WIREDGOV

How well Scotland's school pupils perform in comparison to their peers across the rest of the UK is the focus of a seminar this coming Wednesday (28 August), hosted by University of Edinburgh.

The seminar is part of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)'s Future of the UK and Scotland activities, which aim to inform the referendum debate and policymaking, whatever the outcome.

The seminar will look at the educational attainment of pupils in the devolved Scottish education system, issues of inequality, and how prepared young people are for higher education. The event is aimed at policy makers, academics and all those with an interest in education.

Professor Sheila Riddell, ESRC Research Fellow, and her colleagues at the Centre for Research in Education Inclusion and Diversity, University of Edinburgh, are running the event

Professor Riddell says:

"Scotland's education system performs well in comparison with the rest of the UK and other OECD countries, and Scotland is generally regarded as a high achieving nation. However, significant inequalities persist, a problem shared by all four countries of the UK."

"This seminar examines the nature of the problem, and how school and higher education systems may contribute to making Scotland a more equal society."

Speakers at the event include:

Dr Gill Wyness, Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics, Professor David Raffe, Centre for Educational Sociology, University of Edinburgh, Dr Bill Maxwell, Chief Executive, Education Scotland, and Kate Davidson, SWAP-East.

A briefing paper written by Dr Gill Wyness (PDF, 556Kb) accompanies this release.

Notes for editors

1. The Economic and Social Research Council is the UKs largest organisation for funding research on economic and social issues. It supports independent, high quality research which has an impact on business, the public sector and the third sector. More details about the ESRCs Future of the UK and Scotland programme of activities are available at: www.esrc.ac.uk/scotland and www.futureukandscotland.ac.uk. Follow us: @UKScotland.