Official Report 192KB pdf
The next item of business is a statement by Màiri McAllan on the programme for international student assessment 2025. Questions will be taken at the end of the statement, so there should be no interruptions or interventions.
14:36
PISA is an important measure and, rightly, the Government gives careful consideration to its results. Independent evidence of the performance of Scottish education is vital. That is why, in 2020, we commissioned the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to review the curriculum for excellence. It is why we take part in PISA and why we rejoined the other two major international assessments: the trends in international mathematics and science study and the progress in international reading literacy study—TIMSS and PIRLS. Those surveys are important as part of a package of measures that helps us understand how our education system is performing.
Before we look at the results, it is important to set PISA in context. PISA provides an important source of evidence on educational outcomes and experiences, but it should not be viewed in isolation. Section 3.7 of the “Programme for International Student Assessment 2025: National Report for Scotland”, which was published last week, instructs us that
“Educational performance is multifaceted and no single assessment can provide a complete picture of the strengths and challenges within an education system.”
It goes on to note:
“The findings presented in this report should therefore be considered alongside evidence from national qualifications, curriculum assessments, inspection evidence, administrative data, research studies and other international surveys. Taken together, these sources provide a more complete understanding of educational performance and outcomes in Scotland.”
As Andreas Schleicher, the OECD’s director for education and skills, put it,
“PISA is not a league table, it provides a compass”
with which systems can consider change. I add to that the words of Andrea Bradley, general secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland, who noted that the report is
“limited in what it can say about the quality of learning within any education system”
and that it tells us
“only a fraction of the story”.
With that context in mind, I turn to the results. This year’s PISA results demonstrate that Scotland’s education system is competitive by international standards. It performs significantly above the OECD average in four out of five domains—namely, science, reading, computational problem solving and environmental science. They also show that Scotland’s performance has been stable since 2022, against a backdrop of further international decline. We also recorded a significant weakening in the relationship between a learner’s socioeconomic background and their educational performance, particularly in reading. For reading, the results demonstrate that that link had been broken down more than in any previous PISA cycle. That means that, more than at any point since 2000, deprivation is increasingly being overcome when it comes to Scottish attainment in literacy.
PISA also provides us with insights into pupils’ experiences and attitudes. It is heartening to see that our young people have a positive attitude to school and feel a sense of belonging.
I welcome those results, but I am clear eyed about the need for change and I want to see Scotland’s performance improve in all the areas tested by PISA. I am determined to ensure that there is ongoing improvement in Scottish education and I am not content with the stabilisation in our results. As I have commented several times, I intend to be a reforming education secretary, and I have set out bold and ambitious plans to achieve excellence and equity in Scottish education.
Key to that programme of work will be reform of the curriculum, which is currently under way, and decisive action to remove mobile phones from all Scotland’s classrooms. We also intend to seize the opportunity of public service reform to address a number of core issues in our education system. That combination will drive academic excellence and vocational strength, both of which I am dedicated to. Those reforms predate the PISA results—I stress that to emphasise that the Government is not engaging in knee-jerk reaction to the results or the commentary around them.
On the detail, the curriculum improvement cycle will represent the largest reform of curriculum for excellence since its introduction. The focus of the programme is twofold: first, it seeks to clarify the role of knowledge in our curriculum and to strengthen literacy, maths and science by providing greater clarity about what learners need to know, do and understand; and, secondly, it seeks to clarify the progression that learners ought to make across all stages of their education.
In maths, the revised curriculum will strengthen disciplinary skills, including reasoning, problem solving, mathematical modelling, justification and proof, spatial thinking, estimation, mathematical communication and fluency. That those are skills that are increasingly required in modern life is reflected in international assessment programmes such as PISA.
In literacy, the updated curriculum will make progression clearer across the interconnected areas of reading, writing, listening and talking, recognising that those skills develop together and underpin learning across the curriculum. Particular consideration has been given to the reading literacy capabilities that are reflected in international studies such as PIRLS and PISA, which include comprehension, interpretation, evaluation and the application of reading skills in a range of real-world contexts.
In science, the revised curriculum will provide greater clarity on the scientific knowledge, understanding and skills that learners are expected to develop at each stage, which will help to create more coherent progression. With its clear emphasis on scientific inquiry, investigation, critical thinking and evidence-based reasoning, the framework will help learners to understand what science tells us and how scientific knowledge is developed.
The revised curriculum will also take account of the kinds of reasoning, application and problem solving that are reflected in international studies, which will help to ensure that learners are able to apply their learning confidently in unfamiliar and real-world contexts.
The new curriculum will be implemented in all our schools from August 2028. I am determined to ensure that the teaching profession has the opportunity to continue to influence the improvement cycle, and I am committed to supporting it to successfully deliver this transformational educational reform.
That work is being undertaken in tandem with intense dialogue with local government on public service reform and our ambition, which is set out in our programme for government, to empower school leaders, raise standards and reduce unwarranted variation across the country. That plan will be informed by the report that was delivered to ministers earlier this year by the former headteacher and independent adviser on school reform, John Wilson. I intend to publish that report shortly.
In addition, we have committed to expanding our early literacy bookbug programme so that it will reach an additional 20,000 families; addressing teacher recruitment challenges by supporting more primary teachers who wish to retrain into employment across the profession; and reducing unnecessary bureaucracy and excessive workload by shortening Government guidance and delivering reduced class contact time. We will also implement the route map for a national staged intervention model for children with additional support needs.
Much of the commentary since the publication of the PISA results has focused on comparing Scotland’s results with England’s, and I understand why that is the case. However, like Andreas Schleicher, I believe that
“both systems have distinct strengths”
and that, as he went on to say, there is much that we can learn from each other.
I am open minded about learning from others. Indeed, looking beyond our United Kingdom neighbours, I am very interested in the performance of countries such as Ireland and Canada, which, it can be argued, appear to have balanced academic, knowledge-based learning, skills development and wellbeing better than Scotland and England have done.
So, I will consider all that very carefully. Ultimately, however, I believe that success must be judged not just by test scores at age 15 but by where young people go next and whether they are equipped to succeed in work, training and further education. I am very proud that, in Scotland, 95.7 per cent of school leavers move on to a positive destination. That is one of the highest figures on record.
More broadly, I want our young people to experience an education that is characterised by opportunity for academic excellence and vocational strength, underpinned by a commitment to personal wellbeing and the wellbeing of the communities in which we live.
As I said in my opening remarks, it is important that the PISA results are not viewed in isolation. It is important for me, as education secretary, to put on the record the strengths of Scottish education. I can tell members, from the conversations that I have been having in the past 10 days, that it is very important to our teachers and the profession that I do so.
I wish to highlight some of that success today: our academic attainment is increasing again at national 5, higher and advanced higher; the number of grade As in national 5 and higher has increased; and an additional 1,000 candidates are entering for advanced higher in this year’s exams.
The poverty-related attainment gap narrowed further this year in national 5, higher and advanced higher, and it is lower than the pre-pandemic levels in 2019. I welcome similar increases in both pass rates and the percentage of A grades across national 5 and higher compared with last year for learners with additional support needs.
Importantly, alongside that strong academic excellence, we also witnessed a further surge in vocational awards in subjects that are preparing our young people for the world of work: those have increased by 121 per cent since 2019.
That mix of academic and vocational excellence is helping to deliver a joint record of positive destinations, with a record number of young people going on to university and a record number of them coming from our most deprived backgrounds. To me, that is the hallmark of an education system that is working well.
The Government has acknowledged the PISA results, and we have noted their importance as part of a suite of evidence that is available to us. We are committed to working to ensure excellence and equity for all our young people.
As has been perfectly clear from the commentary this week, PISA divides opinion. There are those who would consider it the only measure by which to judge our education system, and there are those at the opposite end of the spectrum, who would have us dismiss it completely, believing it to be too narrow to reflect modern requirements.
I take neither of those positions. In this regard, I am concerned only with ensuring the very best outcome for all children in Scotland.
I will allow around 20 minutes for the cabinet secretary to answer questions on the issues that were raised in her statement. Both questions and answers should be short.
I thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of her ministerial statement. The cabinet secretary says that PISA provides a compass. These PISA results show that Scotland’s attainment is heading south. Before curriculum for excellence, Scotland was an undisputed world leader, scoring a peak of 524 in maths. With curriculum for excellence, that score has plummeted to 467. That 57-point drop represents a loss of nearly two full years of school.
Today, one in three Scottish pupils fails to meet the basic international proficiency in the subject. While our scores have largely stagnated over the past four years, the long-term reality across reading, science and maths is undeniable. We are in a deep 20-year decline.
Maths matters. We are talking about the engineers, accountants and scientists of tomorrow.
Could the member ask a question? Questions have to be brief.
Of course.
“Improvement cycles” sounds more like process and more bureaucracy.
This is not a speech; it is question.
Does the cabinet secretary—
Could the member sit down, please?
Of course. Here is my question: does the cabinet secretary—
I asked the member to sit down. If she could sit down, please. She can then stand up again and ask her question.
Please stand up again and ask your question.
Does the cabinet secretary accept that an entire generation of young people has experienced a decline in educational performance under curriculum for excellence, and can the cabinet secretary tell us exactly how many years it will take for the improvement cycles to return Scotland to our pre-curriculum for excellence levels?
With brevity in mind, I will say that the member is wrong to dismiss the curriculum improvement cycle as she does. It is a very substantial piece of work and, as I said, it is the most significant reform to curriculum for excellence since its introduction. The cycle is being taken forward by the Government in consultation with the OECD, which confirmed that curriculum for excellence remains the right approach for Scotland but would benefit from periodic change—which is exactly what we are now undertaking.
I refer Ms Ross to the catalogue of success in Scotland’s education system that I can speak to, as was set out in my statement.
I thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of her statement. I welcome the fact that the Government recognises that changes are needed, but what we have heard over the past 10 days, since the figures were published, is complacency and a lack of curiosity about what is going on. The cabinet secretary states that PISA has divided opinion and she is at pains to say that the figures are just one part of the picture, but the fact is that, aside from the snapshot that is taken every three years, we have little objective data to allow us to get a fuller picture.
Let us shed some light on the matter. I ask that the Government works with experts to identify what further data they can capture so that this Parliament can have an open conversation about what we all need to do to deliver for our young people.
To be clear, it is not just me or the Government who is suggesting or requiring that we view the figures as just one part of the picture; it is the OECD itself. That is explicit in the PISA report, which I quoted in my statement.
I also note that Katherine Sangster’s characterisation of how I have approached PISA is not correct. In the discussions that I have been having with teachers and teaching unions—coincidentally, a number of which took place in the aftermath of the PISA results—they have stressed to me that they are grateful for an approach that is balanced and that recognises the successes of the systems that they are driving forward for our young people, but which, equally, is ambitious for what we can do next and what we can do better. That is exactly the approach that I will take, and I will be pleased to work with Katherine Sangster on that.
We all accept the need to keep driving up standards for everyone in education in Scotland. The data and the facts in PISA reports are important, although, as the cabinet secretary said, they are not the only metric that is used.
The cabinet secretary mentioned comparison of the PISA results for England and Scotland. Is she aware that independent analysis by Professor John Jerrim of University College London, who is an expert in PISA, indicates that England’s PISA scores have regularly been inflated by about 10 points due to the high drop-out rates among lower-attaining schools and disadvantaged pupils? Does the cabinet secretary agree that Scotland’s inclusive, all-in approach gives an honest baseline, making cross-border comparisons simply a case of comparing apples with oranges?
There are certainly differences between jurisdictions and education systems that make direct comparisons difficult. I cannot comment on any other country’s samples or their subsequent analysis, but I put on the record my confidence in the OECD sampling and quality assurance and Scotland’s adherence to that.
On George Adam’s point about having an education system that strives for excellence across the board and is therefore capable of supporting, for example, our young people with additional support needs to enter the education system and to leave it with the very best outcomes that they can achieve, that is what I am committed to. It is that balance and the pursuit of excellence across the board that will characterise the Government’s next steps.
As the cabinet secretary will know, teachers unions such as the NASUWT and the EIS raise workload as one of the key issues that contribute to unsustainable pressures in Scotland’s classrooms and on learning outcomes. One of the simplest steps that the cabinet secretary could take is to fully implement the recommendations in the 2013 report of the curriculum for excellence working group on tackling bureaucracy and its 2015 follow-up. Will she support teachers and learners by reviewing those reports and implementing the recommendations, which are still outstanding?
I will certainly look across the piece for suggestions and recommendations on how we can manage teacher workload, because I recognise that that is a concern for the profession. There is much within the curriculum improvement cycle. Although we recognise that it is a significant change and one that we will have to work carefully to implement, there is much to be said for it helping with workload once it has been implemented. It can also reduce class contact time. The Government is taking that forward in tandem with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and unions.
The other issue that is most frequently raised with me when it comes to workload is the support that our teaching workforce wants to offer for children with additional support needs. Again, I refer to the national staged intervention model and the route map that I have just published. We will take that forward, and I hope that it will be helpful.
The cabinet secretary spoke about closing the attainment gap. Between 2018 and 2025, the reading scores of the poorest children in Scotland fell by 2 points while wealthier children’s scores fell by 24 points. I suppose that that is closing the attainment gap, but what this Government is doing is limiting children’s life chances and dumbing down Scotland’s potential. There are indications of why that is happening. For instance, in the Borders—
The member must put a question.
—they are handing out iPads and devices. There is a reduction in the number of teaching assistants, and 25 per cent of primary schools in Scotland do not have a library. Does the cabinet secretary agree that all those issues have a direct correlation with a record of low PISA results? What will she do about it?
There is much in Mr Dunlop’s question. For the sake of brevity, I will say that he and I have had a discussion about digital devices. He is well aware of the Government’s work to remove personal mobile phones from the classroom. I think that that will have a significant impact on low-level distraction, which teachers are grappling with, and on young people’s concentration and, therefore, attainment. That is just one of many measures that we are taking forward.
I have to slightly challenge Mr Dunlop’s representation of the education system in relation to an issue that both he and I are concerned with. While I was assessing the downward trajectory that PISA demonstrated to me, I could see that, since 2009-10, the proportion of care-experienced young people who have entered positive destinations has increased from 58.1 per cent to 84.2 per cent. To me, that is another indication of a successful education system, and we must keep pursuing that work.
The attainment gap in Scotland is narrowing, not because of better scores by disadvantaged children but because of the worsening scores of the most affluent. I did not get that data from the secretive SNP but from elsewhere.
I am organising a round-table meeting with education experts and political parties to thrash out what we need to do differently to improve outcomes for young people.
Could the member please put a question?
Michael Gove will be in attendance. Will the cabinet secretary join us?
I am pragmatic and open-minded about working with anyone who, like me, can recognise and celebrate the vast successes of our system but is always keen to push for improvement. I am happy to work across the piece.
However, I have to say, as I reflected when Mr Gove and I were on “The Sunday Show” on the BBC this week, that although I am keen to work with anyone, the architects of Conservative austerity—the effects of which our schools are grappling with so much—would not be at top of my list.
The PISA report tells us that it does not provide a complete picture of an education system. As the cabinet secretary has indicated, the key to continuing to raise attainment across the board is improving literacy, and research shows that one in four primary schools in Scotland does not have a library. Does the cabinet secretary agree that we should work with local authorities to support the Libraries for Primaries campaign, to ensure that every primary school in Scotland has a library so that every child can access the joy of reading and the opportunities that that brings for children to thrive?
I agree with what Patricia Gibson has said. I reiterate what I said in my statement about this year’s PISA results showing that we are breaking down the gap between socioeconomic disadvantage and attainment in literacy in our country more than at any point since 2000, when records began with those tests. That should be a point of pride for us all.
I agree with Patricia Gibson that school libraries have a vital part to play in that process. That is why, among other things, the Government has invested more than £2 million through the school library improvement fund since 2017. I will continue to work on that.
I thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of her statement. PISA has turned out to be the power that gied us the gift of seeing ourselves as others see us, and it is not a good look. The cabinet secretary has been pleased to note that Scotland has scored higher than the OECD average, but why does it not seem to concern her that we no longer score a lot higher than the UK average?
I know that I have already made this point, but it is worth labouring:
“Educational performance is multifaceted and no single assessment can provide a complete picture of the strengths and challenges within an education system.”
Those are not my words but ones contained explicitly in the PISA Scotland report. I ask Mr Kirkwood to consider that.
The member is right. Much of the commentary has been about comparing Scotland with England. I have been clear that I do not mind doing so, because I want to understand how to drive progress across our education system. However, I also direct him once again to the comments of the OECD’s director of education and skills, who is very clear that there is much that Scotland and England can learn from one other. As I said, I am particularly interested in countries such as Ireland and Canada that have successfully balanced the academic measures of PISA and the wellbeing factors.
Supporting our children and young people to thrive should not begin and end at the classroom. Whether it is through providing nutritious school meals, helping families to afford school uniforms or the bookbug programme, what is the cabinet secretary’s assessment of the wider support for increasing access to learning and improving outcomes?
The Government believes strongly in breaking down barriers to an excellent education. For some families, some of those barriers are economic so, over this session of Parliament, we will increase our free school meal offer, provide further support on school uniforms and for the cost of the school day, and continue to ensure that families do not face fees for instrumental music tuition or charges for costs for the crucial materials and resources that are needed for practical lessons. That all sits alongside our leading work on the bookbug programme and the read, write, count campaign, which provide free books and literacy support, which helps to foster a love of reading.
Jenny Young(Central Scotland and Lothians West) (Lab):The cabinet secretary was right to say that our PISA results have been stable since 2022. That was Scotland’s worst ever result and it is fair to say that the Government has spent the past five years burying its head in the sand in response to the 2022 PISA results.
The 2020 OECD review that the cabinet secretary mentioned highlighted two key areas: the transition to senior phase from the broad general education, and the narrowing of subject choice. Precisely nothing that the Government has done in the past five years has improved either of those areas, so what will the cabinet secretary do in the next five years on those two specific points?
I cannot help but think that Jenny Young perhaps did not listen to the statement or did not adapt her question in the light of it, because I was clear that the curriculum improvement cycle that I spoke about, the development of which I give a lot of detail on, was not started after this year’s PISA results. It was started by my predecessor after the 2022 results. The careful work of developing the new curriculum and ensuring that it will be implemented well has been going on apace and continues. I hope that Jenny Young can come to welcome that work or, at least, recognise that it has been happening.
In Scotland, we have the highest spend per pupil, the lowest pupil teacher ratio and the best-paid teachers in the UK, which demonstrates the Scottish Government’s commitment to building on our education system to deliver academically, vocationally and for the wellbeing of our children and young people. What assessment does the cabinet secretary make of the value of international test scores such as PISA compared to the real-world success of getting school leavers into long-term jobs, apprenticeships, colleges, universities and other positive destinations?
I hope that I have been clear that I view PISA as an important set of data for us to consider, but it is just one part of the puzzle. For me, perhaps one of the most important measures in pursuit of an education system that balances academic excellence and vocational strength, which we must keep pursuing, is what our young people do when they leave school. I draw Parliament’s attention again to the joint record figures of 93.5 per cent of young people going on to training, education or work. That is about an education system that delivers for every young person, delivers well for our society and provides people who are well equipped to contribute to our economy.
I thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of her statement. As she said, Scottish pupils performed strongly in environmental science, with pupils believing that action could make a difference for the environment. We Greens were proud to help to bring that about in 2023, with the implementation of learning for sustainability in our schools to teach about the importance of climate and social justice. Will the cabinet secretary provide an update on the implementation of the LFS action plan? Does she believe that schools are being adequately supported for climate education?
We are absolutely right to highlight learning for sustainability. I was also very pleased to notice the two new domains of computational problem solving and environmental science in the results. Scotland scored significantly above average in environmental science and I attribute a great deal of that to the development and implementation of learning for sustainability in our curriculum. I hope that that will continue through the CIC.
I thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of her statement. Does she recognise the impact on learning of the unprecedented levels of anxiety that are being experienced by young people, many of whom have been impacted by Covid? Does she value the different approaches that schools and the third sector are taking to support continued learning in non-school environments and often, for example, in much smaller groups? There are successful examples in my constituency, such as the Bridges Project in Musselburgh or the excellent work of Portobello high school, which are improving outcomes. Does the cabinet secretary support the development of a Scotland-wide approach so that all young people can access that kind of specialised learning environment?
I am conscious and mindful of the pressures that are bearing down on our young people as they navigate the education system and the world of work. As I have reflected, one of the pressures that I have watched intensify significantly since I was in high school is the presence of the online world and mobile phones. That is why the Government is taking decisive action in early course on the presence of mobile phones in our schools, which I hope will be able to sit within action that the UK Government will take in respect of the regulation of technology and young people’s access to social media generally.
I also point to the £1.75 billion that has been invested in the Scottish attainment challenge in 10 years—money that has gone straight to schools in pupil equity funding—which allows leaders in our schools to decide exactly how best to confront the poverty-related attainment gap in their areas.
There was not one word in the cabinet secretary’s statement about the violence and abuse that teachers face every day in our classrooms, which is to the detriment of learning. It is intolerable that teachers—especially women teachers—go to work and face what they face. What specific steps will the cabinet secretary now take to address that issue, which her predecessors have ignored for so long?
I point Mr Kerr to the “Behaviour in Scottish schools: research report 2023”. A suite of data is published on the issue; the report is being updated and will be published again in the coming period.
The majority of teachers in secondary schools raised mobile phones as an ongoing disruption that they are having to manage, and the Government is taking decisive action on that. I was interested to note that violence and aggressive behaviour was, in majority, reported to be happening with our youngest pupils—in primary 1 to primary 3—which suggests that our young people have difficulty regulating their behaviour.
A whole lot of work is under way, and guidance is being developed in respect of monitoring and reporting of incidents so teachers can expect consistency. Equally, we must be prepared to understand what is affecting our young people and to work with them and their families to help them to regulate their behaviour in schools.
That concludes the ministerial statement on programme for international student assessment 2025. I apologise to the call several members who wished to put a question to the cabinet secretary but whom I was unable to call.
Previous
First Minister’s Question Time