all pupils their entitlement to a truly national curriculum.’
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Sir Alan Wood, founder and former CEO of The Learning Trust writes (April 18, 2025) ‘Let’s put an end to the myth of academy ‘freedoms’. The “freedoms” that academies are making most use of are not the kind of freedoms we want them to have.’
Source https://schoolsweek.co.uk/lets-put-an-end-to-the-myth-of-academy-freedoms/
‘When I was chief executive of The Learning Trust, I designed and oversaw the academies programme in Hackney. The first academy was Mossbourne-sponsored by the late Sir Clive Bourne. Seven academies followed – all of which are very successful and popular.’
‘… the persistent myth that academy schools achieve better results because of their “freedoms” from local authority control frustrates me. (my emphasis)
‘Proponents of this myth churn out the line that autonomy over curriculum, budgets and staffing drives improvement. However, evidence suggests this narrative is exaggerated, misleading and often contradicted by outcomes.‘
And: ‘.. just last October, The Times reported that out of 321 schools rated ‘inadequate’, 271 were academies. So, 84 per cent of the schools causing concern to the DfE last term were academies.’
And more: ‘A 2021 University of Bath study found that teachers in academies often face more bureaucratic constraints due to centralised MAT directives. The supposed “freedom” from local authorities often just replaces one form of control with another. (MAT = multi academy trusts)
‘In addition, academies operate outside democratic oversight, with parents and communities having little say in their governance.
‘In 2023, the Public Accounts Committee warned that the DfE struggles to monitor academy performance effectively, raising concerns about transparency. While government support up to now has focused on converting schools to an academy, and not driving improvement. This is a kind of freedom, but is it the kind we want?
‘One “freedom” has been used widely. The salaries of some trust chief executives are eye-watering. According to the Taxpayers Alliance last month, the top ten salaries of MAT leaders added up to a fraction under £3 million. One leader of a trust of just over 50 schools receives almost the combined salaries of the director of finance, the director of children’s services and the chief executive of some local authorities responsible for up to 150 schools.
‘The idea that academy “freedoms” are the magic bullet for school improvement has no compelling evidence base. While some academies thrive, others flounder—just like any schools group.’
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Jim McColl’s Junior college was in Cathcart, not Newlands and the building that once housed it, has been demolished and it is now housing.
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Mr Arnott, Stewarton’s promotion of ” take power away from the bureaucrats, and hand it over to the parents” is very much in the mould of the ‘unelected bureaucrats’ schtick which did such harm to the UK from 2016, even the “blob” gets an airing in this contrived promotion https://archive.ph/BXHE5 piece for the snake oil sales company.
Bluntly, if Reform UK are the answer to anything, the question is wrong.
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