PARENTS will no longer be told automatically how school exam results compare with others in Scotland under a shake-up of rules governing handbooks.
The Scottish Government is seeking a change in legislation that will mean schools are not required to include national statistics on exam performance at Higher in the guide for parents.
The move follows a consultation suggesting parents were more interested in information about their children's own school than they were about comparisons with others.
The Government argues that a wealth of national statistics are easily accessible online.
However, concerns have been raised about the issue of including national trends – seen by many as critical information that lets parents judge how well their school is doing.
The school handbook itself is viewed as crucial for families who want to see how well their local school is doing.
Liz Smith, the education spokeswoman for the Scottish Conservatives, said national information should be included as part of a set of data.
"There are significant concerns about the shallow use of national statistics to judge how well a school is doing, and what is equally important is how well a school meets, or exceeds, the expectations of their particular group of pupils," she said.
"However, national statistics and national comparisons can highlight where schools are punching above their weight, or falling behind."
She added: "The Government has already removed Scotland from key international studies looking at educational trends, and there is a debate to be had over the importance of wider comparison data. We need a blend of local and national statistics so parents can make an informed choice about the merits of a particular school, and that information should be readily available in the school handbook."
Ann Ballinger, general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association, backed the Government. "I don't think this information should be included. There should be information on the progress within the school and the benefits it brings to pupils," she said.
"Teachers can work exceptionally hard to build confidence in individuals, but every year those same staff can be at the bottom of the league tables, which is entirely unfair because they are doing wonderful work which is not being recognised."
Iain Ellis, chairman of the National Parent Forum of Scotland, said handbooks would be more relevant to parents in future. "During the consultation we heard parents say that they wanted to hear about how their school was performing in a much broader way," he said.
"They wanted trends and information which included broader achievements of the school and were less interested in national information – although they wanted to know where to go and get it if they did want it."
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "Following a recent consultation with parents we plan to update school handbook regulations to better reflect what information parents have told us they want on their children's schools.
"National statistical collection of information on schools will still continue and this will be published across platforms such as the Scottish Government website and Scottish Schools Online."
The consultation on changes to the handbooks, published earlier this year, stated: "Parents wanted a wide range of information in order to help them choose a school and make an informed decision.
"While some parents want performance information, ethos was by far the most frequently cited factor in choosing a school."
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