A report said that approximately one-fifth of Scottish adults did not have the literacy skills they needed for their daily lives. 13,000 pupils left primary school every year without reaching even basic levels of literacy. Deprivation was the biggest barrier to literacy. Help was needed before children started school.
Source: A Vision For Scotland, Literacy Commission
Links: Report | Scottish Labour Party press release | NASUWT press release | BBC report
Date: 2009-Dec
A report examined levels of participation by the Scottish adult population at school, United Kingdom universities, and Scotland's colleges. The total number of individuals studying in college or university education had fallen between 2003-04 and 2007-08. In 2007-08, those from the most deprived areas of Scotland had a slightly higher likelihood of being in college or university education than those from less deprived areas; this ratio of participation among the most deprived to participation among the less deprived had been on an increasing trend since 2003.
Source: Scottish Participation in Further and Higher Education 2003-04 to 2007-08, Scottish Funding Council
Links: Report | Times Higher Education report
Date: 2009-Nov
The Scottish Government announced plans to introduce a legal maximum class size of 25 (instead of 30) in the first year of primary school, from the start of the 2010-11 school year.
Source: Press release 23 September 2009, Scottish Government (0131 556 8400)
Links: SG press release | SNP press release | NASUWT press release | Voice press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Sep
The education inspectorate in Scotland identified key factors in school improvement, based on evidence from around 300 follow-through inspections carried out between 2005 and 2008.
Source: Learning Together: Lessons about school improvement, HM Inspectorate of Education in Scotland (01506 600200)
Links: Report | HMIE press release
Date: 2009-Jun
A report examined the change over time in the context, outcomes, and inequalities of secondary schooling in Scotland, in the period 1985-2005.
Source: Linda Croxford, Change Over Time in the Context, Outcomes and Inequalities of Secondary Schooling in Scotland, 1985-2005, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-May
A think-tank report examined how the principles of greater choice and competition might be applied to the Scottish education system to raise overall standards and extend educational opportunity. Despite a huge rise in educational spending over the previous 10 years, attainment in state schools in Scotland had remained 'flat'. In comparison, attainment in English schools had steadily improved and overtook Scotland in 2007.
Source: Ben Thomson, Geoff Mawdsley and Alison Payne, Parent Power, Reform Scotland (0131 524 9500)
Links: Report | Reform Scotland press release | Telegraph report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Apr
A report used data from the first three waves of the Growing Up in Scotland study to explore children's cognitive ability. Large variations in cognitive scores were evident at age 34 months, with children from less advantaged families outperformed by their more affluent counterparts.
Source: Catherine Bromley, Growing Up in Scotland: The impact of children's early activities on cognitive development, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Date: 2009-Mar
The education inspectorate in Scotland reviewed the provision of education across most sectors over the previous three years. Scottish education continued to demonstrate a number of strengths: but some 'significant and longstanding problems' remained, and there was a need for further and faster improvement in response to an increasingly competitive world.
Source: Improving Scottish Education: A report by HMIE on inspection and review 2005-2008, HM Inspectorate of Education in Scotland (01506 600200)
Links: Report | HMIE press release | COSLA press release | NASUWT press release | Voice press release | Consumer Focus press release | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Jan
