Commenting on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study results released today, Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner said:

“After six years of turmoil in our schools, we have not made the progress we were promised by the Tories.

“We were told that the constant chopping and changing would all be worth it to see our international standing in education shoot up the tables.

"But what the Tories have delivered instead is a crisis in teacher recruitment and retention, chaos in the exam system, class sizes rising and schools facing the biggest budget cuts in decades.

"The Tories are failing in education by their own measure. It is time they started paying attention to what really drives up standards in schools – excellent teaching and a good education for all children, not just the lucky few.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

·         In January 2015 in written evidence to the Education Select Committee, the Government confirmed that they would be using PISA results as a measure for the success of their reforms:

“How does the DfE intend to measure the impact of the reforms to exams? (Q153)

We want to make sure that young people have access to qualifications that set expectations that match those in the highest performing countries. The reforms aim to ensure that GCSEs and A levels are qualifications in which students, employers and further and higher education institutions can have confidence. We will be listening carefully to the views of employers and universities to assess how successful the reforms have been in preparing students to succeed in life in modern Britain. We will also measure the increased performance of the school system as a whole by reference to international tables of student attainment, such as PISA.”

Supplementary evidence submitted by the Department for Education, Nicky Morgan MP, 7th January 2015,http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/education-committee/exams-for-1519-year-olds-in-england-follow-up/written/17097.html

·         At the time of the last PISA results release in 2013, the then Education Secretary Michael Gove said that Tory reforms would lead to England’s improved standing in the PISA tables:

“In the past, these tests have shown that, despite constantly rising exam results, our performance stagnated as others raced ahead,” Gove said on Sunday. “Our reforms are rooting out grade inflation, restoring rigour to the curriculum, giving headteachers more freedom, improving the quality of teachers and ensuring young people leave school with the skills they need to compete.”

Michael Gove, December 2013, The Guardian,https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/dec/01/michael-gove-labour-international-league-table