Scottish Budget 2025 to 2026

Chapter 6 Education and Skills

Portfolio Responsibilities

The Education and Skills portfolio 2025-26 budget emphasises the First Minister’s priorities and champions programmes with far-reaching impacts in addressing child poverty and improving outcomes for families and learners across Scotland.

With funding to enable reform of our school and lifelong learning systems, we are supporting delivery of national infrastructure that will bolster our education system.

We are funding continued development of flexible, affordable childcare for priority families in our Early Adopter Communities, giving families the opportunity to seek employment and improve their living standards. We are delivering our commitment to ensure early learning and childcare and children’s social care staff in the private and voluntary sector are paid the real living wage.

The budget recommits the Scottish Government to closing the poverty-related attainment gap through the Scottish Attainment Challenge, and to ensuring children and young people are happy and thriving at school. We are investing in Scotland’s teachers and funding initiatives which address the challenges facing the education workforce, including supporting new teachers into the profession.

We are delivering modern, state-of-the-art schools from the Shetland Islands to the Scottish Borders through our Learning Estate Investment Programme. Further investment targets support to children from the poorest backgrounds, including the expansion and testing of free breakfast clubs; free school meals provision for P6/7 children in receipt of the Scottish Child Payment; and continued support for the school clothing grant.

We will fund increasing provision for additional support for learning and we will work with Local Authorities to deliver our shared commitment to maintain teacher numbers, helping councils respond to the increased need in our schools post-pandemic.

This budget commits to keeping The Promise for all care-experienced children and young people, creating a supportive environment for all children and young people to grow up loved, safe and respected. The budget also reinforces support for Whole Family Wellbeing Funding, preventing crises before they arise and helping families to flourish, reducing the chances of family breakdown and of children entering the care system.

Finally, this portfolio is driving economic growth through its support for colleges, universities and the wider skills system. We are protecting the right to free tuition and driving forward our commitment to Widening Access. The budget prioritises financial assistance to students, supporting them to complete their studies in the face of significant cost-of-living pressures. The budget also supports adult learners – including parents and carers – to enter, sustain and progress in work, critical to our mission of eradicating child poverty.

Education and Skills intended contributions to the National Outcomes

Primary National Outcomes

• Education
• Children and Young People
• Economy
• Poverty

Secondary National Outcomes

• Communities
• Human
• Fair Work and Business
• International
• Culture

For further information on the purpose of the portfolio budget, and contributions to national outcomes (including impacts of spend on equality of outcome) please refer to the relevant portfolio annex in the published Equality and Fairer Scotland Budget Statement.

Education & Skills

The prior year 2024-25 Budget comparator figures are based on the latest in-year budget numbers which were revised at the Autumn Budget Revision. The 2023-24 Scottish Budget comparator figures reflect the outturn numbers for that year.

*Note – there is a technical adjustment in AME and non-cash figures above which does not impact the fiscal resource and capital allocations.

*NB there is a technical adjustment in AME and non-cash figures above which does not impact the fiscal resource and capital allocations.

** As in previous years, a portion of the raising attainment budget line will be used to top-up Pupil Equity funding above £120 million, to meet the increasing costs of the programme.