Nicola Sturgeon accused of ‘failing’ on pledge to close poverty education gap as worrying Higher figures revealed – The Sun

NICOLA Sturgeon has been accused of “failing miserably” on her pledge to close the poverty attainment gap — as figures revealed a hidden divide in the grades of the richest and poorest kids.

Rivals slammed the First Minister as official stats show pupils in the most deprived areas were twice as likely to fail a Higher than get an A grade in 2019 — the last pre-virus normal exams.

Some 35 per cent of Highers sat in the disadvantaged areas were failed, while only 16 per cent got top marks.

In contrast, 37.9 per cent in affluent areas managed to land As.

The Scottish Government stats — uncovered in a freedom of information request by Glasgow college lecturer James McEnaney — give a gap of 21.9 points between those achieving A grades in the most and least deprived, up from 20.3 five years ago.

Tory education spokesman Jamie Green hit out: “Pupils from deprived backgrounds are being left behind and missing out on future opportunities because the SNP have failed miserably to reduce the attainment gap, as Nicola Sturgeon promised to do five years ago.”