Education: National Improvement Framework and improvement plan 2024

Education and skills reform

The Scottish Government is reforming the education and skills system to give everyone the opportunity to develop the knowledge, skills, values and attributes that will enable them to thrive. The ICEA has advised consistently that structural changes should only be made as an integral and necessary part of a coherent approach to governance across all levels of the education system, and that it should have a beneficial impact on the learning and experience of the young people and their teachers.

It is important, therefore, that we get reform right and that our approach to reform draws on the advice of the ICEA in order to deliver cultural change, as well as proper consideration of the independent reviews that reported to Government in May and June 2023. These are James Withers’ Review of the Skills Delivery Landscape, the priorities arising from ‘Purpose and Principles for Post-School Education, Skills and Research,’ the independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment by Professor Hayward, as well as themes from the National Discussion on Education.

In order to achieve this, the Scottish Government will establish an Education and Skills Reform Chief Executive Forum, ensuring all bodies impacted by reform can engage collectively and directly with Government. There is also a commitment that teachers and educators will be directly involved in the governance of the education reform programme - to help deliver the change required, and to ensure the expertise from the profession drives improvement. The consultation on legislation on the Education Bill runs until December 18^th. The consultation sets out proposals to establish a new qualifications body, addressing the need for greater involvement of pupils, teachers, and wider stakeholders in decision-making, as well as ways to maximise the positive impact of education inspection.

We will also establish a new Centre for Teaching Excellence to fill an important gap in our national approach to improving education. The centre will help us to remain at the cutting edge of teaching practice, by distilling research and evidence into practical support. The Centre will be co-designed with teachers, practitioners and other partners in order to ensure that it fulfils its purpose, which is to distil research and evidence on excellent teaching into practical and digestible support for all teachers and practitioners in Scotland.

Early in 2024 we will also respond to the Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment. Since the conclusion of the Review, we have been seeking further views on the recommendations pertaining to the national qualifications. Although agreement on the need for change is clear, there are varying views on next steps. In considering the Scottish Government’s response to the Review it will be important to balance the desire for change with the views of teachers, while recognising the changed context in our schools. With that in mind, the Cabinet Secretary intends to return to Parliament in the new year to debate the proposals of the Review in full.

The importance of the early years

Our Strategic Early Learning and Childcare and School Age Childcare Plan outlines our vision that, through access to rich and nurturing early learning and school age childcare experiences, children, families, and their communities are enabled to reach their full potential and the poverty-related outcomes gap narrows.

Since 2014 we have undertaken one of the most significant reforms to public services in a generation by almost doubling the entitlement to high quality, funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) from 600 to 1140 hours per year, for all eligible children. This means families can access up to 30 hours of funded ELC each week in term time, or around 22 hours a week spread across the calendar year. Scotland is the only part of the UK to offer the equivalent of 1140 hours of funded ELC to all eligible children regardless of their parents’ or carers’ working status, putting children first.

Our Programme for Government outlines that we will work with our partners to significantly expand our childcare programme. We will also continue to take forward joint work to develop an outcomes and measurement framework for funded ELC, in partnership with local government and the ELC sector.