Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government funded Scottish Education Exchange Programme test and learn project enables Scottish colleges and universities to re-establish some of the opportunities Erasmus+ provided, which the UK Government Turing Scheme does not. In particular, to encourage the development of partnerships between institutions that could enable staff and inward exchanges.

The test and learn project has been developed with stakeholders from across the sector. Feedback from institutions to the working group has been positive and we have committed to working collaboratively on the project moving forward.

The project focuses on closing the shortfall between the UK Government Turing Scheme and Erasmus+. In year 1 the project did not directly fund any student exchanges. Institutions prioritised staff mobility projects supporting the development of sustainable partnerships.

Projects in year 2 of the test and learn are providing opportunities for disadvantaged students from Scotland, who are excluded from the UK Government Turing Scheme, to undertake an exchange.

These projects are live. Details of the number of students who participated will be shared after the projects conclude in March 2025.

Additional information on the Scottish Education Exchange Programme projects can be found on the Scottish Government website. Link

The Scottish Government funds the School Library Improvement Fund which has provided £1.85m of funding to support improvement in library provision across Scotland since 2017.

The Scottish Government is working with partners and stakeholders to reconvene the School Libraries Education and Policy Working Group to build on the success of the National School Library Strategy – Vibrant Libraries, Thriving Schools at a national level.

Trainee educational psychologists enrol as students and do not have an employment contract. Students are allocated a placement in Local Authorities to gain experience and to gather evidence so that they can complete their coursework. The grant for educational psychologist trainees, in addition to tuition fee funding, is not income assessed and is provided to help towards living costs associated with studying.

In Scotland trainee clinical psychologists are recruited through a UK clearing house system to NHS employment on nationally evaluated NHS Agenda for Change band 6 job roles in common with their peers across the UK. NHS Education for Scotland provides funding for salaries to NHS Scotland Boards via service level agreements and funding for fees to university programme providers. The training is a three year postgraduate doctoral programme and Clinical Psychology trainees provide clinical services during training as part of supervised and assessed practice, including contributing to the NHS Scotland Psychological Therapies waiting time standards.

In partnership, the Scottish Government and COSLA provide £2m investment per year to deliver the training programme for educational psychologists.

The Scottish Government assessed all of these options in reaching the conclusion to locate the accreditation functions in Qualifications Scotland. This involved seeking the views of a range of organisations and stakeholders, which included the Scottish Funding Council and the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) Partnership.

The key factors considered as part of this assessment included: the need to ensure appropriate independence from ministers, alongside suitable governance, accountability and operational arrangements for the accreditation function and any other functions it shares a body with; the need to avoid misaligned priorities between functions and not introduce any confusion between these; the need to avoid creating new and complex conflicts of interest and disrupting other parts of the system; and the need to retain existing benefits of other functions in the system, such as the charitable and independent status of the SCQF Partnership.

Across all these options there were a number of shared factors that influenced the decision not to locate the function in any of these bodies. This included the levels of staff disruption particularly with staff terms, conditions and employment status; costs; the available resource and capacity of organisations to absorb such a function compared to Qualifications Scotland; and planned reviews, such as the Skills Delivery Landscape Review, that created uncertainty over other functions managed by Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council.

The Scottish Government is working with partners in the North-East of Scotland on a pilot to evaluate the impact of Free School Meal data sharing on university admissions. Partner organisations leading on the work are Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeenshire Council, Robert Gordon University and the University of Aberdeen.

Partners are currently finalising the necessary data protection impact assessments in order to begin data sharing in early 2025. Plans for evaluation of the pilot are currently being finalised with evaluation to take place later in 2025.

There are a number of potential supports available to young disabled people living in Scotland, depending on their individual needs, circumstances and eligibility. These include: the Independent Living Fund; the Independent Living Fund Transition Fund; the Independent Living Fund Technology Grant; Adult Disability Payment; and Young Scot National Entitlement Card.

Young disabled people who choose to study a course of Further Education or Higher Education are also eligible to apply for Additional Support Needs for Learning Allowance and the Disabled Students Allowance respectively.

ILF Scotland operate two funds that support disabled people: the Independent Living Fund which pays on-going weekly awards to disabled people to help them live more independently; and the Transition Fund which pays grants to disabled young people to support them with the transition to adulthood.

Previously, young people who were eligible could make second and subsequent applications to the Transition Fund. Since 1 January 2024, once an applicant has been successful in gaining a Transition Fund grant they are not able to apply again. This does not include receiving a Technology Grant for an IT device, which applicants can receive in addition to a full grant.

Young people who meet the criteria are also able to apply for support from the Independent Living Fund. If an application to the Independent Living Fund is not successful the applicant may reapply if they meet the criteria.

In July 2024, Scottish Government commissioned Public Health Scotland (PHS) to deliver the Fracture Liaison Services (FLS) Audit. PHS are actively recruiting to the posts required to deliver it.

The costs associated with establishing an identity for Qualifications Scotland were set out in the Financial Memorandum that accompanied the Education (Scotland) Bill and were the best estimate available at the time.

A cost relating to the creation of an identity of a new public body will always be incurred and Qualifications Scotland is no exception. I requested that my officials look at ways to bear down on costs where possible while still delivering an identity for Qualifications Scotland. I can confirm that officials have been working closely with the SQA on this, to ensure that value for money for taxpayers is achieved.

Data on Fracture Liaison Service referrals across Scotland are not centrally held by the Scottish Government.