Current status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Ben Macpherson on 12 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with Scotland’s colleges to support their future success and sustainability as a sector.
The Scottish Government recognises the crucial role that colleges play in our country and the challenges faced by the sector in recent years, as set out in reports by Audit Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council in September 2025. The 2026-27 budget provides the college sector with a combined increase of £70 million in resource and capital funding, equivalent to a 10 per cent uplift on last year’s budget, and is a clear signal of this Scottish Government’s commitment to the sector.
While a number of the issues facing colleges have been discussed and progressed through the work of the College Tripartite arrangement, there is broad consensus that a bolder sector and system wide approach is now needed to secure a strong and sustainable future, and enable the college sector to play its full part in the new landscape created by the reformed tertiary education funding system.
We announce from today an ambitious, short-life workstream to design and deliver a college sector suitable to support the skills needs of Scotland, economically and socially, both in the shorter-term and in the future. This workstream, which has been co-designed with Colleges Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council, will draw on the views and ideas of college leaders, lecturers and professional service staff, trade unions, learners of today and tomorrow, businesses and employers, and independent experts. It will challenge the status quo and design and deliver recommendations to Ministers, setting out actions, initiatives and policies for all parties to consider and take forward.
The first phase will synthesise previous reports and reviews, alongside other learning from the sector and more widely, to build on previous successes, lessons and evaluations.
With a strong regional emphasis, priority will also be given to identifying early adopter initiatives that can showcase new and innovative ways for the sector to collaborate to support learners and regional needs more effectively and efficiently, and to contribute to the aims of the Scottish Government’s public sector reform programme.
This activity is a partnership between the Scottish Government, Colleges Scotland, the Scottish Funding Council, and crucially, the people who need, rely on and deliver learning and skills opportunities all across Scotland.
The Scottish Government looks forward to working closely with a wide range of stakeholders and with colleagues across the Scottish Parliament on this important next step for the sector. Further details will be made available as the work progresses.