Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is taking forward a range of actions to develop and improve agricultural education, learning and skills during this Parliamentary session.

This includes implementing the recommendations of the independent Commission for the Land-Based Learning Review, all 22 of which were accepted or accepted in principle by the Scottish Government. In March 2026, the Scottish Government reported that actions relating to 14 recommendations had been completed, with work continuing on the remainder.

The Scottish Government is also supporting agricultural learning and skills development through Scotland’s Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS), including investment in the Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund, the Next Generation Practical Training Fund and the Land-Based Pre-Apprenticeship Programme. Together, these initiatives support vocational training, practical skills development and pathways into agricultural careers, helping to develop the skilled workforce needed by Scotland’s rural economy.

The Scottish Government also funds Lantra Scotland to promote careers, learning and skills development across the land-based sector.

National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) is part of the development plan and contains national planning policy. Policy 5 (soils) sets out policy on prime agricultural land and policy 11 (energy) sets out policy on renewable energy. NPF4 should be read and applied as a whole, alongside the relevant local development plan and other material considerations. Factors for and against development will be weighed up in the balance of planning judgement.

Our approach to expansion will involve working closely with local authorities, private and third sector providers, representative bodies and national skills bodies to ensure that workforce requirements are understood and addressed. This will include ensuring that the workforce has the knowledge, skills and support required to meet the needs of children with additional support needs and deliver high-quality, inclusive childcare provision.

Our approach to expansion will be informed by the lived experience of parent carers of disabled children, including those with complex additional support needs. We recognise that understanding the experiences of families is essential to ensuring that future childcare provision is accessible, inclusive and responsive to children's individual needs, and supports families to access the services they require.

It is for an applicant to accurately describe the proposed development, including whether it is for a mix of uses, such as renewable energy generation and agriculture, or for renewable energy alone. This will determine how the planning application is considered through the planning process.

In line with commitments in the Relationships and Behaviour in Schools Action Plan 2024–27, the next wave of the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research (BISSR) is currently underway and the final report will be published in early 2027.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) collects and publishes information on withdrawal rates and reasons for withdrawal for further (FE) and higher (HE) education students at college in their annual ‘College Student Outcomes’ release. https://www.sfc.ac.uk/publications/college-student-outcomes-2024-25/

Information is published by age band, for courses lasting 160 hours or more, but this is not split by HE or FE nor by the age bands requested. The release also contains some information on reason for withdrawal.

The Gatsby Benchmarks are a careers guidance framework used in England.

Careers support is devolved and the Gatsby Benchmarks do not form part of Scotland’s approach. While individual schools may choose to use the framework if they consider it useful, the Scottish Government does not collect or hold information on its use. Information on the number of schools using the Gatsby Benchmarks, or on any benchmark scores achieved, is therefore not held centrally.

Each school works with partners, including the school-based Skills Development Scotland (SDS) career adviser(s), to identify the pupils who are most at risk of not transitioning to a positive destination post-school such as further / higher education, training or employment. Factors that are taken into consideration include, but are not limited to, whether the young person is care-experienced; has caring responsibilities; has any health issues or disabilities; has additional support needs; or has interrupted learning. The school and partners then discuss and agree the appropriate support for each individual.

SDS are responsible for managing the 16+ Participation Portal, a secure online portal which tracks the status of young people aged 16-24. By sharing information between partners, including local authorities, colleges, the Scottish Funding Council, the Student Awards Agency for Scotland and the Department for Work and Pensions, SDS can identify those young people not in a positive destination and will proactively make contact with them to offer support.

It is the General Teaching Council for Scotland’s responsibility as the independent professional registration and regulatory body for teachers in Scotland, to ensure teaching standards are upheld. GTCS, local authorities and professional associations, operate with appropriate independence, which the Scottish Government respects. This autonomy is an important feature of a balanced and credible system. It sits alongside clear responsibilities under the Public Sector Equality Duty, which requires public authorities to exercise their functions in a way that advances equality, eliminates discrimination and fosters good relations between communities.