THE way school exam statistics are published by the Scottish Government has been criticised by the UK's official statistics body.
A UK Statistics Authority report questioned the current strategy of publishing annual secondary school results on an official website without making direct comparisons between schools.
The publication of school exam results is a controversial issue because it leads to the construction of league tables which directly compare schools.
The Scottish Government does not produce league tables for the country's schools, while Westminster does in England.
Critics - including the Scottish Government - argue league tables are misleading because they focus only on one measure and do not inform parents about the wider context of education in the school or, crucially, how much it helps pupils improve.
It can also be argued that league tables reward complacency in schools that seem to be doing well, having started with high aspiration and parental support, but that fail to add as much as they could to pupils' attainment.
However, supporters argue that in a system run by local authorities, there can be a lack of accountability at school level, and publishing performance indicators forces headteachers and directors be aware of poor performing schools.
The UK Statistics Authority said statistics for individual schools in Scotland were available on official websites, but not brought together in an official statistics publication with tables of results and professional advice on their interpretation.
"These statistics are part of the wealth of official data to which the public should have unimpeded access supported by professional statistical advice," it states.
"It is self-evidently true that publishing those statistics in that way will allow anyone, including the news media, to create league tables of schools performance.
"However .... a body responsible for statistics should not seek to control access to them on the grounds that they may be used in ways it regards as inappropriate."
The report concludes: "Whilst the school-level websites in each of the devolved administrations provide useful information about individual schools, the statistics are not always released in formats that enable and encourage analysis and re-use."
In its report, the authority also expressed opposition to the Scottish Government view that educational policy and statistical policy could not be separated.
The report states: "The authority would argue that it can be and must be if the statistical service is to be seen as independent and coherent - the more so as education policy does differ between the four UK administrations."
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said the priority of ministers was to raise achievement across the country.
"Information on schools is freely available through Scottish Schools Online and we are also working hard to improve the quality of information going to parents about Curriculum for Excellence," he said.
"The Scottish Government believes that comparing schools is almost impossible given the wide diversity of cohorts, communities and cultures in Scotland."
The UK Statistics Authority is an independent body operating at arm's length from government directly accountable to the Westminster Parliament.
Leader comment: Page 16
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article