Moray councillors vote against declaring education emergency amid 'existential crisis' claims

Moray councillors have narrowly voted against declaring an education emergency amid claims of an “existential crisis”.

Councillor Sandy Keith (Elgin City North, Labour) put forward a motion during an education meeting on Tuesday, November 25, urging the local authority to make the political cry for help.

The call was made as the committee was discussing a report detailing some of the worst secondary school attainment rates the area has seen in the last five years.

However, when put to a vote, the emergency-declaring motion was defeated by eight votes to five.

The report itself contained figures showing that only 53 per cent of S4 pupils in Moray achieved a National 5 literacy and numeracy qualification, well below the Scottish average.

In terms of 2025 exam results, Moray pupils performed worse than last year’s group at every qualification level except one.

The severity of the report led the council to call on chief executive Karen Greaves to sit in on the meeting.

Cllr Keith said he had “zero assurance” from the report that things were improving, while Councillor Derek Ross (Speyside Glenlivet, Independent) said that pupils only get one chance at school, adding: “If we get it wrong we are failing them.”

Councillor Donald Gatt (Keith and Cullen, Conservative) called for the council to “bite the bullet”, admit they need help and involve Education Scotland.

The chief executive said that she was already in talks with the organisation and would bring that meeting forward.

Teaching union representative Susan Slater said that the current state of attainment in Moray is everyone’s collective responsibility.

Ms Slater said the councillors were “fundamentally missing the point” as the teacher-developed improvement plan within the report was not like those of the past.

Cllr Ross said councillors are not blaming teaching staff but added the situation is “getting worse year on year”.