Note how the word ‘fiasco’ has lost its qualifying speech marks? If you say it’s a fiasco often enough then it becomes accepted that it really is one. All that is required is repetition. Only a handful of students protesting, out of thousands? A higher pass rate especially for those in disadvantaged areas? The same method as used in England and Wales? Too late! It’s a fiasco! In the last few days since the first disappointed student tweeted her anger and stalking journalists picked the story up before interviewing a few for TV, radio and newspaper audiences, the tale of … Continue reading Why won’t the exams fiasco go away? Because you won’t let it

Caledon Media are a new collective determined to give a space for a new discussion on Scotland’s future. https://caledonmedia.scot/ After the server, based in Leamington Spa (!), went down last week, I gather all is well. Ill be on Thursday at 12.30pm. Continue reading The Tusker on the Radio: This Thursday 12:30pm

I was amused to read this Freedom of Information request over a bowl of cereal this morning: At first, I thought that will be a made up name, Paul McGlone, they usually are, but I checked. He might be real. It seems McGlone is on a mission here. In the Dumbarton Democrat, April 2018, a ‘Paul McGlone’ is in pursuit of the SNP Administrations’ Chief Executive, Joyce White: Paul McGlone said: “I’d like to see what she was searching in google and what she was watching on YouTube. “Can someone s check the policy guidance details for Internet her at … Continue reading SNP expenses hunter targets Nicola!

It’s Mark Smith again on nationalism and why normal folk like him don’t really like it. He writes: Nationalists usually argue that Scotland would be better off economically and socially because of independence, but it actually doesn’t matter because independence is their top priority. Their thinking is: the economy and equality are important, but not as important as independence. Then he tells us why Nicola is doing so well in the polls. You know what’s coming, don’t you? It’s because she’s not being nationalistic! She’s dealing with the outbreak and refusing to mention constitutional matters even though the press pack try to … Continue reading Not just my opinion: The leaky conceptualisation about the SNP that shows why Mark Smith is doing so badly

I’ve kind of noticed the plea for help there before but, mostly, I don’t really pay it much attention. When you do, it’s hard to keep a straight face. When they say ‘trusted’, ‘quality’, do they mean this one? No? This one? No? This one? Oooh, I just don’t know. It’s only £2…… Continue reading Your trusted, quality Herald needs you!

With ten times the population, the infection rate would be 480 if all things were equal, but it was 988 yesterday, an increase on a sunday! The Scottish level, dramatically swollen by the Aberdeen outbreak, can be expected to fall back to a 7 day average of less than 20 but the curve in England may be up again, taking us back to the 5 to 1 ratio used by the FM. Continue reading As Aberdeen spike eases, infections in England surge to more than twice that in Scotland

From the Scottish Government’s written answer reports on Thursday 6th August 2020: Continue reading Excess care home deaths 25% higher in England and Wales than in Scotland

As exam results arrived, from 8am on the 4th August, students disappointed by the gap between the awarded grade and their teacher estimates, began to tweet about it. By that afternoon, Scotland’s MSM had sniffed a crisis and were beginning to interview them. By the evening of the 4th, we began to see reports such as that from Daniel Sanderson in the Telegraph: Scotland’s exam body ‘in crisis’ after decision to downgrade 124,000 results sparks furious backlash. Sturgeon and Swinney insist “moderation” was necessary as teacher estimates were not credible, but pressure mounts for a u-turn. The face of the … Continue reading SNP support seems unaffected by exams ‘fiasco’

In the Herald today, Martin Williams tells us: MINISTERS have admitted it [sic] is unable to demonstrate the effectiveness of its flagship coronavirus track and trace system – as Scotland’s schools re-open amidst concerns over Covid safety. The Herald on Sunday can reveal that while details on the effectiveness of contact tracing south of the border have been available for weeks in advance of their schools opening in September, the success or otherwise of Scotland’s two-and-a-half-month-old Test and Protect system is not expected to be in place till the end of the month. Say, the Scottish system had failed in Dumfries or … Continue reading No point: Scotland’s covid-tracking clearly works in practice but does it work in retrospect?

In Scotland: Moderation was used to identify schools that were “significantly outwith” their historical attainment profile. It was deemed necessary because the SQA found when it compared teacher estimates to the past four years of attainment data there was “significant overestimation” – for example, at Higher, 2020 estimates would have resulted in an A to C pass rate of 88.8 per cent, 14 percentage points higher than 2019, and a significantly higher pass rate than had been seen for each of the past four years. Moderation is used to ensure the outcome of the grade is “fair, valid and reliable” and to ensure … Continue reading Exams Fiasco! English exam boards more than twice as likely to ignore teacher estimates and use algorithms as SQA