The Scottish Government has today released the Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial School Leaver Destinations publication today, which shows that the attainment gap between the most and least deprived students going to on to university has increased to 35.9 percent.
The statistics show that 26 percent of students from the most deprived areas go on to Higher Education, compared to 62 percent from the least deprived areas.
The Scottish Conservatives have said that while the latest figures show some encouraging signs, the attainment gap remains stubbornly high.
Scottish Conservative shadow education secretary Liz Smith said;
“These figures show some encouraging signs most especially in terms of an increasing number of pupils with more qualifications at both Higher and Advanced Higher. This has to be a good thing.
“However, the figures also show that, as yet, there is no sign of the attainment gap narrowing. It is still the case that the odds are stacked against those pupils in deprived areas compared with their counterparts from better off communities.
“It is the SNP’s defining mission to address the attainment gap but we have seen little evidence of any progress. In fact, in some situations, the attainment gap is increasing.
“With the threat of strikes and the level of general unrest in the teaching profession plain for all to see, the SNP still has a great deal of work to do to ensure that our education system regains its reputation for excellence.”
