Chamber and committees

All applications received for the current 2023-24 Dyslexia and Inclusive Practice GTCS Professional Recognition Programme that met the required entry criteria, were given a place. The number of places on the current programme were increased to meet demand.

As with all GTCS accredited Professional Recognition Programmes not all participants complete a programme and achieve the award for different reasons. This may be due to personal circumstances, changes in roles and, or, remits that impact on the participants engagement with the programme. It can also occur when a participant’s submission of evidence does not meet the required standard to achieve GTCS Professional Recognition.

The Scottish Government home education guidance sets out the legal position on home education and provides advice on the roles and responsibilities of local authorities and parents in relation to children who are home educated.

This guidance is currently in the process of being updated following consultation with local authorities, other public, community and voluntary sector bodies and home educators and their relevant representative bodies. Scottish Government will engage further with stakeholders part of this process and we expect the publication of the refreshed home education guidance to be later this year. Officials will ensure that stakeholders and the public will be notified of the publication date.

We are engaging with a range of stakeholders including local authority employers, university providers and the teaching unions to work collectively to raise the profile of teaching as a highly rewarding career.

Work is ongoing and we would expect to confirm a set of actions by the end of this academic year.

The initiation of a systematic curriculum improvement cycle announced on 12 December 2023, stems from the OECD 2021 report “Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence: Into the Future” and its specific recommendation for Scotland to "develop a systematic approach to curriculum review” which was accepted by Scottish Government.

Prior to the announcement in December, the Curriculum and Assessment Board, which includes a range of stakeholders including the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland, the Educational Institute of Scotland, leading academics, and the Scottish Qualifications Authority, had already considered and offered views on a range of papers in relation to taking forward a systematic curriculum review cycle in Scotland.

The minutes of Curriculum and Assessment Board meetings are available at: https://www.gov.scot/groups/curriculum-and-assessment-board/

The Teacher Workforce Planning Advisory Group figures are indicative and are provided by universities at the start of the academic session. The Higher Education Statistics Agency will publish official data for 2022-23 in April 2024. These will provide the most accurate figures on enrolments into modern language Initial Teacher Education programmes.

This data will help to inform the work of the Strategic Board for Teacher Education on improving recruitment to hard to fill subjects, such as modern languages.

The Scottish Government and Scottish Funding Council have also offered to work with universities to develop alternative routes into subjects which are classified as a priority subjects, including modern languages.

We continue to work with partners on the development of a digital strategy for education.

I have greatly valued discussions with the OECD to date and my next meeting with the OECD is scheduled for Wednesday 21 February.

Decline in applications for teaching bursaries can be for many reasons, including a fall in the overall number of applications for the PGDE courses in bursary eligible subjects.

We are engaging with a range of stakeholders including local authority employers, university providers and the teaching unions to work collectively to raise the profile of teaching as a highly rewarding career.

As you will be aware, the scheme was extended in 2023 to include Gaelic as a secondary subject, and Gaelic medium across all secondary subjects and in primary.

The Scottish Government is unaware of any such claims.