Scotland’s Schools Overtaken By England’s
23 Oct 2007
English schools now outperform their Scottish counterparts on a key benchmark measure, according to new analysis by the Policy Institute.
A higher proportion of pupils in England are getting at least five good grades, including Maths and English, compared to their Scottish counterparts at S4 level – the last year of compulsory education when most students take Standard grade exams or equivalent.
Figures for 2006/07 show that number of S4 pupils in Scotland achieving the benchmark fell to 39.2%, down from 43.8% last year. Meanwhile in England the equivalent figure - published late last week - rose from 45.3% to 45.7%.
This benchmark is widely considered to be the most robust measure of school performance, because it captures almost all pupils at the same stage in their education, and includes the core subjects of Maths and English. Good grades are defined as Standard grades 1-3, Intermediate-2 A-C or Intermediate-1 A in Scotland and GSCE grades A*-C in England.
Tom Miers, Executive Director of the Policy Institute, said: “These figures give considerable cause for concern. They indicate that the performance of Scottish schools has not improved over the last decade, and may now be starting to decline.”
“This is despite a 93% increase in funding per pupil since 1999.
“These figures are not the result of a small survey, but the accumulated data of many thousands of actual exams taken by real pupils. They are widely considered to be robust, especially in the recording of comparative performance over time.
“For years we have been told that Scots schools are among the best in the world. These figures give the lie to that boast and surely exposes one of the great scandals of devolution.
“Unless it can be shown that there is a fundamental flaw in the way pupil attainment in measured, the performance of Scottish schools is woefully inadequate, especially in value-for money terms. Our political class needs to wake up and focus on this most important of issues.”
The latest figures are used to update the Policy Institute paper “How Good Are Scotland’s Schools – The evidence from home and abroad” by James Stanfield, first published in March 2007 (available from the Research & Publications page of this site).