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Policy

Schools

From
Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills
Directorate
Learning Directorate, +1 more … Education Reform Directorate
Topic
Children and families, Education
Policy actions  4 of 12

National Improvement Framework (NIF)

We want to ensure children and young people develop a broad range of skills and capacities, whilst supporting them to thrive, regardless of their social circumstances or additional needs.

The National Improvement Framework (NIF) for Scottish education sets out the vision, key priorities and seven key educational outcomes for children and young people.

The 2025 improvement plan sets out the full details of the actions that will be taken to deliver the seven key outcomes of the NIF, the evidence to support them, and how we will measure progress. You can also find an update on progress with actions from the 2024 National Improvement Framework and improvement plan.

Education Scotland have also produced a sketchnote for schools which provides a visual description of the National Improvement Framework. 

Outcomes

The NIF sets out seven strategic outcomes, the delivery of which will lead to improved educational outcomes for children and young people.

The outcomes we expect to achieve are:

  • a globally respected, empowered, and responsive education system with clear accountability at every level that supports children, young people, and adult learners to thrive. The system enables the development of their knowledge, skills, values, and attributes that give them the best opportunity to succeed and contribute to Scotland’s society and economy
  • young people experiencing the benefit of schools and early years settings working in excellent partnerships with wider children’s services and other partners, families, and communities, in line with the GIRFEC approach
  • inclusive and relevant curriculum and assessment which gives young people the knowledge and skills necessary to contribute to society, and shape a sustainable future, while celebrating and supporting progression for all
  • high levels of achievement across the curriculum for all learners, with action to close the poverty-related attainment gap
  • highly skilled teachers and school-leaders driving excellent learning, teaching and assessment for all, especially those with additional support needs
  • improving relationships and behaviour, and attendance, with increased engagement in learning and a culture of dignity and respect for all
  • an education system engaging in digital technology to enhance all aspects of learning and teaching, supported by a digitally-skilled workforce and tackling digital inequality

Scottish National Standardised Assessments

The National Standardised Assessments for Scotland (NSA) are a collection of formative assessment tools, designed to provide valuable diagnostic feedback to teachers on children’s progress in aspects of literacy and numeracy. The assessments are undertaken in Primary 1, Primary 4, Primary 7 and Secondary 3, and further information on them is included within the Purpose and Use document.

Scottish Ministers previously commissioned an independent review of the Scottish National Standardised Assessments (SNSA) at Primary 1 within the overall context of the National Improvement Framework. 

The review and our response to it were published on 11 June 2019. 

Insight

Insight is the professional benchmarking tool for analysing attainment data in the senior phase, accessible by secondary schools and local authorities. It is designed to support self-evaluation and provide schools with their attainment information in a format that makes it straightforward to identify possible areas for improvement for young people in S4 to S6.

There are two releases of Insight per year, the first of which is in September and provides year group based attainment data for previous sessions. The February update adds initial leaver destinations data for those leaving school in the previous academic year, which allows for analysis of data on cohorts of young people at the point of exit from the Senior Phase.

Broad General Education (BGE) Benchmarking Tool

The BGE Benchmarking Tool was launched in 2018 and is available for all schools and local authorities to access on Glow. It uses data provided by local authorities on achievement of a Curriculum for Excellence level for children and young people. It is intended to support professional dialogue between local authorities and schools so they might learn from each other to improve learner outcomes. Data from the tool is also available on the School Information Dashboard.

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