Sutton Trust brought up in debate on attainment gap in Scottish Parliament

27^th January

The Liberal Democrats led a debate in the Scottish Parliament on the attainment gap in Scotland, leading to a mention of the Sutton Trust. Lib Dem Willie Renshaw called for the SNP led Scottish Government to introduce a Scottish Pupil Premium. SNP Education Minister Angela Constance said that the evidence on the effect of the Pupil Premium in England is “mixed at best” and said that there policy is to instead tackle the gap through the “Scottish attainment challenge” – providing additional education funding for more deprived areas.

Conservative MSP Elizabeth Smith said that there is “clear evidence that the pupil premium is working for the most disadvantaged” and suggested the Minister to” read the 2015 Sutton Trust report, which helpfully provides some of the evidence that we need to ensure that the policy can be taken forward”. It is likely Smith was referring to the joint Sutton Trust/EEF Pupil Premium Summit report.