The Scottish school system was once the jewel in the British educational crown. With good standards and low levels of social inequality, it was seen as the part of the UK where working-class kids could get ahead as a result of a high-quality comprehensive education.
The English system was a basket case by comparison, characterised by huge variations in school quality, poor outcomes and the occasional wacky education theory. In 1997, four in 10 English pupils started secondary school without sufficient levels of literacy.
