SNP promise to close attainment gap ‘in ruins’, say Lib Dems
The Liberal Democrats have said the SNP’s promise to close the attainment gap “lies in ruins” after Scottish exam results showed “minuscule progress”.
The party’s education spokesperson Willie Rennie said that the SNP has “betrayed a whole generation of young people from poorer backgrounds” and called for urgent action to drive up performance.
He pointed to comments by then-first minister Nicola Sturgeon in 2016 when she said her government would push to substantially reduce the attainment gap by 2026, writing in that year’s programme for government document that elimination of the gap was “a yardstick by which the people of Scotland can measure our success”.
Latest exam results published this month show that the poverty-related attainment gap – the difference between the A-C rate for those from the 20% of the most deprived areas of Scotland compared with the most affluent – has shrunk narrowly.
The National 5 rate dropped from 17.2% to 16.6% while Highers saw a small dip from 17.2% to 17.1% and Advanced Highers from 15.5% to 12.8% compared with last year.
Meanwhile, figures from the Scottish Funding Council show that in 2023-24, 16.7% of Scottish-domiciled full-time first degree entrants to university were from the 20% most deprived areas, up from 16.3% in 2022-23.
The Scottish Government has a target that by 2030, 20% of full-time, first-degree entrants to higher education should be from Scotland’s 20% most deprived backgrounds.
Mr Rennie said: “The SNP’s promise to close the attainment gap lies in ruins. By Nicola Sturgeon’s own yardstick, her party has betrayed a whole generation of young people from poorer backgrounds.
“The minuscule progress that they have made is nowhere near good enough. On the SNP’s watch, Scotland has tumbled down the international rankings, and parents are hugely worried about what that means for their children’s futures.
“In schools, there are lots of issues that need addressed, from behaviour challenges to teachers stuck on supply lists and fundamental problems with the curriculum, but all of them have gotten worse under the SNP.
“We urgently need a plan to drive up education performance and improve outcomes for our young people.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Substantial progress is being made on widening access to higher education. The latest UCAS data shows the number of Scots accepted to a UK university from deprived areas increasing by 11% since 2023.
“Ministers remain resolute in meeting the goal of 20% of all entrants being from the 20% most deprived communities by 2030, and will continue to work constructively with the sector to achieve this.
“We are determined to drive continued improvement, which is why the curriculum improvement cycle is underway and we are progressing with qualifications reform.
“We will continue to engage with our school and local authority partners as part of the annual review of the national improvement framework, to ensure we continue to drive up standards for all our children and young people, and our investment in the Scottish attainment challenge is ongoing to tackle the attainment gap.”