THE attainment gap between rich and poor students in Scotland has grown, the latest exam results revealed today as the overall pass rate fell.

Seven years after the then first minister Nicola Sturgeon called closing the attainment gap the “defining mission” of her government, Scottish Labour says progress is “stalling” as the gap grew in all but one measure over the last year.

The gap at National 5 level grew from 14.6 to 16 per cent and at Higher from 14.9 to 16 per cent, but some progress was made at Advanced Higher level, where the gap fell from 13.2 to 11.5 per cent.