6 505 fewer teachers yet more teachers and still far fewer pupils per teacher to refute Herald’s claim
Professor John Robertson OBA From Pupil and teacher characteristics 2025 published yesterday, the above data revealing a significant fall in pupil numbers yet a small increase in the number of teachers.1 There are 18 pupils for every teacher in England, 18.9 in Wales but only 13.3 in Scotland’s schools. That’s a huge difference that must surely transform the experience in Scottish schools.2 The Scottish Government has managed to support the far better PTR in Scotland through years of a reducing share of Scotland’s revenue being returned to us. Sources: Continue reading 6 505 fewer teachers yet more teachers and still far fewer pupils per teacher to refute Herald’s claim
TB cases in Scotland at less than half that in England and 40% down on last Scottish Labour government
From Tuberculosis annual report for Scotland 2024 published yesterday, the above graph and: In 2024, 266 cases of tuberculosis were reported in Scotland, equating to an annual incidence of 4.8 cases per 100,000 population. Whilst this is a 6.0% decrease in case numbers compared to 2023 (283 cases, 5.1 cases per 100,000 population), it is a 33.7% increase since 2022, (199 cases, 3.7 cases per 100,000 population) and a return to levels last observed in Scotland in 2018. In 2024, 75.2% of tuberculosis cases in Scotland were born outside of the UK, the highest proportion recorded since surveillance began. Of … Continue reading TB cases in Scotland at less than half that in England and 40% down on last Scottish Labour government
NHS Scotland treats 23% more for pain management than NHS England
Professor John Robertson OBA From Waiting times for pain management services Quarter ending 30 September 2025 published yesterday: During the quarter ending 30 September 2025, 5,791 patients were referred to a pain management service. This compares to 5,838 referrals in the previous quarter, a decrease of 0.8%, and to 5,859 a year ago in the quarter ending 30 September 2024, a decrease of 1.2%. During the same quarter, 3,510 patients attended their first outpatient appointment with a pain management service. This compares to 2,745 patients in the previous quarter, an increase of 27.9% and to 2,930 patients seen a year … Continue reading NHS Scotland treats 23% more for pain management than NHS England
Talking-up Scotland returns to Reddit Scotland two years after being banned but I’m quickly spotted as that ‘known nutjob’ and worse
Professor John Robertson OBA Browsing Reddit Scotland, a place where you can say what you like about people’s sanity, I was banned, two years ago for those satirical spoof things I often do. This kind of thing: They said ‘FAKE NEWS!’ He’s trying to fool us! I thought they’d get it. Satire, you know. They didn’t. Today someone posted my piece on school attainment in Scotland and England (at the top). Very soon, I was outed in the terms perfectly acceptable to Reddit: If you can, please share all TuS posts there. Continue reading Talking-up Scotland returns to Reddit Scotland two years after being banned but I’m quickly spotted as that ‘known nutjob’ and worse
Scotland’s schools surging ahead of those in England in literacy and numeracy attainment
Professor John Robertson OBA From Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) Levels 2024-25 published today, we see that in Scotland’s schools there have been significant increases in the numbers of pupils achieving the expected levels in the four years since the pandemic.1 Remember these, at first sight, small percentage differences refer to around 50 000 pupils at each level so the 4% improvement in S3 literacy means 2 000 more pupils succeeded last year than in 2021/2022. Scotland’s media have yet to respond. It will be interesting if irritating to see how they try to spin this success down. The … Continue reading Scotland’s schools surging ahead of those in England in literacy and numeracy attainment
Ingrained cultural bias in Scottish media that disadvantages the independence movement
Professor John Robertson OBA In my previous post, Grok AI, correctly I feel, suggested that the above reporting was not a hit job and agreed that it was mostly cultural within Scotland’s media. So, I asekd: I agree it’s not a ‘hit job’ but could it be an example of a culture of bias against the case for Scottish independence where that bias has become normalised and where reporters habitually report in ways that will please their supervisors, get things published and enhance their career prospects without being told by supervisors how to report? The answer: Exploring Normalized Bias in … Continue reading Ingrained cultural bias in Scottish media that disadvantages the independence movement
Why was NHS Fife nurse tribunal reported more than twice as much as Darlington County Durham equivalent?
Professor John Robertson OBA We all, right across Scotland, know the name of nurse Sandie Peggie in NHS Fife but did you know the names of the eight nurses in Darlington, County Durham pursuing an identical case regarding a trans colleague? Do you think the folk in County Durham know their names just as we know Peggie? It seems less likely. Why? Here’s an AI report. Has the Fife case had more media attention in Scotland than the Darlington case has had in England and if so by how much? To address your query directly, yes, the NHS Fife case … Continue reading Why was NHS Fife nurse tribunal reported more than twice as much as Darlington County Durham equivalent?
That ‘Scottish’ Daily Express?
By Liz S Is this same Daily Express (drop the ‘Scottish’ part) that was reported as those who: “consistently and heavily criticized the SNP’s “Named Person” scheme, often referring to it as an “Orwellian,” “totalitarian” “state guardian” or “snoopers’ charter”. Flip Flop Journalism also , where black becomes white and then we see that anything , indeed everything, is consistently to be disagreed with and so then condemned within Scotland especially when it is something that is generated from the Scottish government under the SNP. How many times does the gutter press contradict themselves just to get one over on someone…….they are consistently wrong, deliberately … Continue reading That ‘Scottish’ Daily Express?
Going, going, gone? Nope, still there
By Liz S BBC headline Scottish pages : ‘Our kids are killing each other – we need to do something’ Meanwhile what was formerly and very recently the top article on the main Scottish page of the BBC website on the 5th December, that is now no longer there and it was also formerly the top article on the Scottish Politics page, but now it has descended to being the 6th article on the Scottish politics page. It was earlier today the 11th article on the Glasgow & West Scotland page but now it has gone from that page. (at 15.36pm). So it’s gonna be a case of that article ……Going , Going and then … Continue reading Going, going, gone? Nope, still there
Our kids now hardly ever kill each other but BBC Scotland is killing our spirits with these distortions of reality
BBC Scotland, careful to put the above as a quote but still hitting readers with the same message and one that does not inform us about the reality of our world. They know the scared and the anxious don’t vote for change. The family of a 16-year-old boy who was stabbed to death in Glasgow say police should be given more powers to search young people for knives. Kory McCrimmon’s family were speaking after BBC research showed that Police Scotland’s use of stop-and-search on under 18s increased by 38% last year. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn0x4k2xyw2o Before I go any further, isn’t that sequence … Continue reading Our kids now hardly ever kill each other but BBC Scotland is killing our spirits with these distortions of reality
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 