Nicola Sturgeon has said she is "utterly determined" to press on with educational reforms after coming under fire for poor literacy statistics.
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson asked whether the First Minister was "embarrassed, ashamed or both" following the publication of the latest Scottish survey of literacy and numeracy (SSLN).
Ms Davidson went on the attack at First Minister's Questions after the survey showed fewer than half of Scotland's 13 and 14-year-olds are able to write well while the writing performance of P4 and P7 pupils has also dropped.
She said: "Today in Scotland in an S2 class of 30 pupils, on average, five can't write properly. That's double the number just four years ago.
"When the First Minister sees statistics like these does she feel embarrassed, ashamed or both?"
Read more: Nicola Sturgeon challenges 'one trick' Scottish Tories
Ms Davidson added: "We like to pride ourselves in Scotland that our education system was the best in the world and after 10 years of this SNP government, we can do so no longer."
Ms Sturgeon responded: "What I feel is utterly determined, determined to carry on with the changes we're making in Scottish education so that we continue to see the improvements in attainment and progress in closing the attainment gap."
The First Minister said she was not going "to try in any way to diminish the significance" of the SSLN findings but argued the study was a sample that measured S2 pupils against the standard they are expected to reach in S3.
Read more: Nicola Sturgeon challenges 'one trick' Scottish Tories
In contrast, she said, the Government's "comprehensive" national improvement framework data showed more than 80% of S3 pupils were meeting the required standard.
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