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An exam in progress
PASS rates have fallen as the class divide in Scottish educational attainment is at its highest on record — nearly a decade after former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called its eradication her “defining mission.”
Ms Sturgeon set the Scottish Attainment Challenge (SAC) in 2015, but Scotland’s poverty-related attainment gap now stands at 17.2 per cent at both Nat 5 and Higher levels, and 15.5 per cent at Advanced Higher, up on the 2019 pre-Covid class divides of 17, 16.9 and 13.2 per cent respectively.
She had appointed First Minister John Swinney as education secretary in 2016 to drive the policy.
The new Scottish Parliament looks set to continue a cycle of managerial tinkering while public services face the axe, writes STEPHEN LOW
Cuts are sweeping campuses as cash-strapped universities slash staff and politicians fail to act on a growing funding emergency. VINCE MILLS reports
