Scottish Education Council

Overview

The Scottish Education Council is the key forum for oversight of improvement in education in Scotland, as defined by the National Improvement Framework.

Its role is to work collaboratively to ensure that there is a system-wide focus on improvement and to agree priorities for improvement activity and delivery. The Scottish Education Council has been paused since early 2020 following the establishment of the COVID-19 Education Recovery Group as an early response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Council reconvened on 8 October 2021 and meets every two months. 

Remit

The remit has been updated to include the involvement of children and young people on the refreshed Council, the focus on the key reports published in 2021, and the ongoing work on educational reform and child poverty. 

The Council, in pursuit of collaborative partnership and supportive of social dialogue, will:

• brings together the main decision makers, key influencers, and children and young people’s representatives with a strong focus on excellence and equity for all, and is a forum for frank and open discussion and challenge
• ensures children and young people’s voices are at the heart of discussions about improvement and reform of the education system, alongside those of teachers
• promotes, protects and defends the rights of children and young people in order to ensure they are incorporated fully across the Scottish education system
• provides comment and professional advice on the strategic direction, vision and outcomes of key education policies and initiatives. The Council is not a decision making body
• uses key evidence and data about what is working nationally and locally to drive improvement, and what more is required in the context of the pandemic and future educational reform
• considers progress and provides views on how the recommendations and actions from key reports have been taken forward (ICEA, Equity Audit, Audit Scotland, SAC progress report and OECD review)
• provides leadership and advice to Ministers and local government in developing the strategic approach and vision for improvement across Scottish education, as defined by the National Improvement Framework
• has a primary focus on issues related to the school years, including the provision of community learning and development, but has the ability to focus on wider education issues as and when required. This includes a focus on the partnership between education settings, such as the link between schools and colleges/ ELC settings
• provides guidance and advice at all levels of the system, working across organisational and structural boundaries to support the development of key improvement priorities for Scottish education and ensuring those priorities are reflected in national, local and regional improvement planning
• works closely with Regional Improvement Collaboratives via agreed governance arrangements to oversee progress towards delivery of those national, regional and local improvement priorities and outcomes
• contributes to cross governmental work on child poverty to ensure that there is a whole system approach to improvement and recovery

Members

• Jenny Gilruth, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills - Chair
• Councillor Tony Buchanan, COSLA Children and Young People spokesperson
• Graeme Logan, Director of Learning, Scottish Government 
• Neil Rennick, Director General Education and Justice, Scottish Government
• Clare Hicks, Director for Education Reform, Scottish Government
• Fiona Robertson, Scottish Qualifications Authority Chief Executive 
• Andrea Bradley, General Secretary, The Educational Institute of Scotland
• Gillian Hamilton, Chief Executive of Education Scotland and Chief Inspector of Education 
• Pauline Stephen, Chief Executive, General Teaching Council for Scotland 
• Cheryl Burnett, Chair of the National Parent Forum of Scotland 
• Professor Margery McMahon, Chair of the Scottish Council of Deans of Education 
• Douglas Hutchison, President of the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES) 
• Des Murray, SOLACE lead for Children and Young People
• Audrey May, Regional Improvement Collaborative Lead, Tayside Collaborative
• James Wylie, Regional Improvement Collaborative Lead, The Northern Alliance
• Dr Gillian Brydson, Regional Improvement Collaborative Lead, South West Collaborative
• Fiona Robertson, Regional Improvement Collaborative Lead, South East Alliance
• Lorraine Sanda, Regional Improvement Collaborative Lead, Forth Valley and West Lothian Collaborative
• Tony McDaid, Regional Improvement Collaborative Lead, The West Partnership
• Professor Mark Priestley, University of Stirling 
• Kay Sillars, UNISON Scotland
• Tamsin Gold MSYP, Convenor of Education and Lifelong Learning Committee, Scottish Youth Parliament
• Marcus Flucker MSYP, Trustee, Scottish Youth Parliament
• Rona Blackwood, Head of Programmes, Children’s Parliament 
• Juliet Harris, Director of Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights)
• Graham Hutton, General Secretary, School Leaders Scotland 
• Shona Struthers, Chief Executive, Colleges Scotland 
• Alan Sherry, Chair of CLD Standards Council for Scotland 
• Jane Brumpton, Chief Executive, Early Years Scotland 
• Greg Dempster, General Secretary, Association of Headteachers and Deputies Scotland

Publications