Edinburgh, despite its prosperity, is “a city of contrasts”. Thirteen per cent of primary-age pupils and 23 per cent of the secondary cohort attend independent schools, compared with national figures of 3 per cent and 5 per cent. Up to 90 per cent of primary pupils and 62 per cent of secondary pupils are entitled to free meals and twice the proportion of youngsters are on the child protection register in the city as for Scotland as a whole. Inspectors note that these factors “all impact on the management and provision of education”, but the report does not appear to make any allowances for what it describes as “particular challenges”.