Councils must be threatened with legal action if they do not improve failing schools, Nicola Sturgeon’s panel of education experts has advised.
Holyrood researchers confirmed this week that there was a “trend of reducing attainment” in Scotland’s schools with more pupils failing exams.
The Scottish Qualifications Authority, the exams body, is expected to face questions from MSPs tomorrow on what the Scottish government and its agencies are doing to halt the decline.
John Swinney, the education secretary, blamed the increase in pupils failing exams on “annual volatility in a high-performing system”, but parliamentary researchers confirmed there had been a steady decline in attainment at National 4, Higher and Advanced Higher since 2016.
Only National 5 saw a modest increase in attainment last year, but
