The national facilities are quite unique in that they serve a relatively small number of pupils. It would be remiss of me not to say that. However, our schools often have ASN units. In my constituency, one high school has a department for additional support, for example. Parents quite often vote with their feet by sending their child to the DAS unit in that local school, because they know that it has trained staff with the necessary expertise that allows their child to experience mainstream education but also get additional support in that facility. I see many schools undertaking very similar approaches, and PEF money allows some of them to employ additional staff in order to deliver such support.

You mentioned approaches in Glasgow. I would be keen to hear more detail from you on that. I do not know whether you can write to me. I am conscious of the time, but I am keen to understand the issues that you highlight, which are, I suppose, the same as those that I get in my inbox when parents feel frustrated that things have not worked out and have had to take action against the local authority because they are not getting the right support. If that has escalated to tribunal, that is very challenging and it should not be happening.

One of the ways in which we could consider that work is through a national stage intervention model, which we are looking at. That would provide greater consistency nationally in how local authorities work. The expectations of parents and children of how their needs should be met would provide for much more consistency. I do not want to say too much more on that today, because we have the review that I have committed to that will consider those issues in the round. However, Mr Mason’s point about consistency is important.

There is variance across the education system. That is the nature of having 32 councils run our schools, but there could be an approach at the national level that provides for greater consistency through a staged approach to interventions for our children and young people with identified additional support needs.

I am not necessarily apprised of a differential in socioeconomic background at Donaldson’s particularly, but I am happy to take that away and interrogate the data with officials, because that is certainly not the position that we should be supporting at national level.

Yes, it is.

I am more than happy to engage with them, convener. I would, however, put on the record that the site for the new school is a matter for the local authority. It is not for me, as cabinet secretary, to come in and tread on the toes of local government. I am, however, happy to have that engagement, convener.

Good morning. The year 2025 is proving to be a landmark one in Scottish education. Children in our primary and secondary schools are achieving record levels in literacy and numeracy. Crucially, the poverty-related gap in attainment in literacy and numeracy between children from the most and the least deprived communities is at a record low level.

Attendance of children and young people has increased, with the attendance rate reaching 91 per cent in 2024-25. Thanks to our additional investment in this year’s budget, we have seen an increase in the number of teachers in Scotland’s classrooms, an improvement in the pupil-to-teacher ratio and a reduction in average class size. The evidence demonstrates that our focus on the ABCs—attendance, attainment, behaviour and curriculum—is working. It also demonstrates the commitment to equity in our schools, thanks to the transformational impact of the Scottish attainment challenge over the past decade.

Progress continues to be made on widening access to higher education. The latest Universities and Colleges Admissions Service data in 2025 shows continuing positive trends, such as the number of 18-year-olds accepted from the most deprived areas having increased to 2,200 since the 2024 cycle. That is a record high, with young people choosing to study in Scotland, supported by Scotland’s continued commitment to free tuition. There was also a positive picture for entrants to further and higher education who are care experienced or have a disability.

How we support children in their earliest years and ensure that no child is left behind is key to enabling more children and young people to succeed at school and beyond. The number of children in care is now at the lowest level since 2006. Every three and four-year-old and more than 230,000 children in primaries 1 to 5 are entitled to a free school meal, and we have expanded entitlement in primary 6 and 7 and into secondary 1 to 3. This year, we have awarded £3 million to 490 breakfast clubs, which has helped to establish 142 new clubs, created almost 9,000 places and supported up to 20,000 children.

However, I fully acknowledge that more work can always be done and that challenges remain. The proportion of eligible two-year-olds who are registered for early learning and childcare has fallen nationally, which is disappointing. Our investment in an Improvement Service project in five local authority areas seeks to address barriers and apply what works across Scotland.

Attendance is improving, but still too many children are persistently absent from school, which is why Education Scotland continues to run its improving attendance quality improvement programme, and I have tasked the interim chief inspector of education with ensuring that persistent absence is addressed in every school inspection.

New data shows that 43 per cent of our children and young people have additional support needs. Addressing that is a priority, and I set out more on that in my statement to the Parliament last week. I also recognise the financial challenges that colleges and universities face, and my officials continue to work closely with the sector to support them where we can.

I anticipate that the budget process will be challenging for the Scottish Government as a whole. In that context, there is strong delivery on our work to give children the best start in life. It is supported by this year’s £4.3 billion investment in education and skills, which is a £123 million uplift on the previous year. That should be celebrated but also protected.

My ministers and I welcome the opportunity to discuss those achievements and challenges with you this morning.

There are challenges in that space. We must consider the historical position of lots of different organisations. Today, I am in front of you as education secretary, but I am mindful that the issue is not only about, for example, teachers reporting potential examples of abuse happening in schools; it also involves social work, and police have a role to play. We need to be mindful of the different parts of Government that mandatory reporting would affect.

Andrew Watson might want to say more about some of the background on mandatory reporting, but I put on the record that ministers support it in principle, which is important. Andrew, do you want to add anything further?

Yes, I am aware of that. However, I was not aware of the internal dialogue between the chief social worker and Alexis Jay, which I heard about in this morning’s evidence session.

As I understand it, there was not a debate from Alexis Jay in relation to the approach she sought, which, I believe, was to amend the minutes—I should say, convener, that I did not catch the entirety of the evidence session, so I would be happy to write to the committee with more detail on that point if that would be helpful. As I understood it at the time, Professor Alexis Jay’s preferred route was, following her engagement on that matter with the chief social work adviser, a clarification in the minutes.

I will check my briefing on that exact point and on the exact wording, because I want to be accurate. Given what we are talking about, that is important. I am happy to write to the committee in more detail in that regard.

That petition has been on-going for a number of years and involves a number of different individuals. We are actively looking at the petitioners’ asks. We note that the Scottish child abuse inquiry has looked to undertake a much more extensive review of child protection policy, and the petition is linked to that. As I understand it, the inquiry will report on its recommendations in due course. I am mindful of that and of the whistleblowing petition. Andrew Watson might want to say more about officials’ engagement on that specific issue.

Yes, I do.