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This summer, when Scotland’s exam results were published, we were able to declare 2025 a landmark year for Scotland’s young people’s success and achievements. This year’s results delivered increased attainment across national 5, higher and advanced higher levels; a narrowing of the poverty-related attainment gap at national 5, higher and advanced higher levels; and more than 100,000 technical and vocational qualifications being achieved for the first time ever. The publication of statistics today on a wide range of metrics in early learning and in school education reinforce that improvement trajectory. Today’s statistics show real evidence of post-pandemic recovery and progress across our education system. I hope that all members will be able to welcome that.

The data on achievement of curriculum for excellence levels is the most comprehensive national data set on attainment in literacy and numeracy. Importantly, it is predicated on teacher judgment. Today’s publication confirms that, in our primary schools, levels of literacy attainment have increased to the highest level on record: at 74.5 per cent, it is 0.5 percentage points above the previous high. For numeracy, attainment remains at the record level of 80.3 per cent. In our secondary schools, the proportion of secondary 3 pupils achieving fourth level in literacy and numeracy is at a record high of 63.1 per cent and 68 per cent, respectively.

There has also been significant progress towards closing the poverty-related attainment gap. The gap has reduced to its lowest-ever level for primary pupils in literacy, its lowest-ever level for primary pupils in numeracy and its lowest-ever level for S3 pupils in both literacy and numeracy. That shows that our long-term investment in Scottish education, such as in the Scottish attainment challenge, is delivering tangible improvements and outcomes for our young people.

The challenge has had a transformative impact on Scottish education. Over the past 10 years, it has changed the culture, the narrative and the awareness of equity and the impact of poverty on education. SAC has been able to support our schools and local authorities in driving improved outcomes for children and young people who are impacted by poverty.

We know that recovery from the pandemic has been challenging. Across the globe, education systems have struggled to return to pre-pandemic normality following prolonged lockdown periods. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization reports that the pandemic affected more than 1.6 billion students and youth globally, and that the most vulnerable learners were hit the hardest.

In Scotland, young people and their families have struggled. Today’s data suggests, however, that we are turning a corner on education recovery, with improvements across the board. Attendance of children and young people in school has increased. There has been further consolidated improvement in school attendance, which is now at a rate of 91 per cent, and a decrease in the levels of persistent absence of approximately three percentage points.

Our recent national marketing campaign on school attendance has been supporting improvements. More directly, however, individual schools have been focused on supporting families and young people in returning to formal education after the pandemic. Across the country, Scotland’s headteachers are using a variety of interventions to support their young people with improved attendance—for example, in the employment of family liaison officers, as I witnessed recently at Pathhead primary school in Kirkcaldy.

Those improved outcomes are a testament to the diligence and commitment of our children, our young people, their teachers and all our school staff. We should all be rightly proud of them.

Those significant achievements also provide a clear indication that the choices and investments that the Scottish National Party Government has made are supporting better outcomes for our pupils.

In 2014, we chose to create an entitlement to fully funded early learning and childcare for every three and four-year-old. This September, nearly every eligible child aged three and four was registered for funded provision, which ensures that they get the best start in life. If families paid for the full 1,140 hours entitlement themselves, it would cost them more than £6,000 per year for each eligible child.

However, there is more to do to make sure that every child gets the best possible start in life. It is disappointing that the proportion of eligible two-year-olds who are registered for early learning and childcare has fallen nationally. It is also concerning that there was a decrease in attainment in primary 1 level. Those children are, in effect, Scotland’s Covid babies. We must not allow the longer-term impact of the pandemic to hold them back—the pandemic must not become a defining feature of their young lives.

The Government remains absolutely determined to leave no child behind. I have therefore requested urgent advice from our primary headteacher national panel to intensify and enhance support for that intake and the ones yet to come. I have also asked Education Scotland to consider how to enhance support for those children as part of our work on the Scottish attainment challenge and to provide a report, which I can share with the Parliament’s Education, Children and Young People Committee. I will ask the new chief inspector, once appointed, to look specifically at the issue.

To increase uptake of early learning and childcare among eligible two-year-olds, we are funding a post in the Improvement Service to deliver intensive support to five local authorities—in Falkirk, Glasgow, North Ayrshire, Lanarkshire and Aberdeenshire—under a national improvement project on maximising uptake.

I know that colleagues will be mindful of the rise in the percentage of children and young people with an identified additional support need. Today’s data confirms a 2.5 percentage point increase nationally, although I recognise that, in schools across the country, the figure is often higher and that it is dependent on the cohort. I have welcomed the constructive dialogue with members from across the chamber on additional support needs and, with thanks to Willie Rennie for the initial suggestion, I can advise Parliament that work has begun on a national event for teachers to showcase successful approaches to promote best practice. The event will mirror the approach of the early years collaborative in promoting the expertise of those at the chalk face to help to share good practice of what is working well.

Following a successful ASN data summit in November, I am today launching a programme of data improvement work on additional support for learning. The programme will focus on three key areas: first, a review of existing categories for recording additional support needs; secondly, clear and concise national guidance to support the recording of ASN data; and, thirdly, developed options for gathering data on local staged intervention models and reporting those at national level. That will, in turn, inform the feasibility of a national staged intervention model for identifying, assessing, planning and better supporting children, young people and their families. That work will fully involve education authorities, given that they are our delivery partners for additional support for learning responsibilities and duties.

A final updated additional support for learning action plan and progress report will be published at the end of this parliamentary session. I intend that final progress report to be accompanied by a short, sharp review, which will be professionally led and will reflect on the changed context in our schools since the Morgan review and the establishment of the additional support for learning action plan. That will focus on the lessons learned from that process and the next steps, with a view to closing the implementation gap.

It is worth reminding ourselves that Scotland’s schools continue to deliver high-quality learning and teaching. Of the 120 inspections that the independent inspectorate carried out in publicly funded schools between August 2024 and June 2025, 93 per cent were satisfactory or better, and 76 per cent were rated as good, very good or excellent for wellbeing, equality and inclusion.

Thanks to the efforts of Scotland’s local authorities, today’s census data shows an overall increase in the number of teachers for the first time since 2022. The pupil teacher ratio has improved as a result of that investment, which was made possible through support from the Scottish Government’s budget last year. Extra funding in last year’s budget uplifted the ring-fenced funding for teacher numbers to £186.5 million and provided our councils with an extra £28 million specifically to support additional support needs. I am therefore pleased to see an increase in the overall proportion of probationer teachers in permanent or temporary teaching posts, which increased this year to 69 per cent from 65 per cent last year. However, we now need to see sustained improvement on permanent posts.

The wide range of data that has been published today demonstrates that our education system is delivering sustained improvements across the board. Attainment has improved, the attainment gap has narrowed, attendance has improved and we have more teachers in our schools to support Scotland’s young people. In 2025, the national improvement framework set out that, in the short term, our focus would be on improvements in the ABCs—attendance, attainment, behaviour and curriculum—in our schools. That focus has supported clear improvements in relatively short order, and it is also delivering on our longer-term vision of excellence and equity.

The national improvement framework for 2026, which was published alongside today’s statistics, builds on the same approach. Our international council of education advisers has consistently advised that we should focus on those incremental improvements in our education system, because they are indicative of the longer-term shift towards a culture of improvement. The exam results from the summer and the data that has been published today show that that longer-term shift is happening, which is to be celebrated.

The foundations of our education system are robust, and our plans for improvement build consistently on evidence of progress. Nearly every eligible three and four-year-old in the country benefits from fully-funded early learning and childcare. In our primary schools, more children than ever are achieving the expected levels of literacy and numeracy. This year, attainment rates at all levels of school qualifications increased for our young people.

Importantly, we are delivering equity for those who need it most. Closing the poverty-related attainment gap has a key role to play in achieving this Government’s commitment to eradicate child poverty. Our children’s attendance in school has increased again. The gap in literacy and numeracy levels between primary-age children from the most deprived and least deprived communities is at its lowest level ever. A record number of 18-year-olds from deprived areas secured a university place in 2025.

There is more to do to realise our ambitions for Scotland’s children and young people, but today demonstrates what the SNP delivers in Government: promises being kept, progress being made, success being nurtured, opportunity being fostered and a better future for all our children.

I find it remarkable that Miles Briggs was unable to welcome in his comments a single measure that was announced today. The statistics are the result of the hard work of Scotland’s teachers and pupils, and the success that we have seen across the board in relation to attainment, attendance and, more broadly, the narrowing of the attainment gap is to be welcomed.

To come to some of Mr Briggs’ points, it is worth reminding Parliament that, since 2014, teacher numbers have increased by more than 2,500 thanks to investment from this Government. In the previous year’s budget, the Government made a direct intervention to protect teacher numbers. We uplifted ring-fenced funding to £186.5 million and provided local authorities with an extra £28 million to support those with additional support needs. The Conservatives chose to vote against that investment, which speaks to some of the challenges in that regard.

On teacher employment, it is worth welcoming the fact that there has been an increase in the proportion of probationers in the teacher induction scheme who have secured a teaching post in the year following their probation. As a result of our investment, the figure has gone up to 69 per cent compared with 65 per cent last year.

I am pleased that Mr Briggs welcomed the action relating to additional support needs, which has been informed by cross-party working.

This year’s statistics show that we have made further progress in narrowing the attainment gap across a range of measures. However, Mr Briggs made no comment on the impact on our education system across the board of the austerity policies that his party followed when it was in power. If members speak to any headteacher, they will hear about how, as a direct result of those policies and that approach, poverty is corroding the progress that is being made in our schools. I make no apologies for the Scottish Government’s approach, which is delivering progress and improvement across the board. I wish that the Conservatives could bring themselves to welcome that good news for Scotland’s children and young people.

It is worth celebrating that improvement in relation to literacy in particular, as the level is at its highest to date, as the member has set out. We are seeing clear improvements in areas such as literacy in relatively short order, and that tells us that the education system is on the right track. That is being supported by the investment through the teaching workforce, which was mentioned previously, as well as the Scottish attainment challenge and the key national programmes on literacy and numeracy. It is important that we press ahead with our further reforms to the curriculum and our qualifications system, towards the longer-term vision of a globally respected, empowered education system.

Mr Torrance rightly speaks about the achievements of our teachers in driving that progress forward. I notice that no one has yet commented on the fact that the ACEL data is informed by teacher judgment; that is an important factor in how we arrive at the measurements across our education system. We trust Scotland’s teachers to support the improvements that we need in our schools.

As a direct result of investment from the Scottish Government, we have been able to increase the number of staff in our schools, and not just the number of teachers. Educational psychologists, family liaison workers and ASN staff have been supported through additional investment from the Scottish Government. I absolutely join David Torrance in paying tribute to our school staff, who have helped to support the improvements that we are all welcoming today.

As I mentioned, the national marketing campaign was launched last month, and it has been supporting some of the improvements in that regard.

Paul O’Kane mentioned the attainment gap. I have mentioned some of the data that shows a narrowing of that gap. In 2024-25, the gap in relation to literacy has reduced to 19.4 per cent, which is its lowest-ever level. The gap in relation to numeracy in primary schools has also reduced to its lowest-ever level.

Undoubtedly, there are challenges in the system that relate to the pandemic and to the points that I made in response to Mr Briggs. We need to intensify progress, which is why I have set out a range of measures in that regard. When appointed, the new chief inspector will have a key role in driving that improvement.

As I set out previously, high-quality childcare is vital to giving our children the best possible start in life, but it also helps to ensure that parents and carers can work, train or study. That is why Scotland’s offer is available to all three and four-year-olds, regardless of their parents’ working status.

I am pleased to see further evidence that uptake remains almost universal for that age group. Independent research that was done back in 2022 found that 74 per cent of parents and carers said that funded ELC had enabled them to work or look for work, while 63 per cent of families with preschool children aged two to five stated that they had no childcare costs as a result. We will publish a full evaluation report on the expansion in early 2026.

I did not quite catch time for reflection as I was coming into the chamber. There is much humility on the statistics today around about where we need to drive improvements. Of course, we heard from Mr Whitfield’s colleague about the requirements around attendance and I have engaged with Roz McCall on our children and young people who are aged two and the uptake of ELC.

As I outlined in my previous response, we have seen an increase in teacher numbers this year. I thought that that would be welcomed by the Labour Party. Of course, last year, the Labour Party was not able to bring itself to vote for the Government’s budget and the investment that has sat alongside it, driving that increase in teacher numbers. It is interesting that Mr Whitfield comes to the chamber today to talk about humility, and yet he does not appear to have any answers himself.

I find it remarkable that Mr Rennie is not able to welcome some of the progress that we have seen today across the board at every level. This is about celebrating our children’s and young people’s achievements.

I accept the challenge, however, in relation to intensifying progress, which is exactly why—

I can hear the member heckling from a sedentary position, but I have spoken to the issues that we are taking forward with the chief inspector, who will be leading on intensifying the progress that we have seen. We are also mindful of our primary 1 pupils in considering how we can intensify that work—I spoke to Ms McCall about that earlier.

Let us look at the figures from today. The poverty-related attainment gap in literacy for primary pupils reduced in 2024-25 to its lowest-ever level. Our exam results this year show progress, with a narrowing attainment gap across the board, so the interventions that we are putting in place are making a difference.

I accept the challenge from Mr Rennie on the need for intensification, however, and that is exactly what the chief inspector will be taking forward.

Mr Ross will of course be aware that I began my teaching career in Elgin high school in Moray, in his constituency, and I found it to be a very supportive environment as a probationer teacher many years ago.

I am concerned about the statistics that Mr Ross has shared with me today in relation to teacher absence. As I think I set out in my statement, I and Ms Robison, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government, will be meeting representatives of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities in the coming days to discuss some of the figures, particularly in relation to variance in teacher employment across the board. I will also raise directly with COSLA the issue in relation to Moray to understand more about the detail. If the member is able to share any more detail with me on the matter, I am more than happy to consider it.

In relation to teacher numbers, I have set out the interventions that the Government has taken in relation to—