If schools are to be about more than just exam results “robust data” needs to be collected on a broader range of measures such as health, wellbeing and confidence, Audit Scotland has said.
The auditor general, Stephen Boyle, told MSPs today that it was accepted that schools were about more than exam results, but when it came to the data the focus remained on attainment when a “broader suite of indicators” was needed.
The Scottish Parliament’s Public Audit Committee was also told that the Covid pandemic has led to a “data gap” of two years, which further complicates appraisals of success or otherwise.
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In March, Audit Scotland published a report that said the poverty-related attainment gap in education remained wide, despite recent progress.
‘More than just exam results’: Judging schools on health, wellbeing and confidence
The report - called Improving outcomes for young people through school education - was discussed at this morning’s meeting of the Public Audit Committee.
The @AccCommScot and @AuditorGenScot reported this year that progress on closing the poverty-related attainment gap has been limited.
Today we’re giving evidence to @SP_PublicAudit on the school education report: https://t.co/OnyGejo3v8
Watch from 9am: https://t.co/9gFyvzE4Uw pic.twitter.com/uf2eQMKFH3
- Audit Scotland (@AuditScotland) September 9, 2021
Mr Boyle said: “We recognise the complexity of closing the poverty-related attainment gap, but it remains wide and progress towards it falls short of the Scottish government’s aims.
“Improvement needs to happen faster and more consistently across Scotland to address the inequalities which existed before Covid-19 and have increased as result.”
He added: “One of our key findings in [the] report is that there’s a lack of robust data to measure against the broader aspects of the Scottish education system.
“So there’s plenty of data and an overt focus...on attainment levels within schools in respect of exam results.
“But not that broader sense, that it’s accepted that schools are about more than than just the exam results.”
Mr Boyle said he accepted it would be “difficult” to develop indicators for children’s health, wellbeing and confidence.
He added: “Nonetheless, if school is to shift away from being a sole focus on exams, as we see in the indicators, we have to overcome this hurdle to have a broader suite of indicators.”
