Scotland's Education Secretary Mairi McAllan has defended the country's worst-ever performance in the international Pisa study for 2025 by arguing that educational success should not be judged solely on test scores at age 15. Her statement drew sharp criticism from opposition MSPs, who branded her response "delusional" and accused the SNP government of prioritising ideology over academic results. The controversy deepened when the Scottish Conservatives announced a schools summit featuring former UK Education Secretary Michael Gove, and McAllan declined to commit to attending.

McAllan cited alternative measures of educational success, noting that 95.7 per cent of Scottish school leavers enter positive destinations and that care-experienced young people moving into positive outcomes has risen from 58.1 per cent to 84.1 per cent since 2009–10. However, education experts have highlighted that the narrowing attainment gap shown in Pisa reflects a steeper decline in performance among less deprived pupils than among more deprived ones. Conservative MSP Meghan Gallacher pointed to England's academies expansion, curriculum reforms and phonics screening as potential lessons, whilst McAllan countered that she would not prioritise learning from architects of Conservative austerity affecting Scottish schools.