The Scottish government has been accused of trying to avoid scrutiny after reports analysing exam pass rates were released during the evening.

Four papers which provide analysis of the 2019 results were published last night at 8pm, adding to detail previously released in January.

Education secretary John Swinney had assured the Scottish Parliament that the information would be made publicly available.

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The new Scottish Conservatives education spokesman, Jamie Greene, said: “This is a snide and cynical move by an SNP Government which is increasingly in crisis across all of Scotland’s public services.

“There are clearly major and systematic problems within our education system that the SNP simply refuses to acknowledge or take action on.”

He added: “John Swinney insisted there were no issues concerning the drop in pass rates, but this snuck-out report proves him wrong.

“His continuous ‘nothing to see here’ approach is simply untenable.

“The SNP is failing an entire generation of our children and our once world-leading education system is increasingly losing the faith of parents, pupils and teachers.”

Speaking on the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme today, Mr Swinney denied claims that the government was attempting to evade scrutiny.

He said: “We had a freedom of information request that had to be responded to. So we felt it appropriate, because so much of that material was included in the report that I promised I would publish, that we just published all of it at the same time.

“We did that in order to make sure we fulfilled the commitments we made to Parliament that this information would be published.”

The report published last night highlights falls in uptake and pass rates in a number of key subjects, with - as previously reported - four subjects contributing most to a year-on-year fall in Higher pass rates: history (82.6 per cent to 72.8 per cent), English (75.9 per cent to 73.2 per cent), psychology (57.6 per cent to 44.6 per cent) and maths (74.5 per cent to 72.4 per cent).

Education directors’ body ADES said that that “any comparison between pass rates in the 2018 and 2019 SQA diets should be treated with caution”, given changes to most subjects’ Higher papers in 2019.

EIS union general secretary Larry Flanagan said: “Any snapshot indicating a single-year dip in exam passes will prompt concern, but it is important to look at the wider context - including such variables as different pupil cohorts in each year, and also to balance dips against improvements in some qualifications and at various levels of presentation.”

“Focusing solely on Higher passes alone, for example, is an unhealthy and unhelpful fixation. The EIS would like to see an evaluation of the impact of longer exams on pupil performance, but overall we believe that schools and teachers deliver well for students, especially in a period of ongoing austerity and budget cuts.”

He added: “The forthcoming review of the senior phase offers an opportunity to ensure that schools are properly supported to deliver for students.”

Journalist and lecturer James McEnaney submitted a Freedom of Information request for the information last year, and received the information he requested around 30 minutes before it was released on the government website. He accused the government of attempting to “sneak out bad news”.

Speaking yesterday, Mr Swinney said: “The Scottish government regularly monitors and analyses performance to inform decision-making.

“Taken together, this analysis demonstrates good progress in a number of areas and that it is challenging to identify significant drivers of change or to draw firm conclusions about some subjects, due to small numbers of entries.

“The analysis has, however, identified areas that justify further exploration and highlight actions that have been agreed.”

He added: “My key areas of focus are to ensure that curriculum and assessment are aligned, how to better support professional learning and development, and maintaining a clear focus on enhancing learning and teaching.

“I will continue to do that in my regular discussions with partners on performance.”