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Sun, 10th December 2023

Exclusive Scottish education on 'brink of collapse', UK Education Secretary claims
Gillian Keegan spoke out after the latest Pisa rankings were released.

Don't miss...

  • 1Curtain rises on Scotland’s smallest pro panto – Ya Wee Beauty & The Beastie
  • 2Review: Dalmahoy Hotel and Country Club, Edinburgh - Scotland on Sunday Travel
  • 3MacDonald Resort Aviemore – Santa Weekend - Scotland on Sunday Travel
  • 4Return of Vigil: Suranne Jones lifts lid on new series
  • 5Theatre reviews: Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs | Snow White And The Seven Maws
    • The Edinburgh Deaf Festival was launched in 2022. PIcture: Colin Hattersley

    Future of deaf festival in ‘severe doubt’ after Creative Scotland funding blow

    In November, the Scottish Government set up the Palliative and End of Life Care Strategy Steering Group, to oversee the development and delivery of a new palliative and end of life care strategy and associated work programmes. Picture: Getty Images

    Fewer Scots will be able to choose where they die, warns charity

    Sanas Sahib, pictured here with his children, Tariq and Layla

    'It feels like we're being continually punished', says family

    A gathering at the end of the ride opposite the City Chambers in the Royal Mile. (Photo by: Dan Milligan/InfraSisters)

    InfraSisters mass night ride for safer cycling lights up Edinburgh

    Ikea turned 80 this year and it's time for our festive visit - Gaby Soutar Gaby Soutar

    Why Scotland's approach to education is disadvantaging students Gillian Keegan

    Why would anyone want to be Tory leader, a job with zero prospects Alexander Brown

    Why education sector must embrace positive failure Graham Lindsay

    Lifestyle

    Return of Vigil: Suranne Jones lifts lid on new series

    Fool Me Once will land on Netflix in early 2024. Cr. Netflix.

    Fool Me Once: Netflix release trailer for new Harlan Coben series

    Harlan Coben, has written 80 million thrillers and has seven series on Netflix. His latest book is I Will Find You. Pic: Claudio Marinesco/PA

    Harlan Coben: How to sell 80 million books and write seven Netflix series

    Paul Towndrow, Miro Herak and Chad McCullough of Atlantic Road Trip

    Paul Towndrow on jazz supergroup Atlantic Road Trip: ‘It’s been quite a journey’

    Ghosts Christmas Special PIC: BBC/Monumental/Guido Mandozzi

    Christmas TV preview: Paul Whitelaw's guide to the best festive viewing

    Gregory Porter PIC: Erik Umphery

    Christmas album reviews: Gregory Porter | Samara Joy | Paloma Faith & more

    Timothée Chalamet in Wonka

    Film reviews: Wonka | Leave the World Behind | Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget

    Scotsman Video

    Scotsman Video

    View more
    The latest video from The Scotsman

    Featured Videos

    First Minister Humza Yousaf is questioned by journalists

    Scotsman Politics Show - First Minister's Questions

    Alice Faye

    The Scotsman Sessions #389: Alice Faye

    Edinburgh's Dunard Centre concert hall is proposed to be built behind a Royal Bank of Scotland building on St Andrew Square.

    Soaring costs and new delay revealed for new Edinburgh concert hall

    Images released by South Ayrshire Council show the damage caused to the hotel following the blaze.

    Hotelier 'interested' in acquiring fire ravaged Station Hotel in Ayr

    Edward Kane, Advocate in the Supernal Sisters by Ross Macfarlane KC

    Edward Kane, Advocate in The Supernal Sisters. Chapter 9: ‘I Built the Pyramids’ (Illustration: Lesley-Anne Barnes Macfarlane)

    Edward Kane, Advocate in The Supernal Sisters. Chapter 9: ‘I Built the Pyramids’

    Edward Kane, Advocate in The Supernal Sisters. Chapter 8: ‘A Burning Ship and All That’ (Illustration: Lesley-Anne Barnes Macfarlane)

    Edward Kane, Advocate in The Supernal Sisters. Chapter 8

    Edward Kane, Advocate in The Supernal Sisters. Chapter 7: ‘Almost Like a Real Gentleman’ (Illustration: Lesley-Anne Barnes Macfarlane)

    Edward Kane, Advocate in The Supernal Sisters. Chapter 7

    Puzzles

    Quick CrosswordTo test and hone your word skills

    SudokuThe ultimate logic-based numbers game

    WordwheelPit yourself against the clock with our simple anagram game

    Politics

    The UK government's new proposals to increase the salary threshold of the skilled workers visa has drawn criticism from MSPs and the rural community in Scotland (pic: ellenamani - stock.adobe.com)

    Skilled worker salary increase will 'split families' and hit rural Scotland hard

    Gender row: MSPs have only themselves to blame Euan McColm

    Is Humza Yousaf still such a prisoner of Nicola Sturgeon that he will continue her doomed legal battles? (Picture: Fraser Bremner/pool/Getty Images)

    SNP's disastrous week in court reveals much about Scotland's ruling clique

    Rishi Sunak is under fire from the right and the left over his plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda (Picture: Leon Neal/pool/AFP via Getty Images)

    The result of the Tories' anti-immigration obsession will be economic decline

    Humza Yousaf must now decide whether the Scottish Government will appeal over the blocking of the Gender Recognition Reform Bill (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

    Gender bill ruling in Holyrood-Westminster row is no 'dark day' for devolution

    In Ancient Rome, Julius Caesar was made dictator for life. Donald Trump recently 'joked' he would dictator for a day if re-elected as US President (Picture: Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

    Caesar’s destruction of Roman democracy is a warning from ancient history

    Gender bill ruling is historic victory for women who wouldn’t wheesht Susan Dalgety

    Former Prime Minister Liz Truss wants to ban trans women from single-sex spaces (Picture: Rob Pinney/Getty Images)

    Liz Truss's anti-trans Bill is unnecessary and harmful

    cut through the noise

    Sport

    Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has said he will always be honest with players not part of his plans - with a raft of these likely to be moved out of the club in January.

    'Silence is death sentence' - Rodgers ready for tough talks with unused players

    Manager admits squad is not where it was first time around
    Fuming Naismith lambasts 'bullied' Hearts players after Aberdeen defeat
    The Tynecastle boss was livid with the way his team failed to stand up to Aberdeen’s resurgence...
    Alex Williams at Queen of the South in 1986. Picture courtesy of Dumfries & Galloway Standard.

    Alex Williams on blazing trail for black goalkeepers and Queen of the South move

    Alex Williams was a 1980s trailblazer as the first black goalkeeper to play in the English top flight
    Jon Rahm's switch to LIV Golf has left me scunnered and close to hating the gameMartin Dempster
    Martin Dempster
    Kinghorn sizzles on Toulouse debut as Scots ace plays part in big win

    Former Edinburgh man makes bow for French giants in style on busy day of European rugby

    ...
    Scotland supremo McGinn fires Villa two points off EPL summit as Arsenal slayed
    The ex-Hibs midfielder kept up Villa's remarkable home run under boss Emery...

    Opinion

    First Minister Humza Yousaf at a COP28 meeting - but are delegates talking enough about population? (Picture: Christopher Pike /COP28 via Getty Images)

    Readers' Letters: Why is population control not COP28 talking point?

    With the right ingredients, mince pies are a gourmet treat (Picture: Matt Alexander/PA)

    Ban mince pies?! Christmas isn't Christmas without them

    Mum's the Word. Pic: Adobe

    Janet Christie's Mum's the Word - What every family needs is a Santa safe house

    Rhubarb at Prestonfield House

    Restaurant Review: Prestonfield House, Edinburgh

    Education

    SNP ministers have just accepted the decline of our education system

    The ‘Curriculum for Excellence' secured cross-party support when it was introduced and politicians must now work together again on its replacementJackie BaillieJackie Baillie
    The South Bridge Resource Centre

    Youth projects fear 'closure' if Edinburgh Festival Fringe takes over their base

    Williamwood High School in Glasgow is among the top ten in Scotland according to the Sunday Times. Image: Getty

    Scotland's 10 best secondary schools named in Sunday Times guide

    'First-of-its-kind' emergency call over state of Highland school buildings

    Katharine Hay

    Rural Affairs

    Life in rural Scotland is a worryingly isolating experience for members of the LGBTQ+ community, research has shown. Picture: Getty Images

    'It's a silent world': Challenges of older LGBTQ+ in rural Scotland

    As conversations continue on support needed for younger members of the LGBTQ+ community in rural Sco...
    Visa proposal to address depopulation branded a gimmick amid housing crisis
    Islanders have said the issue is not a lack of people who want to live in remote areas, but rather t...
    Lenabo Forest, near Peterhead, is on the market for offers over £3.9m (pic: Goldcrest Land & Forestry Group)

    Forest with former WW1 airship station on the market for offers over £3.9m

    The former Lenabo Airship Station, established in 1915 as a base for airships to patrol the North Sea during the First World War, sits within the property
    Going solo on pilgrimage routes, from Way of St Andrews to Camino de SantiagoKatharine Hay
    Katharine Hay
    Storm Ciarán: Disruption continues across railway line following signal outage

    A yellow rain warning is in place for Scotland's east coast today.

    ...
    SSPCA say there is currently no safe way to rescue 'Britain's loneliest sheep'
    The sheep’s fleece is so overgrown it interferes with potential rescue options...

    Health

    Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves Dorland House in London, where he is giving evidence to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry (Picture: Jordan Pettitt/PA)

    Johnson's admissions over Covid failings show how unfit he was to be PM

    Every year, around 34,100 people are diagnosed with cancer in Scotland, with 16,300 Scots losing their lives to the disease annually. PA Photo : David Davies.

    Scottish scientists make major discovery in battle to treat cancer

    Boris Johnson pictured on the day of the cheese and wine event at 10 Downing Street (Photo by DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images)

    'We couldn’t hug at mum's funeral as Downing St had a cheese and wine party'

    Analysis The key questions Boris Johnson must answer at the UK Covid Inquiry

    The Scottish Government aims to ensure 95 per cent of patients presenting at an A&E department are seen within four hours, but currently just 63.2 per cent are seen within that timeframe.

    Could one Scottish health board hold the key to fixing the NHS's A&E crisis?

    Gone are the days of turning up at A&E with a broken bone, or an illness - A&E is now increasingly reserved for people who need resuscitated

    Prioritisation may be the only way the NHS will survive the winter

    There are 4,412 addresses that have been “red flagged” by the Scottish Ambulance Service

    Police warning as almost 4,500 addresses ‘red flagged’ by ambulance service

    Scotsman Passions

    This little box may be billed as an upscaling DVD player but it just might also be the biggest CD playing bargain available.

    CD hit: Why my £18 supermarket player is the greatest hi-fi bargain in 40 years

    Allan Stewart, Grant Stott and Jordan Young star in this year's big Edinburgh panto at the Festival Theatre.

    Passions: enduring appeal of panto and the stars who make theatre simply magical

    A light fall of snow on a road stretching into the distance is enough to get anyone off the couch

    Passions: Couch to 5k is great – but only if you drop the 5k

    Alan Davies and Sarah Alexander as Jonathan and Polly Creek in the ​mystery drama

    Passions: As the nights draw in, we’re entering peak Jonathan Creek season

    Heritage and Retro

    Here the children of the Thistle class at Mary Erskines and Stewart’s Melville Junior School are getting ready for their nativity performance. Picture: 8 December 2000.

    9 adorable pictures of Christmas nativity plays

    Harry Potter fans’ Jacobite Fort William-Mallaig steam train in safety battle

    Think celebrating Christmas is 'un-Scottish'? Time to bring back the 'Daft Days' Susan Morrison

    The biggest redevelopment of the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow in its 145-year history is expected to completed by the end of 2024. Picture: Alex Brady

    First look at revamped Citizens Theatre as reopening plans are revealed

    31 pictures from the 1960s show what Christmas was like in Scotland

    Who invented Christmas Crackers and where did the tradition begin?

    Here are 12 old traditions from Christmas in Scotland - aka “Yule”

    The Scotsman Sessions

    Just a few of the artists who have performed Scotsman Sessions

    The Scotsman Sessions: links to numbers 1-350

    Stuart Paterson

    The Scotsman Sessions #390: Stuart Paterson

    Alice Faye

    The Scotsman Sessions #389: Alice Faye

    Michael Pedersen

    The Scotsman Sessions #388: Michael Pedersen

    Brenda

    The Scotsman Sessions #387: Brenda

    Zara Gladman

    The Scotsman Sessions #386: Zara Gladman

    Alannah Moar

    The Scotsman Sessions #385: Alannah Moar

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    How to find and play hidden Eat This Playlist game on Spotify

    These are the best and spookiest costumes for children for Halloween 2023.

    Cheap, scary Halloween costumes for kids - Wednesday and Marvel heroes

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    Sport Opinion

    Dan Parks was often the victim of criticism from his own Scotland fans.

    Farrell is a legitimate panto villain but his own fans booing him is bonkers
    Farrell’s pantomime villain status should not have extended to own fans but we can be hypocritical on matter

    Alan Tait of Scotland forces his way over to score against England in the Calcutta Cup Five Nations match at Twickenham in 1999.

    Six Nations: Don't flutter eyelashes- this is crown jewel and must stay free

    Ian Johnston discovered he loved swimming, after avoiding it for years, at Dalry Swim Centre in Edinburgh

    How I learned to stop hating the 'boiled carrots' of sports and love it instead

    Nigel Clough, manager of Mansfield Town, has told his players to curb the goal celebrations. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)

    Aidan Smith: You’ve only made a routine tackle. Why all the hugs and high-fives?

    Homes

    Woman slipped on ice

    I'm not walking on ice without YakTrax on my winter boots - Gaby Soutar

    Bob Dylan. Picture: PA

    Bob Dylan sells Highland retreat for £4.25m to whisky makers

    What is it? A beautifully presented upper townhouse in the Capital which has been lovingly refurbished by its current owner. Period features can be found throughout and there are breathtaking views over Edinburgh Castle.

    Three's a charm: Grand Capital homes now on the market

    The exterior of Auchengarroch at 16 Chalton Road. Image: contributed

    Charming Victorian villa with Arts and Crafts additions

    Obituaries

    Despite her Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? fame, Brigit Forsyth got more fan mail for a bit part in Doctor Who

    Scotsman Obituaries: Brigit Forsyth, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? star

    Shane MacGowan at T in the Park music festival in 2008 (Picture: Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images)

    Scotsman Obituaries: Shane MacGowan, hellraiser frontman of The Pogues

    Rugby Union

    Glasgow Warriors captain Stafford McDowall on the attack against Northampton Saints during the Investec Champions Cup match at Scotstoun. Northampton won 28-19. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

    ‘All must win’ for Glasgow Warriors in Europe after maul weapon nullified

    Northampton's Courtney Lawes wins a lineout against Glasgow Warriors' Sintu Manjezi during the Investec Champions Cup match at Scotstoun Stadium. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

    Glasgow Warriors ‘shell-shocked’ as Fin Smith inspires Northampton Saints

    Cammy Scott was handed a start at number 10 in Clermont as Edinburgh rested Ben Healy. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

    Edinburgh show second half spirit but Clermont prove too strong in Challenge Cup

    Glasgow's Tom Jordan in action during the defeat to Northampton at Scotstoun. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

    Glasgow Warriors chastened by Northampton in Champions Cup opener

    Edinburgh Rugby take on Clermont Auvergne at the Stade de Marcel-Michelin in their Challenge Cup opener. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

    What TV channel is Clermont v Edinburgh? How to watch Challenge Cup opener

    Glasgow Warriors host Northampton in their Champions Cup opener at Scotstoun on Friday. (Photo by Ewan Bootman / SNS Group)

    What TV channel is Glasgow v Northampton? How to watch Champions Cup opener

    Hollie Davidson will become the first woman to hold the position of assistant referee at the Six Nations next year. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

    Female referees like Hollie Davidson are welcome addition to men's rugby

    Matt Fagerson will make his 100th Glasgow Warriors appearance in Friday's Champions Cup tie against Northampton Saints at Scotstoun Stadium. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

    Champions Cup opener is landmark occasion for Glasgow Warriors forward

    Huw Jones is back in the Glasgow Warriors side for the first time since October after recovering from a foot injury. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

    Glasgow aim to start with a bang as they return to European rugby’s top table

    Cars

    Not all dogs enjoy car journeys as much as these three.

    The 10 adorable breeds of dog most likely to suffer car sickness

    Drivers can sometimes be confused about when to use their fog lights.

    When drivers should - and shouldn't - use their car fog lights

    Careless car drivers risk hefty fines over winter.

    Tips to avoid shelling out up to £18,000 in motoring fines this winter

    Driving in wintery conditions can be a challenge.

    Winter Driving Advice: How to stay safe on the roads in ice and snow

    Top UK road-trips which have earned their reputation as the world’s most scenic drives. Picture - supplied

    Ad Feature Top road-trip getaways which are not so far away

    Take car while driving with your pet this winter. First up: don't let them take the wheel...

    Keep your dog safe on winter car journeys - and avoid a £20,000 fine

    Must Read

    “A just transition to net zero can be achieved through decarbonising homes and the electrification of heat,” Josiah Lockhart, Chief Executive of leading environmental charity Changeworks. Picture - supplied

    Ad Feature Two years on from COP26 in Glasgow Scotland needs to step up – Changeworks

    The Queen Mother at Frances' shop

    High fashion in the Highlands

    Exclusive Ian Rankin on his Edinburgh ‘man cave’ and new stand-alone mystery The Rise