Diversity in the teaching profession: annual data report 2025

4. Ongoing policy ambitions and next steps

4.1 Anti-Racist Action Guide for employers

Calabar Education Consultants, on behalf of the AREP and in partnership with the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES) developed an anti-racist action guide for education employers. The anti-racist action guide outlines steps that employers of teachers can take to address barriers to the recruitment, retention and progression of minority ethnic teachers in Scotland. It was published in September 2024. To support the implementation of the Action Guide for Local Authorities, the DiTPEW working group organised a seminar for local authorities to discuss how they planned to take this forward in their settings. This took place in March 2025. It was well attended and provided attendees with the opportunity to share emerging and established practice. Work is underway to understand what the next steps are for implementation of the guide, including whether it would be appropriate to establish a network for local authorities to continue dialogue and seek support in taking forward anti-racist action.

4.2 Developing approaches to Sponsoring

In September 2024, the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) published a report into Sponsoring approaches. The report has three main aims: to promote understanding of the concept of Sponsoring, to state a case for its use, and to define its key components. The report highlights the building blocks of Sponsoring – the key considerations which employers and others should make when designing Sponsoring approaches, the core attributes that Sponsors need, and the personal testimony of a teacher who has benefitted from Sponsoring. This work was supported by Scottish Government funding and is intended to support partners in the enactment of sponsoring, which is aimed at improving career progression among minority ethnic teachers. To further enhance partners’ engagement with the report, GTCS also published a video which explores some of the most important aspects.

4.3 Anti-Racism Framework for Initial Teacher Education (ITE)

In the first term of academic year 2024-25, initial teacher education (ITE) providers reflected within their own institutions on progress in relation to Anti-racism in ITE (ARITE) action plans and updated these for sharing with the Scottish Council of Deans of Education (SCDE). The ARITE Network has continued to meet monthly during the academic year. It is chaired by Dr Louise Barrett, the University of the West of Scotland, SCDE Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead, and Dr Heather Earnshaw, Edinburgh Napier University, and has representation from each of the ITE providers.

At the start of academic year 2024-25, it explored actions outlined in the National Anti-Racism Framework for ITE, which network members felt would benefit from collaborative working across ITE providers and identified priorities. A support slide was created, providing links to key organisations and documents, to be shared with all student teachers in the context of preparation for school experience. In a larger piece of work, the network curated a collection of resources (journal articles, websites, videos) for use by colleagues in ITE to teach student teachers about microaggressions and how to respond, as a victim or bystander. It is anticipated that colleagues will use some of the resources in their teaching in session 2025-26.

Work was undertaken with Professor Khadija Mohammed, in her role as chair of the Scottish Association for Minority Ethnic Educators about the possibility of setting up a student teacher network, but this would be contingent on funding, which is not forthcoming at this time.

In May 2024 and 2025, the ARITE Network invited local authority probation managers to join a meeting to share information about support for minority ethnic student teachers and probationers and professional learning for all, within the ITE and local authority contexts.

4.4 Building Racial Literacy Programme (BRL)

As part of its work programme, the Anti-Racism in Education Programme seeks to address the issue of racism and racial discrimination within school settings and funds the Building Racial Literacy Programme. This is a programme that is open to individuals from across the education workforce in Scotland, regardless of previous anti-racist knowledge. It seeks to improve their racial literacy and encourages them to develop an anti-racist action plan that can then be taken into and implemented within their own setting. Over 800 educators have experienced learning on the BRL programme and last year the external evaluation was published, highlighting the successful learning on the programme but also the barriers participants faced sharing their antiracist learning with colleagues. Cohort 7 will take place in the 2025/2026 academic year.

4.5 The Scottish Association of Minority Ethnic Educators’ – Leadership, Mentoring and Wellbeing Programme (SAMEE)

The Scottish Government provides funding to the Scottish Association of Minority Ethnic Educators (SAMEE), a leading anti-racism organisation within the education landscape in Scotland, to deliver their “Leadership and Mentoring Programme”. This programme aims to provide safe, positive spaces for Black and Minority Ethnic educators to: acknowledge their experiences; define their professional identity; develop a sense of self-efficacy and be cognisant of their leadership potential. This addresses some of the issues that we know contribute to the decision of minority ethnic educators to leave the teaching profession.

4.6 Scottish Government’s Anti-Racist Employment Strategy

The Scottish Government’s Anti-Racist Employment Strategy was published in December 2022. The strategy is a call for action for employers and a guide to addressing the issues and disadvantages experienced by racialised minorities within the Scottish labour market. Although the strategy is broader than education there are clear implications for the teaching workforce and the work of the DiTPEW subgroup and as such the group’s members have been engaging closely with it. Work is progressing on key actions, including:

• Evaluation of the Minority Ethnic Recruitment Toolkit to ensure it remains fit for purpose
• Building capability of senior leadership in anti-racism to drive inclusive workplace culture

The strategy also commits to producing guidance on the use of positive action as per the Equality Act 2010 to support public sector employers. The DiTPEW subgroup will continue to engage closely with this work and to support the development and delivery of this guidance within the education sector. The strategy’s actions form part of the Fair Work Action Plan, which also brings together and takes an intersectional approach to the actions within the existing Fair Work, Gender Pay Gap and Disability Employment Gap Action Plans. These actions will be monitored and measured through the Fair Work Evidence Plan that was published in 2024.