Education (Scotland) Bill: island communities impact assessment

Data and Stakeholders

The SQA was established under the Education (Scotland) Act 1996 as a national awarding body responsible for the development, delivery, assessment, quality assurance and awarding of all types of qualifications except university degrees. The 1996 Act also gave the SQA responsibility for accrediting qualifications being offered by other awarding bodies.

The establishment of Qualifications Scotland will put in place a new public body which reflects and supports the overall desired vision for the new national bodies and the wider Scottish education system as a whole. The establishment and development of the new body will provide an opportunity to define and refocus its activities, relationships and interaction with the broader education and skills system.

HM Inspectors have evaluated the quality of education in Scotland initially in schools for children and young people, and subsequently in a variety of other educational settings for more than 150 years.

Key Stakeholders include:

• SQA
• Education Scotland
• Staff Trade Unions
• Teaching Trade Unions
• Learner Groups
• Parent Groups
• Young People’s Organisations
• COSLA
• Local Authorities
• Academics

As well as the consultations mentioned below, there has been widespread stakeholder engagement on the Bill. There were 27 responses from local authorities, three of which have responsibility for island communities, and their responses were in line with their counterparts on the mainland.