John Swinney and Nicola Sturgeon are facing calls to apologise to pupils across Scotland after the SNP failed to meet its pledge to close the school attainment gap by this year.
Fresh exam results published yesterday showed that a substantial divide still exists between outcomes for children from the poorest communities and those from the most affluent backgrounds.
Although the gap narrowed slightly over the past year, it remains wider than it was ten years ago, when Mr Swinney was Education Secretary and Ms Sturgeon vowed to eliminate it altogether by 2026, describing the target as the “defining mission” of her government.
Mairi McAllan, the current Education Secretary, said yesterday it was “particularly pleasing” to see the difference in performance between pupils from the most and least deprived areas shrink over the past year. However, she was unable to say when the SNP would fulfil its promise to close the gap completely.
The dispute erupted as Scotland’s latest exam figures showed an overall rise in passes across National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher qualifications.
Scottish Conservative education spokesman Meghan Gallacher said: “Despite the wonderful achievements of our young people, SNP ministers have absolutely no room for complacency. No amount of spin can hide the fact that the results confirm Nicola Sturgeon’s betrayal of Scotland’s poorest pupils.
“She wanted to eradicate the poverty-related attainment gap and promised to have substantially eliminated it by 2026. Sturgeon and this SNP government have miserably failed to do so.
“They have made painfully slow progress in reducing it since the pandemic and, on the nationalists’ watch, it is clear far too many of Scotland’s pupils are still facing a postcode lottery when it comes to their chances of educational achievement.
Students at Springburn Academy in Glasgow with their exam results
Nicola Sturgeon has been urged to apologise to Scots pupils after failing to deliver on a promise to close the school attainment gap by this year
‘Sturgeon and Swinney should do the right thing and apologise to those pupils in our most deprived communities. Two decades of failure from the SNP means Scotland’s reputation for providing a gold standard of education no longer exists.’
More than 148,000 pupils received their exam results yesterday.
At National 5 level, the A-C pass rate was 79.2 per cent, which was higher than 78.4 per cent last year and 77.2 per cent in 2024. For Highers, the pass rate was 76.7 per cent, compared to 75.9 per cent last year and 74.9 per cent in 2024, while for Advanced Highers it increased from 75.3 per cent in 2024 to 76.7 per cent last year and 77.6 per cent this year.
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The gap between the A-C pass rate for pupils from the least deprived and most deprived areas was 15.6 percentage points for National 5, 15.9 percentage points for Highers and 12.1 percentage points for Advanced Highers. These were all down compared to 16.4 percentage points for National 5, 16.8 percentage points for Highers and 13.3 percentage points for Advanced Highers last year. In all three qualifications, the gap is higher than it was in 2016.
Scottish Labour education spokesman Katherine Sangster said: ‘Any improvement in exam results is welcome and the progress being made is a testament to the hard work of pupils and the dedication of their teachers. However, there is no room for complacency when it comes to giving the next generation the future they deserve.
‘A decade ago the SNP promised to close the attainment gap, but since then it has widened. No child should be held back by their postcode or their background, but it’s clear far more must be done to tackle the damaging inequalities in our education system.
‘We need an education system that can unlock the potential of every child and give them the opportunities they deserve.’
Andrea Bradley, general secretary of the EIS teaching union, welcomed the progress on the attainment gap in the last year but said its persistence ‘remains a huge concern as well as a huge challenge’.
Mairi McAllan was unable to say when the attainment gap would be closed completely
She also demanded further action including greater investment and capping class sizes at 20 across all ages and subjects, to ‘give schools a fighting chance of significantly tackling the poverty-related achievement and attainment gap’.
Ms Bradley added: ‘No young person should be disadvantaged in their education because of poverty and factors entirely outwith their control.’
Ms McAllan said: ‘These are incredibly positive results across the board, with academic passes up at every level – National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher – as well as record numbers of vocational qualifications. This is testament to the breadth and strength of Scotland’s education system, the professionalism of our teachers and school staff and the hard work of our young people.
‘It is particularly pleasing to see another narrowing in the attainment gap between the most and least deprived areas. This builds on similar progress in the gaps for literacy and numeracy levels, as well as for the number of young people entering initial positive destinations, which has narrowed by almost two thirds since 2009-10.
‘This is welcome progress but we will not be complacent and will continue to do all we can to close the poverty related attainment gap even further, having empowered headteachers and invested £1.75billion in the Scottish Attainment Challenge over the past decade, with up to £200 million being invested this year as well.’
In an interview on BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast yesterday, Ms McAllan was unable to say when the attainment gap would be closed completely.
Donna Stewart, Scotland’s Chief Qualifications and Examinations Officer, said: ‘Scotland’s learners should be proud of what they have achieved today – we are certainly very proud of them.
‘These results are a testament to their hard work and commitment. The rise in overall attainment at all three National Qualification levels and the increasing attainment in vocational and technical qualifications will rightly be welcomed in classrooms and staff rooms across Scotland.’
