Exclusive:SNP accused of 'cherry-picking' school attainment gap figures

A resolution in front of the party’s annual conference this weekend claims the poverty-related attainment gap is at its “narrowest on record”.

However, figures released under Freedom of Information laws show a more complex picture, with the gap widening in some areas.

Scottish Conservative shadow education secretary Miles Briggs said: “This sums up the SNP’s dismal record on education. Their claim that the attainment gap is at its narrowest is deeply misleading — it may have narrowed in some areas, but across much of primary, it’s actually widening.”

Figures from 2023/24, the most recent available, show Scottish pupils in S3 successfully closing the attainment gap to its lowest level in literacy, at 12.7 percentage points, and in numeracy at 12 percentage points.

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At primary literacy, the gap between the most and least well-off pupils has narrowed to its lowest by 20.2 percentage points. Closing the poverty-related attainment gap was a key pledge in government of former first minister Nicola Sturgeon.

In her recent memoir, Frankly, the ex-SNP leader said her party failed to make progress because she did not fully appreciate the impact of poverty on attainment.

The gap has widened year-on-year across several areas at the academic levels at which attainment is measured. Compared with the previous year, the gap between the most and least deprived pupils increased by 0.5 percentage points in P1 reading.

It also increased in P1 writing, literacy, and numeracy. The gap widened in P4 reading, P7 reading and in P7 numeracy.

For all primary pupils combined, the gap increased by 0.6 points in reading and 0.4 in numeracy. However, the attainment gap specifically in S3 literacy and numeracy is at its lowest on record.

In 2023-24, 82 per cent of the most deprived pupils in S3 achieved the expected level of literacy compared with 95 per cent of the least deprived – a gap of 12.7 percentage points.

For numeracy, 84.1 per cent of the most deprived pupils achieved the expected level compared with 96.1 per cent of the least deprived – a gap of 12 percentage points.

The attainment gap in primary literacy is also at its lowest.

In 2023-24, 64 per cent of the most deprived pupils in P1, P4 and P7 achieved the expected level of literacy compared with 85 per cent of the least deprived – a gap of 20.2 percentage points. Although this is at its lowest, it is one of the biggest gaps in primary at all levels.

“This is a damning failure on what Nicola Sturgeon once called her ‘defining mission’,” Mr Briggs said.

“Rather than tackle the problem, the SNP cherry-picks statistics and spins the story to suit themselves, all while Scotland’s education standards continue to slide. As usual under the Nationalists, it’s the most disadvantaged pupils who pay the price.

“They deserve a government focused on outcomes, not headlines.”

The SNP and Scottish Government were contacted for comment.