Commission on School Reform interim report: What it means

• Scotland’s education system is high achieving but its position has slipped in recent years internationally.

• Improvements in exam results have been more modest than in England, but this is due to less “grade inflation” than south of the Border.

• The status quo cannot be defended on the basis of preserving equity because pupils from poorer areas are faring far worse than others.

• Curriculum for Excellence a step in the right direction.

• Previous reforms have been too incremental for fear of treating pupils as “guinea pigs”. More transformation change should be considered.