Education (Scotland) Bill: island communities impact assessment

Develop A Clear Understanding of Your Objectives

The objectives of the Bill are to provide the legal underpinning to support the design and delivery of a national organisational infrastructure for education in Scotland that more effectively supports the system, to deliver the vision for education in Scotland. The intention is to support the right balance of responsibility and autonomy between the different parts of the education system, including national and local government, national education bodies and schools, colleges and other places of learning. It is part of the holistic approach to education reform reflecting a clear expectation that all elements of the education and skills system will work together as one single system that has a collective responsibility to deliver for learners of all ages.

The education and skills reform being taken forward by the Scottish Government aims to reshape the ways in which the Scottish Government supports improvement in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, and achieve improved outcomes and experiences for pupils and students in every setting.

The Bill is in two substantive parts. Part 1 establishes a new qualifications body, to be known as Qualifications Scotland, to replace the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA). It will be set up as a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB), including appropriate governance arrangements and statutory functions. As an operationally independent organisation, the provisions set out the framework for how Qualifications Scotland will be able to operate. The operational detail is being developed in parallel as part of the operational design of the new body.

Part 2 establishes the Office of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education in Scotland. The statutory functions will be conferred on the Chief Inspector. The Chief Inspector will lead a new independent education inspectorate, to take forward the education inspection functions that currently sit within Education Scotland. The Bill sets out the governance arrangements and statutory functions necessary in relation to the full range of educational establishments and services currently inspected, from early years to adult learning.