Tag: education

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Fires fall dramatically to lowest in 10 years and staffing climbs but the Scotsman….

johnrobertson834

Above, the bigger picture for fire services in the UK, but the Scotsman today is platforming a trade union they used to habitually attack before they became useful for the Union: The Scotsman above pushing the ill-informed scare story about fire service cuts in an evidence vaccuum. Badly mixing my metaphors let me shine some light on that vacuum. From Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: March 2026, the above and : Number of fires fell 5% in the last year. In 2024-25, there were 22,925 fires in Scotland, down 5% on 2023-24 and the lowest in the last ten years. There … Continue reading Fires fall dramatically to lowest in 10 years and staffing climbs but the Scotsman….

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An unholy trinity dedicated to lying about Scottish education to please Westminster is the full panel for BBC Scotland’s lack of balance today

johnrobertson834

MSM Monitor today, fast and forensic as ever, circles another rabid dissembler on schools in Scotland for the panel in BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show today. Perhaps MSM Monitor only wanted to point to the worst but, when I saw the list, I was frankly gobsmacked by the BBC Scotland editor’s bloody nerve in selecting all three of those assassins, James McAneny, Lindsay Paterson AND Carole Ford. Regulars will have seen our responses to the under-educated nonsense they regularly share, to help Scottish Labour MPs fawn to their leader in Westmnister. We have umpteen reports but one each of our previous … Continue reading An unholy trinity dedicated to lying about Scottish education to please Westminster is the full panel for BBC Scotland’s lack of balance today

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Even before today’s results Scotland’s schools narrowed attainment gaps across the board and ‘most deprived’ 14/15 year-olds made major strides in literacy

johnrobertson834

The gutter press today, above, with the same old un-educated claims. The facts: From Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) Levels, 2024-25 published on 9 December 2025: The statistics also provide information on the gap in attainment between pupils from the most and least deprived areas of Scotland: For literacy, there was an increase in the proportions of primary pupils (P1, P4, P7 combined) that achieved the expected level, from both the least deprived and most deprived areas with a larger increase in the most deprived areas. As a result, the gap reached its narrowest ever level of 19.4 percentage points. For primary numeracy, … Continue reading Even before today’s results Scotland’s schools narrowed attainment gaps across the board and ‘most deprived’ 14/15 year-olds made major strides in literacy

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Bias by the omission of really good news for Scotland – Record university places for Scots students and acceptances for most deprived young people at new high which also understates the true numbers

johnrobertson834

With the barest of mentions in the above report, now about to drop off the page after less than 24 hours and not a word in the press front pages, this highly significant news is being omitted because it tells the wrong story for those who cannot see Scotland thrive. From the Scottish Government, popping into the inboxes of every journalist in the country yesterday at 11am yesterday, ignored then and now, this: The total number of 18-year-olds in Scotland who have secured a place at university this year has increased to 17,920 – a record high for Scottish students … Continue reading Bias by the omission of really good news for Scotland – Record university places for Scots students and acceptances for most deprived young people at new high which also understates the true numbers

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Burnham needs to copy SNP policies to reduce massive gap in youth unemployment, 55% higher ‘across the UK’ than in Scotland

johnrobertson834

BBC Home today reporting on the new PM’s latest announcement: Secondary school pupils in England will be able to study subjects like manufacturing and AI in addition to core academic learning under reforms outlined by Prime Minister Andy Burnham. The government said the courses, which would be available from Year 10, would be linked to local industries and designed to give children a clearer pathway into work. Data published this year showed more than one million young people across the UK were not in education, employment or training, the highest level in more than 12 years. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj4k2djd5qpo This follows on … Continue reading Burnham needs to copy SNP policies to reduce massive gap in youth unemployment, 55% higher ‘across the UK’ than in Scotland

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One of Andy Burnham’s first acts will be to copy John Swinney on digital ID

johnrobertson834

In the Guardian today: Andy Burnham is expected to scrap Keir Starmer’s plans for digital ID cards in a “reset of priorities” when he enters Downing Street on Monday. The new Labour leader plans to redirect the resources earmarked for the scheme towards tackling the cost of living, his team indicated on Saturday.https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/18/burnham-to-scrap-starmers-digital-id-scheme-in-reset-of-priorities 10 months ago: There’s something missing from all the media coverage of Labour’s Digital ID proposal and it’s darker than any worries we might have about Scots ‘declaring ourselves British.‘ From the Canary factchecker 27 September 2025 ago: As Keir Starmer moves to impose ‘digital ID’ on the UK, … Continue reading One of Andy Burnham’s first acts will be to copy John Swinney on digital ID

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Six unique steps the SNP Government is taking to avert the claim that ‘children will be one of the unhealthiest generations in decades’

johnrobertson834

You know what I’m going to say. Yes, no mention of Scotland in this, from the Guardian‘s Health Correspondent, Tobi Thomas. Do you think that means Tobi has done the research and knows that doomy claim applies equally to Scotland? Has s/he flip! The Scottish Government has taken several targeted actions on child nutrition, obesity, and related health issues, which could help mitigate aspects of the UK-wide problems highlighted in the RCPCH report upon which the Guardian report is based. Such as? Here are a selected six of them. Expansion of free school meals to tackle child poverty and improve … Continue reading Six unique steps the SNP Government is taking to avert the claim that ‘children will be one of the unhealthiest generations in decades’

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Fires fall dramatically to lowest in 10 years and staffing climbs to put Prince Street Blaze in perspective

johnrobertson834

The Scotsman above pushing the ill-informed scare story about fire service cuts in an evidence vaccuum. Badly mixing my metaphors let me shine some light on that vacuum. From Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: March 2026 published today, the above and : Number of fires fell 5% in the last year. In 2024-25, there were 22,925 fires in Scotland, down 5% on 2023-24 and the lowest in the last ten years. There were 36 fire fatalities in 2024-25, down from 42 in 2023-24 and the second lowest in the last decade. The number of deliberate building fires has fallen over … Continue reading Fires fall dramatically to lowest in 10 years and staffing climbs to put Prince Street Blaze in perspective

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The real news – The SNP era sees massive increases in attainment by looked after children with three times as many passing at National 5 and eight times as many at Higher

johnrobertson834

In the Herald today, under a frankly creepy image: Scottish Labour has accused the SNP of “breaking The Promise” after new figures showed the attainment gap between looked-after children and their peers has widened in recent years. Looked-after children are young people in the care of their local authority, including those in foster care, residential care, kinship care or some children living at home under formal supervision. How many times have I pointed out that not one credible, peer-review published educational researcher, across the globe, cares about attainment gaps. They care about improvements within disadvantaged groups over time. They know that the middle … Continue reading The real news – The SNP era sees massive increases in attainment by looked after children with three times as many passing at National 5 and eight times as many at Higher

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Nine SNP initiatives to tackle child poverty all unique to Scotland and all of them not news for you apparently

johnrobertson834

From: Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan: Progress Report 2025-26 published yesterday to the above MSM response: Steps taken in the past year to further strengthen the support available to families include: This is in addition to our continued investment in actions delivered over the life of this plan, including devolved employability support, free bus travel for under 22s and disabled people, and our package of social security payments including the Scottish Child Payment. Source: https://www.gov.scot/publications/tackling-child-poverty-delivery-plan-progress-report-2025-26/pages/3/ In short, these steps are Scotland-only measures designed to tackle child poverty within the devolved framework. They do not apply elsewhere in the UK, though … Continue reading Nine SNP initiatives to tackle child poverty all unique to Scotland and all of them not news for you apparently