Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to AR for alerting me to this. In Summer 2024, GCSE students in the United Kingdom (sic) had a pass rate (achieving a grade of C/4 or higher) of 67.6 percent.1 GCSE is, of course, only undertaken in England, Wales and Northern Ireland by pupils around 16 years of age. In Scotland: Scottish National 5 certificates grade A to C are equivalent to GCSEs grade grade 4 to 9 . 2 How did Scottish pupils do in this assessment also typically taken by pupils at the end of 4th Year, at around 16 years of age? … Continue reading Attainment by 16 year-olds – Scotland’s schools performing far better than those in other parts of UK and an extra 30 000 pupils benefit each year

Professor John Robertson OBA From Hate crimes recorded by the police in Scotland, 2023-24, published today, we can see that hate crimes in Scotland, in 2023/2024, were at the lowest level since 2014/2015, down from 7 029 to 6 227.1 The equivalent figure for England and Wales was 140 561.2 With 11 times the population, England & Wales might have been expected to have around 70 000 but in fact had twice as many. What might explain this? See the claim in the National above. Any objections? Well, the Scotsman 5 days ago: ‘Scottish exceptionalism’? Why Scotland really does have … Continue reading Latest – Hate crime in Scotland falls and is TWICE as common in England and Wales

Professor John Robertson OBA In the midst of clear dissatisfaction with the UK Labour Government’s new austerity policies, collapsing support for Labour and Cons, the pollster Survation manage to somehow still pluck a predicted majority for No in a referendum on Scottish independence. How do they do it when Find Out Now and Norstat keep finding Yes majorities, sometimes large ones? They adjust their survey sample: So, they initially gather responses randomly, which have 426 favouring Yes to 321 favouring No then reduce the former to 334 and increase the latter to 413, creating a sample which looks like, has … Continue reading Survation repeat their regular sample ‘adjustment’ to pluck another No vote to influence rather than inform

Professor John Robertson OBA According to Public Health Scotland, today, 66.7% of patients in Type 1 A&E departments were treated within 4 hours in March 2025.1 The comparable figure for NHS England was 60.9%.2 NHS Scotland‘s type 1 A&E departments were thus 9.53% more efficient (5.8 as a % of 60.9), on average than those in NHS England. That nearly 10% matters. NHS England‘s type 1 A&E departments treated 883 691 patients in March so had they been in hospitals as effective (well-staffed) as those in Scotland, 10% of that total, around 88 000, would have been seen on time … Continue reading NHS Scotland’s A&E departments treat many thousands of patients more, per head, in one month, within target time, than in NHS England

Professor John Robertson OBA From Public Health Scotland today: During March 2025, there were 25,226 operations planned to take place across NHSScotland. This is 6.9% higher (+1,626) than the number planned in the same month a year previously in March 2024 (23,600). Of all planned operations during March 2025 in NHS Scotland, 816 (3.2%) were cancelled by the hospital for clinical reasons, 719 (2.9%) were cancelled by the patient, 449 (1.8%) were cancelled by the hospital due to capacity or non-clinical reasons, and 81 (0.3%) were cancelled for other reasons. https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/cancelled-planned-operations/cancelled-planned-operations-month-ending-31-march-2025/ Month after month NHS Scotland’s hospitals have to cancel … Continue reading Despite greater demand, more than 98% of 25 000 planned operations in March 2025, carried out on time in NHS Scotland’s hospitals

Professor John Robertson OBA On Friday 24th March 2024, Aberlour hosted an event for Debt Awareness Week – ‘Giving with One Hand, Taking Away with the Other’ – to highlight the impact of public debt on low income families and the role it plays in trapping families in poverty. We finished the day with a discussion featuring our expert panel, which included Dr Jim McCormick (CEO, The Robertson Trust), Emma Jackson (National Director Scotland, Christians Against Poverty (CAP), Pam Duncan-Glancy MSP (Scottish Labour spokesperson for (Social Justice and Social Security), alongside SallyAnn Kelly and Professor Treanor. https://www.aberlour.org.uk/news-item/giving-with-one-hand-taking-away-with-the-other Today, the Aberlour … Continue reading Why is this ‘leading charity head’ not attacking the real target, the real cause of child poverty across the UK?