First minister John Swinney has been rapped by the UK statistics regulator for making a misleading claim about Scottish education, following a fact check from The Ferret.

During a Holyrood meeting in May, the first minister claimed the SNP had reduced the "overall poverty-related attainment gap" in Scotland by 60 per cent.

Ferret Fact Service looked into this claim in a fact-check article and gave it a 'Mostly False' rating. This was because Swinney was using one specific type of attainment - positive destinations for school leavers - when there are numerous ways the attainment gap can be measured. On many of these measures, there have been much smaller decreases in the attainment gap between rich and poor students.

This was brought to the attention of the UK Statistics Authority by Labour MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy, who wrote to chair Sir Robert Chote, quoting the Ferret Fact Service article.

In his response, Chote agreed Swinney "should have been clearer" that he was referring to just one measure of attainment.

In fact, positive destinations for school leavers are not one of the thirteen key measures the Scottish Government uses to measure its progress on the poverty-related attainment gap.

Sir Robert wrote that "to maintain trust and confidence in their statements, ministers should take care that when they claim progress of their policies it is by their own defined measures". He confirmed that the UK Statistics Authority has raised the matter with the first minister's office.

The Scottish Government did not confirm whether Swinney plans to correct the record when asked by The Ferret.

After Sir Robert's comments were published, Duncan-Glancy raised the matter at first minister's questions in May. She said the letter "demolishes the government's claim on the attainment gap and exposes the truth - that a generation of children have been let down by a government that is more interested in spinning numbers than in solving problems".

John Swinney responded, saying he acknowledged the letter and argued the attainment gap has reduced across a number of different measures.

He said: "I have used one particular measure of the attainment gap - I could use others. The poverty-related attainment gap between young people from the most and least-deprived areas meeting standards in literacy is at a record low in primary schools, and the attainment gap has reached record lows between secondary pupils achieving third level in literacy and numeracy.

"Nothing will detract me from focusing on improving the life chances of children, whether or not they are living in poverty, and ensuring that we tackle the issues around household income and engagement with schools. That will lie at the heart of the steps that we are taking in relation to our attainment agenda."

The Ferret asked the First Minister's office whether Swinney would correct the record.

A spokesperson admitted it is "important that information provided to Parliament is accurate and its basis in evidence clear" but did not commit to the parliamentary record being updated.

"The Scottish Government uses a range of measures and sources to consider progress made in closing the poverty-related attainment gap and the First Minister cited a number of statistics in parliament to show there has been progress made in addressing the poverty-related attainment gap," a spokesperson said.

"This included progress in relation to the poverty-related gap for young people in a sustained positive destination (9 months after leaving school), which has reduced by three-fifths (or 60 per cent) since 2009-10.

"But we accept there is more to do to address the lasting impact of the pandemic and the cost of living crisis for young people affected by poverty."

The Ferret is an independent, investigative journalism cooperative dedicated to holding power to account. Since 2015, we have reported on corruption, environmental issues, human rights, and political influence in Scotland. Our work is supported by members who b...