Qualifications Body Transition Board minutes - October 2024

Attendees and apologies

Members

• Shirley Rogers, SQA Board Chair – Transition Board Co-Chair (SR)
• Clare Hicks, SG Director of Education Reform – Transition Board Co-Chair (CH)
• George Brown, SQA Accreditation (GB)
• Laurence Findlay, ADES, Aberdeenshire Council (LF)
• Seán Hagney, SQA Board (SH)
• Ken Thomson, SQA Board (KT)
• Isabel Nisbet, Independent Adviser (IN)
• Pauline Radcliffe, SCQFP (PR)
• Stuart McKenna, Scottish Training Federation (SMcK)
• Andy Harvey, EIS (AH)
• Kirsty Ayed, School Leaders Scotland (KA)
• Claire McPherson, SFC (CF)
• Erin McCabe, Unite (EM)
• Tom Hall, Colleges Scotland (TH)
• Euan Duncan, Scottish Secondary Teachers Association (ED)

In attendance

• Lisa Bird, SG, Programme Director (LB)
• John Booth, SQA, Director of Communications (JB)
• Steve Borley, SQA (SB)
• Sarah Hart, SG, Head of Delivery (SaH)
• Jaxon Parish, SG, Senior Policy Officer (JP)
• Dawnne Mahmoud, SQA, Director of People (DM)
• Kieran Watson, SG, Unit Head (KW)
• Andy Alston, SQA (AA)
• Alison Barclay, SQA Unison Representative (AB)
• Manvinder Reid, SG (MR)
• Bill Cullen, SQA (BC)
• Eni Adesida, SG (EA)

Secretariat

• Karen Ferguson, SQA (KF)
• Anna Kerr, SQA (AK)
• John Keenan, SG (JK)
• Niamh McGhee, SG (NM)
• Keegan Friel, SQA (KeF)

Apologies

• Reid Aiton, Young Scot
• Liz Cunningham, Unison (Alison Barclay attending as deputy)
• Fiona Robertson, SQA, Chief Executive 
• Naureen Ahmad, SG, Deputy Director 

Items and actions

Opening remarks

Welcome and apologies

SR welcomed everyone to the meeting and noted apologies.

Declaration of any conflicts of interest

There were no declarations of conflicts of interest.

Previous meeting - approval of minutes from 24 September 2024 and matters arising

The minutes of the meeting of 24 September were approved as an accurate record of the meeting

Implementation plan

Vision for QS - where are we trying to get to?

Corporate plan

SR provided an update on the SQA’s new Corporate Plan which has been approved by the Scottish Government. SR spoke about the plan’s stated ambitions which are: to win back the trust of teachers and learners; utilise technology to streamline services; and deliver qualifications that meet current and future needs.

JB confirmed that the Corporate Plan is due to be published shortly and sought support around the launch. Members conveyed a willingness to support the Corporate Plan launch.

AA described the series of events that would be taking place over the coming weeks to raise staff awareness and promote staff involvement in the transition from SQA to QS.

SR indicated that there would be a deep dive on the Corporate Plan at the next meeting.

Action – Deep dive of the Corporate Plan to be arranged for next meeting.

Transition - what is required for day 1?

Day 1 approach

BC presented a summary plan of Transition to Day 1 which is entitled ‘Plan on a Page’. This described the priority tasks, deliverables, outputs and key milestones for the Transition programme. BC went on to discuss how the reporting arrangements would be supported by a Dashboard that he would be presenting at the next meeting.

BC also discussed the transition funding work currently underway and his intention to submit this to the Scottish Government within the next week or so.

Members indicated that it would be helpful for some of the programme management language and other terminology to be simplified.

SR noted that Trade Unions have been, and will continue to be, engaged at appropriate times and reminded members that the standard TU engagement and consultation will continue to take place over and above the engagement relating directly to the work of the Transition Board.

Whilst members welcomed the breakdown of each transition activity, they identified a need for a better understanding of the key dependencies in terms of the critical path required for Day 1. They noted that the number of pieces of work might be a very challenging workload with the resources available.

The importance of ensuring that the SQA Board is kept up to date was highlighted and SR confirmed that at every SQA Board meeting she provides an update on the Transition Board.

JB confirmed that a communications and engagement project was underway to support transition.

SR noted that following each Transition Board meeting going forward, there will be a communications pack giving information/notes on each meeting.

Action – Dashboard to support reporting arrangements to be presented at next meeting.

Corporate and business services

JP updated members on the progress with the Corporate and Business Services outputs from the transition implementation plan. A Below the Line (BTL) paper on the progress on outputs was attached for attendees. JP noted how those outputs were separate to those under ‘Plan on a Page’ as described earlier by BC. JP then invited members to provide views on the work to date and the BTL paper.

Members made further reference to how delays on one aspect could impact on the whole plan due to the dependency between different activities. Decisions on the Skills Delivery Review and post-school reform were highlighted as a potential issue. CH noted that work on national skills planning was underway which should help provide further clarity, along with legislative decisions to be made around December and January.

JB confirmed that ‘Qualifications Scotland’ was the only confirmed identity decision at this stage, and identity relating to awarding and accreditation was still being considered. The importance of producing branding that signalled real change was highlighted by members.

There was discussion around shared services and the importance of TU engagement was emphasised.

Action – JP to provide further information to members to clarify how the transition implementation plan and the ‘Plan on a Page’ contribute to the reporting arrangements for the transition work.

Transformation - what will happen longer term?

Education bill - stage 1 and implementation update

JP provided a summary of the Education (Scotland) Bill’s progress through Stage 1 of its Parliamentary passage and the Education Committee’s Call for Evidence and discussed next steps.

CH invited members to get in touch if they would like to discuss areas that were not covered in the evidence sessions or that they feel require further discussion.

Members queried whether possible amendments to the Bill could affect the timeline for establishment of QS currently scheduled for November 2025. Project management and branding were highlighted as areas that are time critical. KW advised that because the Bill is under the control of Parliament, it is difficult to provide precise timescales, but added that sufficient clarity on any Bill amendments by January or February of next year is realistic.

Action – Members to contact SG if they would like further discussion on what was covered in the evidence sessions or particular areas that members feel require further discussion.

Any other business

N/A

Date of next meeting

The date of the next meeting is Tuesday 19 November. Clare Hicks to chair.