Education and Skills
The next item of business is portfolio question time, and the portfolio this afternoon is education and skills. I remind members that questions 1 and 5 are grouped together and that I will therefore take any supplementaries on those questions after both have been answered.
Apprenticeships (Number of Places)
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported significant demand for apprenticeships from both employers and applicants, what it is doing to increase the number of apprenticeship places available. (S6O-04858)
The Scottish Government is investing £185 million this year to support high-quality apprenticeships, aiming to strengthen the skills system and ensure efficient use of public funds. Our approach to proactive contract management allows flexibility to respond to emerging demand, aligned with Government priorities. Skills Development Scotland supports providers to maximise opportunities throughout the year. We remain committed to working with employers and industry leaders to reform the skills system. Improving skills planning is key to ensuring that supply is better aligned with the demands of Scotland’s economy.
I also have concerns about the gender pay gap for Scotland’s apprentices. Male apprentices are predominantly found in sectors such as construction, engineering, information technology and telecommunications—sectors that typically offer higher wages and stronger long-term earning potential. Female apprentices are more likely to be found in social services, health and social care, business and administration, and hairdressing and beauty—sectors that generally have lower average pay and fewer opportunities for progression to higher wages. What is the minister doing to close that gap and ensure that apprenticeships are not trapping women in low-paid work?
Lorna Slater highlights a really important and long-standing issue, which continues to exercise all of us who have a locus and interest in ensuring that our young people are supported into rewarding and sustainable careers that allow them to best realise their potential.
The fact that Scotland’s apprentice of the year, Louise Collins, is a female who is working in aerospace engineering will, I hope, help us to demonstrate to young women that engineering is for them. I also hope that our plans to weave the recommendation of the Scottish Apprenticeship Advisory Board’s gender commission into our work in the reforms space, especially on careers, will be helpful. That is the critical element of how we address this issue. When I talk about our work on careers, I mean that it should involve reaching not just the young people but the biggest influence on the career decisions that those young people make, which is their parents and carers.
Progress has been made in breaking down the gender barriers, but much work remains to address the challenge of attracting more women into engineering and construction—the high-paying sectors that Lorna Slater has identified. We should also be alive to the fact that, in some instances, young men are not being attracted to other professions. That, too, has to be addressed.
Apprenticeships (Availability)
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any regional variability in the availability of apprenticeships. (S6O-04862)
Skills Development Scotland has operational responsibility for apprenticeships in Scotland. SDS acknowledges that regional variability in apprenticeship availability is influenced by the geographic distribution and recruitment activity of employers across key sectors of the economy. As apprenticeships are demand led and aligned with employer needs, the number and type of opportunities naturally differ across regions.
To manage this situation, SDS undertakes continuous labour market analysis and produces annual regional skills assessments. These assessments inform the strategic management of apprenticeship starts at both national and regional levels, which ensures alignment with industry priorities and local economic conditions.
My Stirling constituency covers a vast area, but the majority of apprenticeships are centred in Stirling city. How is the minister engaging with stakeholders to ensure the wide availability of apprenticeships, especially in more rural areas?
A key priority for the Scottish Government is to encourage apprenticeship delivery in island and rural communities. As part of that, we introduced a rural uplift for modern apprenticeship delivery, which is an increased payment for training providers, to encourage provision in island and rural areas. In addition, travel and subsistence support, including accommodation funding, is also available to support apprentices where they have to attend formal off-the-job training outwith normal daily travel, if required as part of the MA framework.
The member’s constituency is home to one of the most celebrated rural apprenticeship successes in the shape of Marc Ingram, who works at Blair Drummond Smiddy. Marc was the 2024 Scottish apprentice of the year and is an amazing young man whose journey highlights the incredible transformative impact that an apprenticeship can have on someone’s life.
I have received requests for supplementary questions from three members. I intend to take all three.
Concerns remain that some schools allegedly advise as many young people as possible to go to university, even when an apprenticeship or graduate apprenticeship would provide better prospects.
Given the chronic shortage of construction and engineering workers, for example, what steps are being taken, in partnership with schools, to encourage more young people to take up an apprenticeship?
There is no doubt that the problem that Kenny Gibson highlights exists. I have visited many schools where the culture is very much as we would want it to be when it comes to promoting the full range of career paths, but that is not always the case, as I have heard directly from young people.
The work that is under way in the careers space through the careers collaborative is designed to ensure that, in all our education settings—not only schools but colleges and universities as well—there is a full and complete offering to young people of opportunities to pursue careers.
We have an issue around construction, which Kenny Gibson mentioned. There is, for example, a disconnect between the number of young people who go to college to do construction-related courses and the number who then go into the construction sector. I offer Kenny Gibson the reassurance that we are very much alive to that issue.
On the same theme, yesterday, Alan Wilson of Scotland’s electrical trade body, SELECT, warned that
“Scotland absolutely must not be left behind when it comes to apprenticeship funding.”
That is how he feels. He highlighted the emergence of a two-tier system. Funding for electrical apprentices in England stands at £23,000, and in Scotland it is £8,000. It is three times more in England. He is right to say that we need electricians here and now, that we will need electricians in the future, and that a two-tier system is totally unacceptable.
With a 30 per cent real-terms cut over seven years—by his calculation—and no increase in funding in that time, does the minister accept that those warnings are real, and will he now act to close that unacceptable gap?
I am very much alive to the competing arguments for funding in the post-16 education space. I regularly hear asks for an increase in the payment rates, but I also hear asks for increases in all sorts of other spend in that area. Through the reform work, we are trying to look very closely at the needs of the economy and to prioritise those sectors. As part of that work, we will, in due course, look at the payment rates, but I cannot stand here today and say that we will suddenly magic up a pot of money to address the issue, although I take the point on board.
Construction apprenticeships are essential and there is demand for them. However, in my South Scotland region there are two areas that we must work on. The first is to better link employers and colleges to agree numbers in order to meet the skills gap. Secondly, local qualification courses are a real barrier in rural areas, and long distances mean that we lose apprentices early on because of the difficulty in accessing courses. What can be done to address those issues?
I would always encourage the training providers, whether in the private or public sector, to have a relationship with employers and trade bodies in order to understand demand. However, I say gently that one of the issues is an expectation that courses will be provided in every locality, when those who seek the courses cannot provide the critical mass of students to go to that college, or a pipeline that allows the college to create and sustain an offering.
Therefore, I encourage an open dialogue between those sectors and the local colleges in particular. However, there must be a realistic starting point, with the numbers required to create and sustain the courses.
I note that the member who lodged question 2 is not here. I expect an explanation and an apology.
For question 3, I call Katy Clark.
Children in Care (Exclusion from School)
To ask the Scottish Government what it plans to do to ensure that children in care are not excluded from school, as set out in the Promise. (S6O-04860)
Schools and local authorities need to do all that they can to ensure that children and young people are included, engaged and involved in their education.
More than £60 million has been provided to local authorities through the care-experienced children and young people fund as part of the Scottish attainment challenge. We are working with Education Scotland and local government to improve the educational outcomes of care-experienced children and young people. The Government also continues to provide £100,000 of annual funding to CELCIS to support the facilitation of the virtual school headteachers and care-experienced teams network, which is playing a key role in reducing exclusions.
Our national policy on exclusion has a strong focus on approaches that can be used to prevent the need for exclusion. Exclusion should be the last resort and, when used, it should be a proportionate response where there is no appropriate alternative.
Can the minister outline how he believes that it will be possible to address on-going exclusions from school of care-experienced children, given the harm that it does to their lives? Does he believe that a legislative solution through the Government’s Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill, which seeks to fulfil the Promise, will be possible, or does he believe that other strategies will be effective?
I note Katy Clark’s long-standing interest in this matter, which she has raised in the chamber previously.
The Scottish Government has been working in close partnership with Education Scotland and partners, including the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, to consider the calls for action that are made in the Promise. That work has resulted in the development of the Promise in education framework, which seeks to support the improvement of the educational outcomes of care-experienced children and young people. Such improvement will include reducing exclusions. All of that is aligned with the asks that are in the Promise.
Before the framework was fully developed, it was tested in local authority settings. Initial feedback from local authorities was largely positive, but further testing is to be done. I expect that the findings of the recent Who Cares? Scotland report, which were quite concerning, will provide fresh impetus to the work that is happening on exclusions.
A review of national guidance on exclusions will also get under way later this summer, and I am sure that the intersection of exclusions and care-experienced children will feature prominently in that activity.
The minister mentioned the Who Cares? Scotland report. I agree that its findings are deeply concerning, given that, although the Promise aimed to end the practice of excluding care-experienced children, those children are nearly six times more likely to be excluded than their peers. The use of extremely limited timetables as a method of avoiding formal exclusion is also unacceptable, especially as it begets non-attendance, increases stigma and enhances mental health issues.
In its 2025 report, the Promise oversight board stated that
“school exclusions, reduced timetables and non-attendance can be interlinked. Data sets must be connected to give a clearer picture of what young people need in order to thrive.”
Is the Scottish Government collating that interlinked data? If so, when will it be published? If not, what steps is it taking to facilitate that important information?
I hope that the member recognises that that is not my particular area of responsibility, so I will ask the relevant minister to write back to her.
I am quite pleased to hear that she is concerned about exclusions, because we regularly hear from the Conservative benches a demand for a greater number of exclusions. There seems to be a slight disconnect in the Conservatives’ positioning on that. However, she makes a fair point, and I will ask the minister to write to her.
The use of 15-minute timetables—that is, 15 minutes per day—to avoid formal exclusion is simply tokenistic. Third sector bodies have been clear that there are instances where that occurs in many parts of the country without the young person having appropriate wraparound support for the rest of the day.
Can the minister provide us with a guarantee that that will be thoroughly investigated, to ensure that care-experienced young people get the educational support that they deserve?
The chief inspector of education is currently looking at that issue. The cabinet secretary is well aware of the problems that Mr Rennie has highlighted, and we will undertake to write to him with a further update on what is happening.
Question 4 has not been lodged.
Children with Disabilities and Additional Support Needs (Holiday Hub Provision)
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of holiday hub provision for children with disabilities and additional support needs in the city of Edinburgh and elsewhere in Scotland. (S6O-04863)
We have published a series of national evaluations on the impact of school holiday activities and childcare. The evaluations show positive impacts for children and their families, including improved confidence and skills development. Reports highlight that it is important for services to be inclusive and delivered by staff with the right skills and experience. I very much recognise that more needs to be done to improve the experiences of disabled children and those with additional support needs. That is why we have invested an additional £1 million this financial year to support the delivery of holiday play schemes and activity provision for disabled children.
I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. It is good to hear about the evaluations and investment.
As the Parliament is aware, there has been a notable rise, in recent years, in the number of children identified as having additional support needs. It is my understanding that councils have a statutory duty under the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 to provide out-of-school and holiday care for children with disabilities and additional support needs. However, a number of parents in my constituency and elsewhere have raised concerns with me that the level of provision that is available is inadequate to meet their children’s needs. That concern is especially pressing as we approach the school summer holidays. Councillor Euan Hyslop has been raising the issue with the City of Edinburgh Council administration. Will the cabinet secretary say a bit more about how she is considering the issue nationally and engaging with councils at this time?
I thank Mr Macpherson for raising what is a hugely important issue. He rightly puts on the record the increase that we have seen in recent years in the number of pupils with an identified additional support need. Part of that relates to the broader definitions that we, as a Government, have taken forward for good reason, but I recognise the implications that that has for support.
On local authorities’ responsibility, there is a duty on local authorities, under section 27 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995, to provide out-of-school care “as is appropriate” for children in need. That provision might be subject to assessment, but the question whether out-of-school care is appropriate for a child’s particular strengths and needs is a matter for the local authority.
To Mr Macpherson’s substantive point, I note that we are beginning to work with partners across local government to better understand the range of approaches that our councils are taking to implement those statutory duties. We are working through an improvement lens, which has been identifying the opportunities to strengthen existing approaches across local authorities. I am more than happy to ask my officials to engage with the City of Edinburgh Council on the issue that Mr Macpherson has raised today.
I associate myself with the comments of Ben Macpherson. The way in which the council has handled the issue has been totally unacceptable. Parents and families are rightly angry that they have been left in the dark. We are now heading into the summer holidays, and children with severe medical complex needs, disabilities or life-limiting conditions should have the right to access holiday hub provision. There are often few opportunities for them to participate otherwise. What national guidance is the Government developing with councils on this issue? I did not hear that in the cabinet secretary’s answer. Does she recognise that the City of Edinburgh Council is finding it difficult as the lowest-funded council in Scotland?
Mr Briggs is absolutely right to say that parents should not be left in the dark in that regard, particularly at this point in the academic year. I gave an undertaking to Mr Macpherson that I would ask officials to engage directly with the City of Edinburgh Council to that end.
At the current time, as I set out previously, the legal obligation rests with local authorities. Miles Briggs asked about national guidance, but, because of their statutory responsibilities, guidance is a matter for local authorities. However, I am more than happy to speak to officials about whether there is an opportunity for us to consider producing national guidance to supplement that and, to Miles Briggs’s specific point, to press forward with engagement with the City of Edinburgh Council and the challenges in that regard.
On funding more broadly, the Government provided additionality to local authorities such as Edinburgh through the budget negotiation process. That was a key ask. There was £29 million for additional support needs, yet Miles Briggs’s party voted against that.
Further to the answers that the cabinet secretary has already given, which I am grateful for, would not national guidance on the definition of “appropriate” in section 27 of the 1995 act resolve some of the challenges, because, in essence, there is a postcode lottery as to what “appropriate” means?
I will not give Mr Whitfield a definitive answer on that today, because the existing legislation very much speaks to the statutory responsibilities of local authorities, as I have set out to Mr Macpherson. I am happy to take further advice from officials in relation to the potential for national guidance to strengthen the position, recognising the concerns that have quite rightly been raised by members today.
People with Hearing and Sight Difficulties (Awareness in Schools)
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to supporting schools to raise awareness of, and provide the required assistance to, people with hearing and sight difficulties. (S6O-04864)
The Requirements for Teachers (Scotland) Regulations 2005 require education authorities to ensure that teachers who are employed to teach hearing and visually impaired pupils hold an appropriate qualification. Work is under way with partners to update the qualifications guidance. That will ensure that education authorities and teaching professionals have clear, up-to-date information on the appropriate qualifications that are required to support pupils effectively, enhancing the proficiency of this specialist area of the workforce.
The Scottish Government also funds the Scottish Sensory Centre and CALL Scotland to provide advice and training to school staff, including in the use of assistive technology for pupils with specific and/or complex communication and sensory needs.
The most recent census data shows that the number of pupils who are recorded as having a vision impairment has doubled since 2011. At the same time, the number of qualified teachers of children and young people with vision impairment has not increased sufficiently, and additional concerns have been expressed about the ageing profile of the workforce. What action is the Scottish Government taking to address the specialist teacher recruitment and training shortage, to ensure that blind and partially sighted pupils continue to receive the quality education that is necessary to reach positive destinations and to narrow the attainment gap with their fully sighted peers?
I thank Michelle Thomson for raising a hugely important issue. It is worth recounting that, under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004, all teachers have a role in meeting the additional support needs of their pupils, including those with visual impairments. In addition, specialist teachers who are qualified teachers of children and young people with visual impairments work collaboratively with colleagues in mainstream education settings to meet the individual learning goals of pupils with visual impairments. In 2023-24, 90.2 per cent of mainstream secondary school leavers receiving support for a visual impairment were in a positive destination nine months after leaving school.
To answer the member’s substantive point, we recognise that the increase in the number of pupils with visual impairments presents challenges for schools. That is why, as I said in my answer to the previous question, the Government prioritised £29 million of additional funding in the 2025-26 budget for local and national programmes to support the recruitment, retention and training of the ASN workforce.
College Funding (Business Needs)
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tailor funding to colleges to ensure that they are providing courses to meet the needs of businesses in an ever changing world. (S6O-04865)
The Scottish Funding Council is responsible for allocating funding to colleges in line with ministerial priorities, as set out in the SFC’s annual letter of guidance. Colleges are responsible for determining their own operational decisions, including course provision. I expect colleges to engage with employers and local partners to understand skills needs and to continuously plan and adjust their curriculum to meet the emerging needs of the economy. The post-school education and skills reform programme aims to make further improvements. The 2025-26 budget allocates £656.2 million in resource funding to colleges, which is a 2 per cent uplift on 2024-25.
North East Scotland College is adapting to ensure that we have the people to meet the needs of business and the energy transition. Does the minister share my view that funding to colleges also needs to adapt to recognise the changes that are taking place so that we meet our net zero ambitions to achieve a just transition and to build a workforce for the future? Does that mean that ministerial priorities and what ministers say to the Scottish Funding Council also need to change to meet those needs?
NESCol is an excellent example of a college adapting to the net zero transition. It collaborates closely with regional and national employers to meet the needs of the energy transition.
To support the sector at large to tailor its courses, the Scottish Funding Council has established a curriculum transformation framework that allows colleges to use their funding more flexibly to respond to local needs and demands. The college tripartite alignment group heard this morning that there has been a fair degree of interest from institutions in taking that opportunity. I hope that an enlightened and forward-looking college such as NESCol would be among those.
On the point about priorities, I have had extensive conversations with colleges, including this morning. It is clear that a large number of colleges are seeking to change their offering and to align it to the changing needs of their local economy. We will do everything that we can to support them to achieve that.
Last week, the Education, Children and Young People Committee heard from the University of the Highlands and Islands. We discussed the top slice that it takes from its local colleges such as Moray, which accounts for about £15 million that goes into the central executive office every year. However, those colleges have a deficit of about £11 million, so that money would make a huge difference to them. What does the minister think about the future of that top slice from colleges’ budgets, and what discussion has he had internally, and externally with the University of the Highlands and Islands, about it?
As we have had an exchange on this before, Douglas Ross will know that I have been encouraging the reform work that the UHI has been doing, which is being driven from the bottom up. There is a need to ensure that the UHI, as a concept, has a sustainable long-term future, notwithstanding the financial and other challenges that it has. I am aware of the exchange on that very subject that Douglas Ross had with the principal of the UHI at the committee meeting. I expect that, as part of the on-going work—which has taken an extended period of time to get right—the UHI will look at how it can make best use of the financial resources that are provided to it, because I recognise the criticism that is made in that regard.
The principal of Glasgow Kelvin College told the Education, Children and Young People Committee last week that the college is now having to turn away two out of every three applicants. That is happening in Glasgow, a city with high levels of deprivation where employers are crying out for skilled workers. The committee also heard that 40 per cent of the college’s students come from Scotland’s most deprived areas. Why does the minister think that a college in one of our largest cities is being forced to turn away the majority of its applicants? Does he think that that is acceptable? What could he do so that colleges do not have to do that in the future?
As ever, Pam Duncan-Glancy brings problems, never solutions. Both she and I are well aware of the challenges in the college sector in Glasgow and elsewhere. I will say to her what I said a moment ago about the on-going work through the tripartite alignment group—of which the principal of Glasgow Kelvin College is a member—to best equip colleges to tailor their offering to the needs of their student cohort.
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I apologise to you and the chamber for not being here to ask question 2, my portfolio question on education and skills.
Thank you, Mr Stewart. That is not a point of order. Nonetheless, I thank you for your apology. There was no clarification as to whether it was a lift issue, a dog-eating-the-homework issue or something else. [Laughter.] I highly recommend that Mr Stewart—and, indeed, all members—take a daily glance at the Scottish Parliament’s Business Bulletin. It is always a useful thing to do.
With that, I thank the minister and conclude the portfolio session on education and skills. There will be a short pause before we move on to the next item of business in order to allow front-bench teams to change positions.