Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of all students in Scotland. We will shortly be publishing Scotland’s new Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy and, thereafter, actions to support students.

The budget for the Individual Training Accounts has been confirmed and the scheme is due to reopen on 19 June.

Scotland participates in the Programme for International Student Assessments (PISA), which is an assessment of 15 year olds' skills in maths, science and reading. It is carried out under the auspices of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and includes over 80 countries. The assessments take place every three years across all OECD members and variety of partner countries. Scotland has participated in all eight surveys since the first wave of testing in 2000.

The most recent PISA assessments took place in Scotland in October and November 2022, with over 3,000 15 year olds and nearly 120 schools participating. Scotland's results will be published alongside the international results in December 2023. The Scottish Government will publish a statistical report looking specifically at Scotland's results, with comparisons to OECD and UK countries, as well as time series results. The data will include internationally comparable data on maths, science and reading performance, alongside results of a background questionnaire answered by learners and headteachers.

The Scottish Government indicated in the Equality, Opportunity, Community: New leadership – a Fresh Start publication on 18 April 2023 that Scotland would seek to re-join the Trends in International Mathematics and Science (TIMSS) and Progress in International Reading Literacy (PIRLS) studies. The next PIRLS assessments will take place in 2026, with data published in 2027; with TIMSS assessments taking place in 2027 and published in 2028.

The Scottish Government also provides data on the education system in Scotland for the OECDs annual Education at a Glance publication, which is the authoritative source of data on the state of education around the world. The publication provides information on the structure, finances and performance of education systems across OECD countries and partner economies. This includes internationally comparable data on financial resources in education, teacher pay, working hours, professional development and organisation of schools.

We support our local authority partners with £16 million in funding to ensure that every secondary school has access to counselling services.

Local authorities provide six monthly reports to the Scottish Government on the impact and effectiveness of school counsellors. A summary of the reports is published on the Scottish Government website . The overall picture on improving children and young people’s outcomes is positive.

Officials are also working closely with the Counsellors Co-ordinators Network to ensure ongoing engagement with education authorities on the provision of school counsellors.

School counselling is just one of a range of services that schools may have in place to support the health, emotional and social needs of children and young people.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18598 on 15 June 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

Scottish Government has regular engagement with the main representative body of training providers in Scotland, Scottish Training Federation (STF). I am due to meet the STF Chief Executive in the coming weeks.

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) have regular meetings with individual training providers and the Scottish Training Federation. As an example, senior members of SDS’ National Training Programmes team met with the STF Chief Executive on Thursday 25 May to provide support and answer questions from members regarding various areas including contract awards. They will continue to follow up with STF members for any additional information and support which may be required.

Scottish Government and SDS will continue to engage with our apprenticeship providers across Scotland including colleges, universities and independent providers regarding any issues with apprenticeship contracts.

The Scottish and Welsh Governments last met in June 2023 to discuss opportunities for collaboration and sharing best practice across areas of mutual interest. This includes educational mobility and exchange programmes.

The 2023-24 budgets for employability programmes, including No One Left Behind and Fair Start Scotland were confirmed by the Deputy First Minister on 25 May, with Grant Offer Letters issued to local authorities on 30 May for No One Left Behind. The budget for Individual Training Accounts has now been confirmed and the scheme will re-open during the week commencing 19th June 2023.

We are currently considering the budget for the Flexible Workforce Development Fund in 2023-24 through colleges and the Open University in Scotland and will provide a further update once budget discussions have concluded.

As outlined in the answer to question S6W-18598 on 15 June 2023, the 2023-24 budget for skills and employability programmes has been confirmed.

The Scottish Government continues to offer free and impartial advice to all employers and individuals affected by redundancy through Partnership Action for Continuing Employment, PACE, which has local teams ready to respond quickly when situations arise and assist businesses to try and minimise the risk of redundancy before it happens.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The Scottish Government continues to offer free and impartial advice to all employers and individuals affected by redundancy through Partnership Action for Continuing Employment, PACE, which has local teams ready to respond quickly when situations arise and assist businesses to try and minimise the risk of redundancy before it happens.

As members of the PACE Partnership, STF will be familiar with the local support available to its members and the swift response it offers to support both employers and employees dealing with redundancy and working with them to try and minimise the risk of redundancy before it happens.