Education, Children and Young People Committee
Education Reform – OECD review and the 'Putting Learners at the Centre' report
Background
The Committee is scrutinising the ongoing issue of education reform in Scotland.
Between 2021 and 2022, the Committee scrutinised the Scottish Government’s response to the OECD review of the Curriculum for Excellence.
Following the publication of the report, the Scottish Government stated that it would:
- Move the role of inspection out of Education Scotland in a way that maximizes impact and helps to balance the dual need for local flexibility of provision alongside national consistency in outcomes
- Consider replacing the SQA with a new, specialist agency responsible for both curriculum and assessment to ensure alignment in these functions.
The Scottish Government appointed Professor Muir as an Independent Advisor to Scottish Government, to take forward these actions. Professor Muir's report Putting Learners at the Centre: Towards a Future Vision for Scottish Education was published on 9 March 2022.
These publications and proposals factored into the Committee's scrutiny.
The Committee also considered a further report from the OECD, ‘Upper-secondary education assessment in Scotland: a comparative assessment’.
Following on from this work, the Committee started scrutinising the independent reviews of qualifications and assessment, and skills delivery.
Timetable
8 September 2021
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) - As part of this work, the Committee took evidence from the team who produced the OECD review of Curriculum for Excellence
10 November 2021
OECD – Upper School Education Assessment - At its meeting on 10 November 2021, the Committee also took evidence from Professor Gordon Stobart, Emeritus Professor of Education, University College London. The focus of the session was a report Professor Stobart had completed for the OECD on ‘Upper-secondary education assessment in Scotland: a comparative assessment.
23 March 2022
Putting Learners at the Centre - The Committee heard evidence from Professor Muir and Professor Donaldson at its meeting on 23 March 2022 regarding their report, Putting Learners at the Centre: Towards a Future Vision for Scottish Education which was published on the 9 March 2022.