Page 3 | The continuing SNP education banjax.

WingnutSOS · 2026-09-08T08:24:02+00:00

This makes me angry, and sad. PISA results for 2025 show Scottish (and Welsh) pupils are more than a year behind their English peers for maths and science. Also behind on reading. (20 points is equivalent of a year of schooling). The SNP should hang their heads in shame. Scottish education used to be the gold standard across the world. Now thanks to the SNP, Scottish pupils are more than a year behind English pupils when it comes to maths and science, and well behind on reading. The SNP likes to claim they are stronger for Scotland but this is the reality of 20 years of SNP rule. A dumbed down race to the bottom - attainment gap closing, but not by elevating those at the bottom 😳 Curriculum for excellence my arse.

Igneococcus · 11/09/2026 07:35

Michael Gove is offering his help, I'd quite like to have seen Swinney et al.'s reaction to that
https://www.thetimes.com/article/6fa39891-6935-4855-9ecd-11e8eb3a40f0?shareToken=66a64d02a166dbcab14fccae31fd9d6a&ver=article

Verifying Device

https://www.thetimes.com/article/6fa39891-6935-4855-9ecd-11e8eb3a40f0?shareToken=66a64d02a166dbcab14fccae31fd9d6a&ver=article

Original poster

WingnutSOS · 11/09/2026 10:29

@Igneococcus I saw that! He is quite the troll Gove 😂 but there is some evidence to suggest his approach has been more successful.

Of course the SNP have trotted out the usual “take no lessons” response. Which for a government who have fecked an entire education system is quite a bold statement…

OP posts:

Tomorrowisanewday · 11/09/2026 14:59

Otherlands · 10/09/2026 19:15

I wonder if Swinney has hosted a meeting with McAllan, Gilruth, Scottish education leaders et al since the PISA results came out.

If so, was there any reflection, a sense of shame, accountability, panic or guilt and a plan for the future?

How could the SNP govt and the Curriculum for Excellence fail Scottish children so badly?

I suspect any kind of meeting would be to figure out how to spin it, ignore it.

The reality is that none of these ministers care about Scottish children or educational standards.

Imagine having a job where you could be so staggeringly incompetent and feel no sense of responsibility or accountability.

If so, was there any reflection, a sense of shame, accountability, panic or guilt and a plan for the future?

No, they're doing a grand job, above average in Pisa scores. I could have put my foot through the screen watching this clip from the committee

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ChimpanzeeThatMonkeyNews · 11/09/2026 15:23

I loved the word banjax. My Dad says it.

cityliving99 · 11/09/2026 21:57

Tomorrowisanewday · 10/09/2026 08:52

"the Europe-wide collapse in reading" - this. It makes me so sad, I come from a very working class background, first in my wider family to go to university, run my own business, which has given me a life I would never have envisaged even as a teenager. My mum let me walk to the local library from an early age, and I was a voracious reader (still am), and I had some great teachers (looking back).

I also was disappointed in how much Mairi Mcallan talked round the subject yesterday, rather than admitting we need to do better by the current generation going through our schools.

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Our students in our English comp are read to by their tutor in tutor time, which leads to topical discussions. We have accelerated reading programmes for less able students. We have a fantastic library, with additional literacy lessons.
we have Poetry Day, Shakespeare Day etc.
Our English Literature GCSE is taken by every student. We have authors visiting to inspire students, they go to the theatre and literacy events.
I am amazed by students enthusiasm and ability.
How will Scotland progress as an independent country, if your young people are being failed? Aren’t they your future?

cityliving99 · 11/09/2026 22:09

Meeplemakeglasgow · 08/09/2026 19:53

There are discrepancies between the sampling in both countries to be fair.

Less than 1% of English pupils are tested but 5% of Scottish ones are, that’s a massive gap for statistical purposes.

Don’t know the participation rates this year but in the 2022 cycle only 67% of English schools took part compared to 96% of Scottish schools, the effect of this was that many of the English schools sampled actually volunteered to be replacements, as higher performing schools are more likely to volunteer (self-selection bias) it could lead to skewed results.

For what it’s worth I don’t like PISA as a comparison as there are too many socioeconomic factors which vary between countries that are considered equal, such as a rural school in Colombia being used as a an equivalent data point as one in Buckinghamshire.

Not saying for a second that our education system couldn’t be improved just think that this is a measure that shouldn’t be taken as gospel and used as guidance only.

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Schools are randomly selected.
Our school in England participated.
The head teacher was allowed to refuse a few students from participating, for example for severe health reasons.
Then students were chosen randomly, not by the school.
we were disappointed that some of our brightest students were not picked, but that is the same for everyone.
There is no denying when Scottish students arrive at our school, they have a very different attitude to learning. They struggle with the discipline. They struggle with independent learning. And if they arrive in year 9 , it’s just too late. You need to create curious minds and a love of learning from a young age.
Quite a few of a students get straight 9s.
They are exceptional students.

Tomorrowisanewday · Yesterday 12:08

cityliving99 · 11/09/2026 21:57

Our students in our English comp are read to by their tutor in tutor time, which leads to topical discussions. We have accelerated reading programmes for less able students. We have a fantastic library, with additional literacy lessons.
we have Poetry Day, Shakespeare Day etc.
Our English Literature GCSE is taken by every student. We have authors visiting to inspire students, they go to the theatre and literacy events.
I am amazed by students enthusiasm and ability.
How will Scotland progress as an independent country, if your young people are being failed? Aren’t they your future?

Show quote history

They are, and that's why I was so disgusted by Mairi McAllan's speech on the results. Everyone is entitled to their political opinion, but I don't understand why so many of our population vote for a party that is failing on so many points. Nicola Sturgeon said she would be judged on her record of improving education standard for our young people eleven years ago, and this is where we are

cityliving99 · Yesterday 17:02

Tomorrowisanewday · Yesterday 12:08

They are, and that's why I was so disgusted by Mairi McAllan's speech on the results. Everyone is entitled to their political opinion, but I don't understand why so many of our population vote for a party that is failing on so many points. Nicola Sturgeon said she would be judged on her record of improving education standard for our young people eleven years ago, and this is where we are

Show quote history

I don’t understand it at all.
The SNP are so obsessed about being independent from England, that they will ignore failings to get there.
we recently had a family move from Glasgow to our school. The teens are lovely, but not used to structure or discipline. They were allowed to leave the school site at lunch and continue to do so, with parents support. They are way way behind our students, but parents don’t want them staying to after school top ups. GCSEs will be too challenging for them, but they are not at all bothered.