Scottish Education Secretary Criticized for Downplaying Pisa Test Results

Mairi McAllan, a senior Scottish National Party (SNP) minister, has been labeled 'delusional' for her stance on the country's performance in the Programme for International Student Assessments (Pisa) study. Scotland recorded its worst-ever results in the 2025 study, which evaluates the skills of 15-year-olds globally.

McAllan stated that educational success should not be judged solely on test scores at age 15, emphasizing instead that young people should be equipped for future success in work, training, and further education. She highlighted that 95.7 percent of Scottish school leavers move on to positive destinations, a figure she described as one of the highest on record.

"It is important that the Pisa results are not viewed in isolation," McAllan told the Scottish Parliament. "And as Education Secretary it is important... that I recognise the strengths of Scottish education."

Her comments came as education experts pointed out that the Pisa study indicated a narrowing of the attainment gap between 2018 and 2025, but this was largely due to a significant decline in the performance of pupils from less deprived areas. Liberal Democrat MSP Duncan Dunlop criticized the government, suggesting they are "limiting children’s life chances and dumbing down Scotland’s potential."

McAllan further defended her position by citing improvements in positive destinations for care-experienced young people, noting an increase from 58.1 percent in 2009/10 to 84.1 percent. "So that to me is another indication of a successful education system and we must keep pursuing that work," she said.

The Scottish Conservatives announced they would host an education summit featuring experts such as former UK Government Education Secretary Michael Gove. Scottish Conservative MSP Meghan Gallacher invited McAllan to attend, but the Education Secretary declined to commit, expressing reservations about working with individuals associated with austerity policies. "Whilst I am keen to work with anyone, the architects of Conservative austerity, which our schools are grappling with the effects of so much, would not be top of my list," McAllan stated.

Gallacher responded to McAllan's statement, calling it "full of delusion and denial" and asserting that "ideology comes before better results" for the SNP. She outlined that the summit aims to learn from initiatives implemented in England under Gove's leadership, including the expansion of the academies program, curriculum reforms, and phonics screening for early literacy, suggesting McAllan was unwilling to consider such approaches.