The UK government’s education secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, has said that Scottish education standards are “in freefall”.
Mr Zahawi also said he was happy to take up an invitation from a Liberal Democrat MP to share “best practice” from Westminster education reforms with the Scottish government.
UK ministers - including prime minister Boris Johnson and former education secretary Michael Gove - have periodically taken aim at Scottish education in recent years, always citing reports from the Programme of International Student Assessment (Pisa) as their evidence of decline in Scotland.
Mr Zahawi made his comments in response to a question in the House of Commons yesterday from Liberal Democrat Jamie Stone.
Mr Stone, MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, said: “You will understand how disturbed I was to learn that, when it comes to numeracy and literacy amongst P1, P4 and P7 pupils, the Highland Council schools have been ranked the worst - the worst - in the whole of Scotland.
“These children are our future. We used to be proud of Scottish education.
“Could I ask the government to share their best practice with the Scottish government so this scandal is sorted out?”
Mr Zahawi replied: “It is concerning, I have to say, because, although education is devolved, we care about the whole of the United Kingdom.
“I’m very happy to share our work in the education White Paper and now the [Schools] Bill [and] of course what we’re doing on skills with T levels and the lifelong learning entitlement.
“I do worry that Scottish children are being let down and it seems like Scotland’s in freefall on the Pisa tables - the international league tables.”
SNP MP Carol Monaghan, a former teacher, later asked Mr Zahawi if it was his government’s policy to rely on private school funding where government cash “has been lax”, referencing recent plans by Eton College to open three satellite academies in other parts of England.
The education secretary said the UK government had committed more than £56 billion to invest in schools in England, and once again referenced education north of the border: “Scotland has no plan and is in freefall in the international league tables.”
In an analysis of 2019 Pisa results, University of Stirling academics Mark Priestley and Marina Shapira wrote that “the media hype about Scotland’s decline in maths and science is not especially warranted, as the evidence is actually pretty underwhelming”.
However, the University of Edinburgh’s Lindsay Paterson said this at the time of the 2019 Pisa results: “Scotland’s overall performance is best described as stagnating in mediocrity.”
A spokesperson for Scottish education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said that ”Mr Zahawi doesn’t even seem to be on nodding terms with reality” and that, in 2021, Scotland saw the highest number of Higher passes since devolution in 1999, with Advanced Higher passes at their highest since their introduction in 2001.
The spokesperson also said that Scotland had higher spending per pupil than other parts of the UK and that school buildings were in a better state than ever, whereas recent reports of leaked government documents suggested the situation in England was in “stark contrast”.
The spokesperson added: “As we emerge from the pandemic, the Scottish government is getting on with the day job, driving recovery in our schools - Mr Zahawi might want to do the same. He’s got his work cut out for him.”
