Education is fine

The suggestion that the Audit Scotland report (March 2021) “does not make pretty reading” for the Scottish Government (J B Gorrie, Letters, 9 April) is not borne out on actually reading the report. The report found much to commend, with those “involved in planning, delivering and supporting school education... working well together prior to the pandemic” and an “increase in the types of opportunities, awards and qualifications available to children and young people”. The disruption due to the pandemic had “reinforced the importance [of various] sectors working together”.

There are also the PISA reports. These three-yearly assessments of representative samples of 15-year-olds show that the four UK nations perform at a very similar level across the subjects assessed. In the most recent report (2018), Scotland had slipped a little in science but improved in reading, where the gap between best and worst had narrowed despite a good “best” performance. Overall the four nations do very similarly, coming just above the OECD average and close to other North European countries, Australia, New Zealand and the US. Education here is not a “mess” as claimed by Mr Gorrie.

Education, as the Audit Scotland report notes, is “not just about exam results”. Access also matters and Scotland manages to offer university education without the £9,000 p/a fees charged in England and Wales. This, coupled with the further development of nursery education and upgrading of schools in the Edinburgh area, shows that progress should be set to continue.

BILL MCKINLAY Cockburn Crescent, Balerno