Attainment gap chasm is widening in Scotland

Sturgeon to announce more funding today

Fewer than five pupils from the poorest backgrounds in Angus and Perthshire achieved three or more As last year, shock new figures have revealed.

As Nicola Sturgeon prepares to visit Glenrothes to announce further funding for the Attainment Challenge, designed to bridge the gap between pupils from deprived backgrounds and those from wealthier households, it emerged that chasm has widened in recent years.

Fife and Dundee bucked this national trend – but had two of the worst records in the country for the poorest pupils achieving good grades.

In Fife, the percentage of youngsters from the most deprived area who achieved three or more As fell from 2.6% in 2012 to 2.3% last year but a drop in those from wealthiest backgrounds meant the attainment gap narrowed.

Dundee had better news, with the difference lessening after the number of poorest children achieving high marks rose from a paltry to 1.4% to 2.4% over the same period.

It was impossible to measure the gap in Angus and Perthshire because the number of passes from the poorest backgrounds amounted to under five pupils per authority in both 2012 and 2015 so was not registered.

The success rates for the most well off children last year were 15.5% and 25.1% respectively, an increase in both cases.

The news emerged as Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale prepared to make a speech at the Royal Society of Edinburgh where she will say that the decision by the SNP to cut the budget for local councils – the main providers of schools – was a conscious choice.

She will say the new powers set for Holyrood mean ministers can choose a different path.

Ms Dugdale is expected to say: “Cuts to schools budgets are not inevitable. The SNP Government has actively decided that those who provide education in this country, our councils, should have their budgets cut to the bone.”

A spokesperson for Deputy First Minister John Swinney said local government “has always been treated very fairly by the SNP”, despite real term budget cuts from the UK Government.

He said: “Average spending per pupil in Scotland is significantly higher than in England, and this year councils planned to spend 3.3% more on delivery of education – the largest increase in six years.”