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Watch the media in Scotland now scrabble around to include us in the England & Wales grooming inquiry despite the complete absence of evidence for it here

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Professor John Robertson OBA BBC UK is headlining the above as a ‘national inquiry’ though it is clear, reading on, that it is not: The prime minister has announced there will be a full national statutory inquiry into grooming gangs. Sir Keir Starmer said he had accepted the recommendations of an audit by Baroness Louise Casey into the data and evidence on the nature and scale of group-based child sexual abuse. Baroness Casey has recommended a national inquiry is required, he said. The inquiry will cover England and Wales. The Guardian, notably, does not clarify that and leaves it to … Continue reading Watch the media in Scotland now scrabble around to include us in the England & Wales grooming inquiry despite the complete absence of evidence for it here

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‘I’d rather be a teacher in Scotland than England’ – research review confirms the sense in this

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‘I’d rather be a teacher in Scotland than England’ By JB The headline above is from Teachers Education Supplement magazine 2019 in an article about a teacher from England who came to work in Scotland. “Teachers have a far better time of it north of the border, says this educator who has experienced school life in both countries”  He goes on to say that “On balance, I think teaching in the Scottish state- education system is better than in the English one. It seems foolish now that I never considered there would be differences; it’s just that my English-centric view had … Continue reading ‘I’d rather be a teacher in Scotland than England’ – research review confirms the sense in this

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Man from Stewarton knows nothing at all about Scottish schools as he calls for Michael Gove’s ideas to be implemented here

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Michael Gove’s bookshelf with David Irving’s holocaust denying The War Path on it. Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to reader Legerwood for alerting me to this: Published in Herald today, a letter by Graeme Arnott of Stewarton, claiming: Premier league of achievement? Stuck with a failing model? This thesis does not survive a collision with the evidence. From UK Poverty 2025 The essential guide to understanding poverty in the UK, published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, today: There are differences between the statistics on attainment in schools in the four UK nations which limit comparisons but the size of the gap between … Continue reading Man from Stewarton knows nothing at all about Scottish schools as he calls for Michael Gove’s ideas to be implemented here

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Labour’s pledge to hire 6,500 extra teachers in England will be a ‘challenge’ will only add 1.4% to the total and still not affect their nearly 40%, per head, higher teaching load than in Scotland

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian today, the above and: A key government pledge to appoint 6,500 extra teachers in England by the end of this parliament will be difficult to achieve and is likely to fall short of demand, the UK’s public spending watchdog has warned. The education secretary Bridget Phillipson’s promise to recruit thousands of extra teachers in state schools, which has been funded by adding VAT to private school fees, forms one of the cornerstones of the government’s education policy. However, a report by the National Audit Office (NAO), published on Wednesday, warned that a projected increase in … Continue reading Labour’s pledge to hire 6,500 extra teachers in England will be a ‘challenge’ will only add 1.4% to the total and still not affect their nearly 40%, per head, higher teaching load than in Scotland

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LATEST – The Bursary that Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Students get in Scotland, unmatched and, of course unreported

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Professor John Robertson OBA From the Scottish Government News site today but finding no place among the reports on what is a woman and what is a ferry? More detail at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/support-paramedic-nursing-midwifery-students-scotland-academic-year-2025-2026/pages/4/ Students in Scotland also pay no tuition fees. What happens in England? Students taking Healthcare degree courses including Nursing, Midwifery or Paramedic Science apply to Student Finance England for Tuition Fee Loans, Maintenance Loans and Grants for Dependants. https://www2.worc.ac.uk/moneyadvice/nursing-and-midwifery.html#:~:text=Students%20taking%20Healthcare%20degree%20courses%20including%20Nursing%2C%20Midwifery,%22Full-time%20Undergraduate%20Financial%20Support%22%20page%20on%20this%20website. So, Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Students in Scotland pay no tuition fees and get a free bursary. What happens in Wales? From AY 17/18 the availability of income assessed healthcare bursaries … Continue reading LATEST – The Bursary that Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Students get in Scotland, unmatched and, of course unreported

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Feeling safe in school – a widening gap across the UK

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian today: Girls in England say they feel less safe at school and are more disenchanted with their education, research has found. Using data from an international study of pupils at primary and secondary schools, researchers said the steep fall in girls’ “emotional engagement” compared with the years before the Covid pandemic has become a pressing issue for schools. While the results from the international survey showed pupils’ feelings of belonging, safety and pride have fallen in many countries since the pandemic, researchers from University College London (UCL) found that England had one of the biggest drop-offs among … Continue reading Feeling safe in school – a widening gap across the UK

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Vetting call over ‘asshole’ PhD examiners, ‘trial-by-fire’ vivas

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Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair This happens in Scotland too and it’s made worse by the common sense of inferiority toward some English academics. In the Times Education Supplement today: A new study of more than 300 PhD examiners found that most think the UK’s “closed-door” vivas should be reformed, with three quarters calling for examiners to be more carefully selected and two thirds advising more precise guidance on examiners’ behaviour. And the respondents felt pretty strongly on the matter: one said known “assholes” need to be kept “away from our students”, while another called for … Continue reading Vetting call over ‘asshole’ PhD examiners, ‘trial-by-fire’ vivas

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Scotland’s schools – better staffed, better funded and improving outcomes in a society where youth violence has plummeted

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Professor John Robertson OBA, former schoolteacher, education lecturer, Associate Dean I was only a classroom teacher for three years (11 year-olds) before moving into higher education, but 18-24 year-olds can be hard work, scary at times, too. I was a bit lucky as well. I ran a winning school football team (cynically based on the Catenaccio – look it up) so if they crossed me they were oot! I’m not, under any circumstances downplaying how awful the experience can be, at some times, for some teachers but I am, really, questioning the idea that things are now worse than they … Continue reading Scotland’s schools – better staffed, better funded and improving outcomes in a society where youth violence has plummeted

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A Professor, 11 years after BBC Scotland told Deacon Blue his research was ‘poor quality’, supposed CalMac supporters say his work is ‘not to be taken seriously’ but when challenged cannot offer any evidence

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Professor John Robertson OBA, former teacher, education lecturer, Associate Dean for Quality Assurance and Faculty Research Ethics Chair – why the F would I lie about anything when I don’t need to? First They Ignore You, Then They Laugh at You, Then They Attack You, Then….. In 2014, BBC Scotland accused me of bringing my employer, the University of the West of Scotland, AND the BBC, into disrepute. They copied in my boss, the Principal and vice Chancellor. For two weeks I feared for my job and if I’d worked in an ‘ancient’ university, might well have been reprimanded, even … Continue reading A Professor, 11 years after BBC Scotland told Deacon Blue his research was ‘poor quality’, supposed CalMac supporters say his work is ‘not to be taken seriously’ but when challenged cannot offer any evidence

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Kaye Adams the latest BBC Scotland presenter to deliberately mislead the public by conflating the Dundee University ‘Wendy’ jobs scandal with SNP free tuition

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By Liz S Saw this online via a Blue Sky account: “Kaye Adams is the latest BBC Scotland presenter to deliberately mislead the public by conflating the Dundee University scandal with free tuition. The Dundee University funding issue was caused by financial mismanagement. It has nothing to do with free tuition. More BBC propaganda” Strangely enough I also heard this via the new additional BBC propaganda programme, which is now a part of the BBC in Scotland , as in the podcast called Scotcast,. As they were also debating this yesterday prompted by the Dundee University funding issue, but with … Continue reading Kaye Adams the latest BBC Scotland presenter to deliberately mislead the public by conflating the Dundee University ‘Wendy’ jobs scandal with SNP free tuition