What is the SNP doing to improve educational attainment?

Ensuring educational excellence for all and closing the gap in attainment between young people from our most and least deprived communities will be the defining mission of the SNP in this parliament.

We will use information generated through the new National Improvement Framework to set clear, specific and meaningful milestones, with a view to delivering significant progress in closing the attainment gap within the lifetime of the next parliament and substantially eliminating it within a decade.

To support the delivery of this commitment, we will develop a fair and transparent funding formula for schools, to ensure that resources go where they are needed most.

We will introduce an Education Bill in 2018 to reform education and help close the attainment gap. The Bill proposes more power to head teachers, allows parents to play a bigger role in school life and provides support for teachers.

We will also expand our Attainment Fund and invest an additional £750 million in the next Parliament to close the gap in educational attainment. And, this year 2,300 schools across the country will benefit from the new £120 million Pupil Equity Funding Scheme. Head teachers and school leaders will be able to use the funding to close the poverty related attainment gap in schools.