Education Scotland and the Scottish Qualifications Authority: consultation

Context for this Consultation

The OECD has published two reports recently on aspects of Scottish education. The first, Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence: Into the Future^[6] was published in June 2021. This report recognises that Curriculum for Excellence offers an inspiring and widely supported philosophy of education. It acknowledges the hard work done over the years by many in Scottish education to turn the vision for Curriculum for Excellence^[7] and the refreshed narrative^[8] into meaningful learning for children and young people at all stages.

Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence: Into the Future highlights the need for a more structured and strategic approach to curriculum review and implementation in Scotland, noting in particular that the structure, learning practices and assessment approaches in the Senior Phase^[9] need adapting to be consistent with Curriculum for Excellence's vision to allow for a smooth curriculum experience from 3 to 18 and beyond.

In its response to the OECD report Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence: Into the Future, the Scottish Government has taken the decision that the Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA) would be replaced and that the functions of Education Scotland would be reviewed with the removal of the Inspectorate from its remit.

The second OECD report, Upper-Secondary Education Student Assessment in Scotland: A Comparative Perspective, was published in August 2021^[10]. This report was written to complement the first OECD report and sets out a number of possible ways in which improvements could be made to the alignment between Curriculum for Excellence and assessment in the Senior Phase.