Readers' letters: Falling standards in schools shows need for major reform

Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. What an indictment on the state of Scottish education that less than two in five pupils in the S4 cohort (2025/26 session) achieved at least a C pass in both English and Maths at Nat 5 level (your report, 4 September). The SNP may spin impressive pass rates based on those actually sitting the exams but this hides the vast numbers (over 50 per cent) who combined either failed at least one of these exams, were presented for exams at a lower level (Nat4, Nat 3 etc) or were not examined at all. It indicates the urgent need for effective reform in Scottish education, including firm control of classroom discipline and a step-up in vocational training options as part of the school curriculum. No wonder we have an unacceptable number of young people, 16-24 age bracket, not in education, employment or training (NEETS); almost one million in the UK. Perhaps John Swinney would like to reveal the figure for Scotland? Alastair Neilson, Edinburgh Flexibility key The letter from Doug Clark (5 September) about universities is fundamentally flawed. His penultimate paragraph completely misrepresents the Scottish system. I'm not sure about schools forcing a career path, but the Scottish system, fundamentally different from the English one, does not at all lock the student in from day one, with almost complete freedom given until Honours years. Similarly, the absolute genius of the Scottish four-year Honours course allows masses of flexibility right up to the end of second year. I started in first year planning to study English, didn't enjoy it, moved to French and Mediaeval History, with Philosophy, and ended up with Joint Honours in French and Mediaeval History. Plenty of choice and freedom. I'm afraid Mr Clark is making a fundamental mistake in assuming that the Scottish and English universities are the same. Brian Bannatyne-Scott, Edinburgh Friends like them Donald Trump, has told us he might not support the UK if Argentina was to invade the Falkland Islands again. Javier Milei, Argentinian President, has seen this as another opportunity to make life uncomfortable for the Falklands Islanders, who have confirmed by democratic means that they wish to remain a British Dependancy. Now, however, the British Army, RAF and Royal Navy have a permanent presence; a new airfield housing two flights of Typhoon fighters plus helicopters and C400 multi-purpose transport aircraft. The Falklands issue had lain dormant until now. Thanks to the Vietnam draft dodger, the Falklanders must now be on full alert. With allies like Trump who needs enemies? Doug Morrison, Tenterden, Kent Football talent It's all very well saying that Scottish football is missing out by not playing home-grown talent in first teams (Scotsman, 5 September). According to this approach such talent will then be bought by wealthier teams elsewhere, thus generating a potential £40 million a year for the Scottish game. But what about the fans? In the 1970s I enjoyed watching local talent playing in a Falkirk team alongside older experienced players nearing the end of their careers including a certain Alex Ferguson. Together they took Falkirk into the upper echelons of the old First Division. As a student I had to work long hours in the summer to pay for my season ticket. I'd come back in August expecting to see the same team, only to find all the star young players had been sold on in the close season to keep the club afloat. And within months we'd be struggling again. So I gave up watching. But as a shareholder I still went to AGMs. In the 1990s then chair Martin Ritchie produced a graphic which indicated Premier League survival depended on the club nurturing talent through a youth academy system. Crucially, he proposed retaining these players rather than selling them on. That's because the club could not compete financially when trying to buy in good players. It was this system which produced Scott Arfield. But this approach needed both steady gate receipts and reliable sources of outside income to survive. And there was no guarantee either would continue indefinitely. So when cash got tight Scott Arfield got sold to Burnley. A few more seasons of this left us floundering in the depths of League 1 and no longer able to afford a youth academy. Fifty years on it would seem that nothing has been learnt. Robert Menzies, Falkirk Tax exiles Taxation during Labour's 1970s tenure, as Alastair Paisley describes (Letters, 5 September) could actually amount to more than confiscation. In addition to the 83 per cent top rate on income, there was 20 per cent for NI contributions, taking the rate to 103 per cent, and any interest on savings attracted 98 per cent. My memory tells me that it was impossible to earn more than £12,000 a year at the time. After that you were paying the government to work. Ireland took advantage of this to offer a flat rate of £20% for actors and artists and authors, and many took advantage of that. My own merchant banker boss paid a student to ghost write a book for him and went to live in Ireland beside proper authors such as Frederick Forsyth and actors such as Robert Shaw, who starred in the film Jaws. The loss to UK taxation was huge and mostly permanent, as Ireland later relaxed residential requirements. The Conservatives ended this nonsense on taking office in 1979. Malcolm Parkin, Kinnesswood, Kinross-shire Write to The Scotsman We welcome your thoughts – NO letters submitted elsewhere, please. Write to [email protected] including name, address and phone number – we won't print full details. Keep letters under 300 words, and in the body of the email – no attachments – and avoid 'Letters to the Editor/Readers' Letters' or similar in your subject line. If referring to an article, include date, page number and heading. No poems.