The Attainment Challenge: What is the purpose of testing?

Forty-three years ago, August 1973, I was a fresh-faced probationer, attending my first in-service day of my first teaching post in one of Edinburgh’s newly created comprehensive schools.

The first agenda item, after the introduction of new staff, was the Higher and O grade results. The rigorous discussion which followed was about how to improve these.

The “raising attainment” agenda then, despite the protestations of its loudest advocates, is nothing new. Committed teachers have always sought to improve educational outcomes, including external exam results and qualifications, for all their learners.

On becoming education secretary, John Swinney was explicit about Scottish educational priorities: “Closing the attainment gap and improving attainment across education in Scotland – in other words the pursuit of equity and excellence – will be the driving purpose of my tenure as education secretary.”