Scotland: Pisa education results not good enough, Yousaf concedes

Publication Source

1. Alex Massie: Education standard in Scotland is a disgrace - and leaders don't care | The Times

2. Scotland's Pisa results: Severe declines in maths, science and reading show 'Curriculum for Excellence' isn't working | Scotsman

3. Education crisis: After Scotland's Pisa results fall 'off a cliff', Curriculum for Excellence must be reviewed | Scotsman

4. Scotland: Headmistress of King's alma mater says schools crisis proves she was right to ban mobiles in the classroom | Daily Mail

5. Scotland: SNP school record a national disgrace - Douglas Ross | BBC News

6. Yousaf admits Scottish education results are poor | The Times

Scotland’s results in an international education ranking were “not good enough”, the First Minister has said.

This week, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released its latest Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) rankings for 2022.

The study – which looked at 3,300 Scottish 15-year-olds – showed Scotland has declined in maths, reading and science since 2018.

Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth and the OECD pointed to the impact of the Covid pandemic, which forced the vast majority of pupils to learn from home.

During First Minister’s Questions at Holyrood on Thursday, Humza Yousaf was challenged on the rankings by both Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross and Scottish Labour counterpart Anas Sarwar.

Mr Ross said a “generation of young Scots” are “being failed by the SNP”.

Mr Yousaf responded: “Let me put it on record and let me be absolutely explicit – we do not dismiss, I do not dismiss, nor take lightly the Pisa results that have been released this week.

“We are reflecting on a poor set of results and the Education Secretary will make a statement next week on the issue of literacy and numeracy and what our response is to improving those outcomes.”

But he added: “There is no doubt, as the OECD makes clear in the publication, that Covid has had an impact.