Question reference: S6O-00095
- Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 25 August 2021
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Current status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 2 September 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported increase in the attainment gap between pupils from the most and least deprived backgrounds, following the most recent SQA results.
Answer
Closing the poverty-related attainment gap, and ensuring every young person has the chance to fulfil their potential, remains central to this Government’s work.
While the 2021 results show a slight change from 2020, the results saw a narrower poverty-related attainment gap compared with 2019, and the number of university acceptances from the 20% most deprived areas in Scotland reached a record high for SQA Results Day.
However, our ambition is a long-term one and we know that the challenges presented by the pandemic mean our efforts to deliver equity in education are more vital than ever. That’s why we’re investing a further £1 billion over the course of this Parliament to help to close the poverty related attainment gap and support education recovery.