Chamber and committees

Young Scot are provided with core funding from the Scottish Government. The funding comes from the Children's Rights team and the Health Inequalities team. They have received £975,000 annually since 2014.

The Scottish Youth Parliament are provided with core funding through the Scottish Government’s Children Young People and Families Early Intervention & Adult Learning and Empowering Communities (CYPFEI & ALEC) Fund. This fund is administered by the CORRA Foundation on behalf of Scottish Ministers. They received £325,000 in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 and received £341,250 in 2022 and 2023.

The information requested relates to Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) data and is not held by the Scottish Government.

SQA has advised that this information is available on their website, including historical data for all courses including those specifically listed. The data can be accessed at https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/105159.html .

As Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills I engage with the SQA and Education Scotland regularly on a range of business, including on education reform. This involves meetings with the SQA Chair and Chief Executive and with Education Scotland’s Interim Chief Executive. Additionally, I have undertaken direct engagement with staff in both organisations, by attending an all-staff session with SQA on 4 September 2023 and an Education Scotland all-staff event on 22 August 2023.

The Scottish Government announced the launch of the Young Person’s Guarantee in November 2020, with the aim to protect young people against the immediate economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Between November 2020 and March 2023, 1019 employers have signed up to the Young Person’s Guarantee, offering 35,790 opportunities to 16-24 years olds in Scotland.

Decisions by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) on the 2023 appeals service were informed by extensive feedback on the 2022 services from the wider education community - including over 3,500 learners, parents, carers, and practitioners, as well as school, college, local authority and teacher and lecturer union representatives on the National Qualifications 2023 Group and SQA’s Advisory Council.

The evaluation of the feedback (as at https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/105647.12132.html ) identified a number of themes in relation to the 2022 service, including that the majority of respondents were concerned about issues relating to perceptions of fairness and equity.

Following careful consideration of these views, the appeals service for 2023 was aligned with the service used before the pandemic, with important enhancements. The service continued to be free and was available to all learners to appeal directly to SQA and, unlike in 2022, the service was available regardless of a learner’s estimate.

The approach taken is comparable with other appeals services in the rest of the UK and internationally.

As with all SQA policy decisions, a full Equalities Impact Assessment was undertaken in relation to the 2023 appeals process. This can be accessed at: https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/files_ccc/eqia-nq-2023-assessment.pdf .

As outlined in the Programme for Government, the Scottish Government is committed to implementing reform of our national education bodies as part of a holistic approach to education and skills reform, building on the recommendations of recent independent reports. An update on plans will be provided to Parliament in the Autumn.

We are committed to reducing the cost of school uniform and supporting families so that every child in Scotland can attend school feeling comfortable, confident, and ready to learn.

The Scottish Government, in partnership with local authorities, has already delivered on our commitment to increase the level of school clothing grant in Scotland. This vital support for families has increased to at least £120 for eligible primary school pupils and £150 for eligible secondary school pupils. As part of action to further reduce the cost of the school day for families, we have committed through the 2023-24 Programme for Government to increase funding to local authorities for school clothing grant in the next financial year.

To further support families, we will introduce national guidance on school uniform. This will support schools to work with families to develop and implement affordable and sustainable uniform and clothing policies that recognise the individual needs, circumstances and identities of all pupils. It is anticipated that the guidance will be published in spring 2024.

These measures are being taken forward as part of our wider action to tackle child poverty and protect people as much as possible during the ongoing cost of living crisis.

SQA’s approach to grading the exams in 2023 was based on its established awarding processes. Using ‘grade boundaries’ – the marks needed to achieve an A, B or C grade in each course – SQA checked that each assessment was set at the right standard or level of difficulty.

During the grade boundary setting process, SQA appointees – experienced course teachers and lecturers who are subject experts in each course – determined the grade boundaries by looking at all the available assessment evidence and course information, including the impact disruption and course modifications had on how young people performed in the assessments. For example, I understand that evidence indicated there had been particular challenges seen across the cohort around developing listening skills in modern languages. In recognition of this, adjustments were made to grade boundaries.

This process ensured fairness for this year’s students while maintaining national standards. Adjustments to grade boundaries were smaller this year than in 2022, reflecting the continuing recovery in skills, knowledge and understanding on the part of students.

I have met with all the trade unions representing staff at both the SQA and Education Scotland. Most recently, I met with SQA unions on 13 September, and with Education Scotland unions on 14 September. In addition, my officials are in regular contact with staff and unions at both bodies on matters related to reform.

The Teacher Workforce Planning Advisory Group (TWPAG) considerations are based on an annual statistical model which estimates the number of ITE students required to achieve particular pupil teacher ratios. TWPAG includes representatives from local authority employers, as well as university providers of ITE, teacher unions and the General Teaching Council for Scotland.

TWPAG’s considerations are based on annual statistical model which estimates the number of ITE students required to maintain pupil teacher ratios. This model is based on a number of inputs including projections about the number of pupils in the system, churn in teacher numbers (for example recruitment, maternity leave, retirements, returners,) and the retention rates of ITE students.

To ensure effective and evidence-informed longer-term teacher workforce planning, the Scottish Government has commissioned an external analysis and research exercise that will bring together a range of factors including current teacher numbers, pupil teacher ratios and the projected decline in the number of school-aged children. This analysis will inform decisions on education workforce planning for future years.