Computing Science Summary Report: Scottish Government Computing Science Meeting Series: March 2026

Background

Computing Science education plays an important role in Scotland’s technology pipeline; however the subject faces a number of challenges, many of which are persistent and not confined only to Computing Science. The Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review (2020), identified school-level Computing Science education as essential to helping to build Scotland’s tech sector and wider start-up ecosystem. This is on the premise that equipping more people at school level with a basic level of competence in Computing Science, will eventually produce more start-ups with a greater pool of engineers available to hire from as they develop and scale, leading to consequent benefits in job creation and in tax revenue.

In response, the Scottish Government funded the establishment of Scottish Teachers Advancing Computing Science (STACS), a teacher-led organisation which exists to advance Computing Science in schools, including through the delivery of high-quality professional learning for Computing Science teachers.

Despite making progress at a national level across a number of key areas in recent years, long-standing challenges continue to impact on the delivery of the subject in schools. To enable a fuller exploration of the challenges and opportunities that exist in relation to Computing Science teaching and learning, and to build on work initiated by STACS, Scottish Government officials convened a group of stakeholders from across the education system in September 2025. The group comprised a range of stakeholders including representatives from national bodies, such as Education Scotland, professional learning providers, local authority representatives and those with lived experience, including teachers. A full list of group members and stakeholders engaged with throughout this process can be found in Annex E.

The group met five times between September 2025 and January 2026 and explored the below themes in turn. Guest speakers were invited to present on areas of best practice and innovative approaches being undertaken across Scotland:

• Teacher recruitment and retention
• Teacher professional learning and development
• School infrastructure
• Subject attractiveness

Following the conclusion of the formal meeting series, Scottish Government officials sought the views of additional stakeholders including the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTC Scotland), Initial Teacher Education (ITE) providers and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education in Scotland (HMIE). A survey was also issued through Education Scotland’s teacher networks to capture children and young people’s opinions and personal experience of Computing Science education. An overview of the survey findings is provided in Annex C. In addition, Toni Scullion of STACS provided a thorough written evaluation of the challenges facing the subject, which is reflected in this report.

While the report is clear that there is no single solution to the challenges facing Computing Science, there are a number of national initiatives underway which will improve the perception of the subject and how it is taught. The ongoing Curriculum, Qualifications, and Assessment Reform have the potential to transform the teaching, learning and assessment practice in respect of Computing Science in Scotland. Similarly, ongoing policy considerations related to the teaching profession, school estate and the impact of technology on our schools will influence Computing Science education. These national initiatives, coupled with additional actions identified under the four key themes of this report, present an opportunity to strengthen Computing Science education and in turn, bring benefits to children and young people, as well as Scotland’s technology ecosystem.