The Scottish Government asked to be judged on its efforts to tackle the attainment gap but yesterday’s exam results show they have failed.
Last year, the education difference between rich and poor narrowed considerably as pupils were assessed by their teachers, giving more children the chance of college or university places.
Many became the first in their families to have that opportunity.
But this year’s results have shown a devastating return to huge gaps between the most and least deprived in terms of exam success.
The Higher gap has almost doubled, with National 5 and Advanced Higher gaps also widening by huge margins.
But the attainment gap is not just about percentages. Behind every percentage point there are children
who have now been denied the chance of a place at college or university, a place which was open to their older siblings last year.
That is simply unfair.
The most deprived children’s futures have been sacrificed as the Scottish Government rushed back to a traditional exam diet after two years of Covid cancellations.
Arguably this year’s cohort have been even more affected than the others by Covid, with thousands of pupils and teachers becoming ill with the virus, causing disruption to lessons and exam preparation.
While there was a “more generous approach” to grading courses than in a normal exam year, the reversion to the old system had double the impact on the grades of the poorest compared with the wealthiest.
In report card parlance, the Scottish Government must do better.
Populist partners
The FBI’s raid on Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home has been portrayed as part of a witch-hunt by his followers.
The former president is suspected of taking classified documents from the Oval Office after he lost the last election.
So, the FBI – headed by a Trump appointee – had some justification in targeting his Florida bolthole.
Trump and his supporters have since gone into overdrive, talking in apocalyptic terms and blaming This year's exam results show SNP have failed to tackle the attainment gap“radical left Democrats” for the raid.
In the UK, Boris Johnson devotees are playing a similar card over the outgoing PM being probed by the Commons
Privileges Committee on allegations he lied to MPs over Partygate.
Johnson will give evidence under oath but the right-wing press and his aides are rallying to discredit the committee.
Trump and Johnson may be separated by an ocean but they are ghastly manifestations of populist politics. Hopefully both get their comeuppance.
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