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

Scotland was once the envy of the world for education. What happened?

This week the internationally renowned Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study was published, it measures the education attainment of 15-year-olds across the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.

It told a tale of two records: an English system that continues to rise up the international rankings versus a failing Scottish system at the brink of collapse.

This downwards trend is also reflected in Labour-run Wales, who performed worse still. It is deeply worrying. A generation of children will be disadvantaged when they look to go to university, an apprenticeship or look to find a job – often competing with others from around the world.

This situation hasn’t happened by chance. Different parts of the UK have taken fundamentally different to education. Both in Scotland under the SNP, and in Wales under Labour, they’ve spent years putting progressive ideology ahead of evidence-based policy decisions and it has led to this sustained fall in educational outcomes.

I desperately want all parts of the UK to offer the best education in the world and I hope these results will act to shift the mindset of the devolved administrations.

In England, under the Conservatives, standards have rocketed because we rigorously followed the evidence. We’ve introduced teaching methods such as phonics and the Asian-style ‘Teaching for maths Mastery’. We’ve introduced free schools and expanded academies to put the experts, not the politicians, in charge of local education standards.

On the other hand, under the SNP, standards have plummeted due to their progressive ideology. They have refused to follow our lead on academisation, they have watered-down the rigour of their exams, and they have refused to open themselves up for scrutiny, pulling out of two international education rankings.

Scottish children have been let down by the SNP.

The irony is parents were sold a promise by the likes of Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf that they would make education their defining mission in Government.

Sturgeon even said she wanted the SNP’s legacy to be judged on record in education. And I do.

In 2006, just a year before the SNP took office, Scotland were ranked 18th for maths, 14th for science and 15th for reading in the international Pisa rankings.

What has 16 years of SNP-run education resulted in? Scotland are now down to 30th in maths, 30th in science, and only rising 2 places to joint 13th in reading.

The SNP have inflicted the worst ever education results in Scotland’s history for both maths and science on parents and pupils.

But it is possible to turn things around. We did it in England. When we came into office in 2010 it was off the back of thirteen years of Labour. England was stuck at 27th in the world for maths, 25th for reading and 16th for science.

As Conservatives, we’ve taken long-term decisions to raise standards and now England is 11th in the world for maths, 13th for science and 13th for reading.

I do judge the SNP on their record – and it is clear they have failed. Scottish schools need a change. They need a government who will put pupils and parents above their nationalist politics to ensure the next generation have a brighter future.

The only way to do that in Scotland is by putting Douglas Ross and Liam Kerr in charge of the education system.

Gillian Keegan MP is the UK Secretary of State for Education