I AM informed, courtesy of your correspondent Jimmy Armstrong (Letters, January 10) that education standards in Scotland have been reduced, through the malign influence of Nicola Sturgeon, to "just average". This, I am invited to understand, means a school is only inspected every 20 years.

I turn to my Pupil's School Record which for some reason I have had since I left school in 1948. I recall my schools, Chapelton Primary and Port Glasgow High, were regularly inspected – strange gentlemen would appear now and then and witness us being taught.

I was in what we called the A classes – we got English, History, Geography, Mathematics, Latin, French, Science and Art - but I hadn't realised until now how average we were. A couple of minutes analysis shows me that, sadly, we had an average, and the average overall class mark for the nine exams we sat was barely 55 per cent.

I am not qualified to say if that figure was barely average, or just average, or what, but I don't think Ms Sturgeon had a hand in it. Out with averages, I say.

Hugh VS McIntyre,

63 Pentland Avenue,

Port Glasgow.