country. You know, England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. On Channel 5’s Storm Huntley show this morning, Henry Bonsu ‘broadcaster’ [Modern Languages at Magdalen College, Oxford University] makes the above claim for the UK as a whole. That last bit suggests he’s looked into this in some detail. He’s not the first nor I suppose the last to assume that what he knows about NHS England must just be the same elsewhere in the UK. He doesn’t. Here are the facts: As of March 2024, from Interweave Healthcare, NHS Scotland had a bed for every 403 people whereas for NHS England … Continue reading Hospital beds ‘across the UK’ – the casual arrogance of the English broadcaster

I’m grateful to Linda at Broadcasting Scotland for alerting me to this. From Worlds apart: skills and learning inequalities in the UK published by the Learning and Work Institute, ‘an independent policy and research organisation focused on lifelong learning and better work‘, in December 2024, the above graph and: The proportion of 16–19-year-olds qualified to level 3 in Scotland (30%, though noting the qualification system is different to England) and West England (28%) is almost double that in Tees Valley (16%), Northern Ireland (18%) and Greater Manchester (19%). and: The proportion of people with high qualifications is on track to rise everywhere, but … Continue reading Independent UK policy and research organisation praises Scotland’s high-achieving, leading and inclusive education system