Exclusive:Key SNP pledge 'irrevocably broken' as Sturgeon admits she 'could have done better' on education record

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Nicola Sturgeon’s poverty-related attainment gap pledge is “irrevocably broken” as new figures suggest it could take more than 100 years to close the gap.

The former First Minister said in 2016 that her government would eradicate the disparity between the poorest and most well off pupils by 2026.

New figures released on Tuesday show the gap in numeracy at primary school would take 133 years to close at current rates. For literacy that time frame would be 57 years.

At a book festival event in London recently, Ms Sturgeon said tackling the attainment gap was the one thing she “would have done better”.

“Education is really important to me, it was really important in my life,” the ex-SNP leader told an audience.

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“I made a commitment around closing the attainment gap and there are lots of things that I welcome and that I am proud of that will help achieve that.

“But I could have done more, when I look back.”

Ms Sturgeon went on to list a policy package helping tackle child poverty in Scotland, such as the Scottish Child Payment.

However, she said: “It’s for other people to judge my successes and failure but I know there are things I wish I had done better and that includes education.”

The pledge has come to haunt the SNP and current education secretary Jenny Gilruth, who yesterday defended her government’s progress on the attainment gap.

Government figures showed that for primary pupils, who are assessed in P1, P4 and P7, 74.5 per cent achieved the level expected under the Curriculum for Excellence in literacy in 2024/25.

This marks the highest on record.

Meanwhile, for numeracy, 80.3 per cent of primary pupils achieved the expected levels in numeracy.

This remains static from last year, and is the best ever result.

In secondary schools, almost nine out of 10 S3 students achieved their expected level for literacy, with 90.9 per cent at this standard for numeracy – with both of these results higher than in previous years.

Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth welcomed the results, saying they showed “clear progress is being made”.

She said: “Attainment levels are at record highs in literacy and numeracy following Scottish Government investment of £1.75 billion in the Scottish Attainment Challenge over the past decade – aimed at improving outcomes for children and young people impacted by poverty.”

However, Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Willie Rennie said: “We’re weeks away from Nicola Sturgeon’s deadline for closing the attainment gap, but the SNP are still a lifetime away from making it happen.”

He added: “The SNP’s promise to a whole generation of pupils from deprived backgrounds is irrevocably broken.”

Labour education spokesperson Paul O’Kane said: “The SNP once pledged to eradicate the attainment gap, but now it is congratulating itself for incremental progress.”

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He added: “Any improvement in our education system is welcome but the truth is, after nearly two decades of SNP government, this is too little too late.”

Miles Briggs was also critical of the SNP’s “failure on their promise to eradicate the attainment gap”.

The Tory MSP said: “More than a decade on from Nicola Sturgeon’s flagship pledge, there remains a chasm between the most and least disadvantaged kids when it comes to basic literacy and numeracy.”

The annual statistics published by the Scottish Government also show the number of pupils with Additional Support Needs has soared to nearly 300,000.

Youngsters being diagnosed with autism, dyslexia and mental health problems has doubled in the past 10 years.

Amid concerns about a rising tide of violence in the classroom, the figures show no pupils were removed from the register in 2024/25 for the first time ever.

While the number of temporary exclusions fell slightly, no child was expelled.

Figures show an exact breakdown of reasons for suspending pupils’ attendance at school.

These include 23 incidences of wilful fire raising and 11 counts of indecent exposure.

A breakdown of pupil behaviour by ethnicity shows White Scottish pupils are second most likely to be excluded from school at 11.6 per 100,000 pupils.

Gypsy Traveller children were most likely to be excluded, at 22.6 per 100,000 pupils while Chinese young people were least likely to be banned from class at 1.6 per 100,000 pupils.

Opposition parties also held the SNP’s feet to the fire over teacher numbers.

In its 2021 manifesto, the party pledged to increase teacher and classroom assistant numbers by 3,500 over the course of the current Parliament.

While teacher numbers have increased in the past year, they have still fallen overall and are less than the 55,000 figure when the SNP came to power in 2007.

Government figures showed a rise in the number of teachers to 53,475 in 2025 – with this total up by 63 from the previous year.

EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley said: “Scottish Government education statistics releases are increasingly like buses – you wait a long time for one to turn up, then five arrive all at once.

“If this is an attempt to bury any bad news in a quagmire of statistics, it does not appear to be a successful tactic.”

Ms Bradley said the figures released today show the Scottish Government has “absolutely failed” in the delivery of their 2021 manifesto commitment to recruit 3,500 additional teachers into Scotland’s schools during the term of this parliament.

She added: “We now have almost a thousand fewer teachers than when the pledge was made, so we are more than 4,000 teachers down on the level that was promised in that 2021 manifesto commitment.”

Only 23 per cent of newly qualified teachers are in full-time permanent work - a drop from 56.5 per cent in 2016/17.

“The newly and recently qualified teachers are available for permanent employment to help to address all of these issues, but they are not being offered secure teaching jobs,” Ms Bradley said.

“The result is that many will either look to other countries for employment or opt, reluctantly, to leave teaching entirely and pursue other career options.”

Separate figures, meanwhile, showed what Ms Gilruth described as a “noticeable reduction” in pupils who were “persistently absent” in 2024-25.

The Scottish Government statistics revealed 28.5 per cent of youngsters missed at least 10 per cent of the school year, and were not in classes for at least 19 days.

Pupils’ overall absence rate decreased in 2024-25, falling from 9.7 per cent in the previous year to 9 per cent – although this was still “higher than the pre-Covid period” when the absence rate was said to be “relatively stable” at about 7 per cent.

Mike Corbett, NASUWT National Official Scotland said: “Teachers are being left exhausted, demoralised and overwhelmed while pupils lose out on the individual attention and support they deserve.

“Without urgent action to restore teacher numbers, the Government’s promises on reducing contact time will remain empty words and councils will continue to fail in their duty to Scotland’s children.”