Education reform: evaluation strategy 2026 - 2034

5. Background and context

In 2021, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published its report on the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) and highlighted the need for it to evolve and align more effectively with the senior phase of schooling, including qualifications. The Scottish Government accepted all 12 of the recommendations of areas identified for improvement and introduced the current programme of systematic education reform in Scotland, to build on CfE’s strengths by updating it to better support teaching and learning and helping learners achieve to the best of their capability.

Work to improve the curriculum and make changes to qualifications is led by the Scottish Government in partnership with Education Scotland and Qualifications Scotland (formerly the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA)). The national education bodies are responsible for the Curriculum Improvement Cycle (CIC) and qualifications reform respectively, with the Scottish Government responsible for coordinating change and aligning both elements of reform as a single package.

Once ready, Local Authorities will be responsible for implementation of the proposed improvements in early learning settings and schools. The changes will also be implemented in colleges through their own governance mechanisms. The changes will be implemented over time, as set out in the Curriculum and Qualifications timeline published in June 2025.

The Education Reform Programme has previously delivered structural reform to improve the ways our national bodies support schools and other education settings and to help improve the culture within the system. These include legislative and non-legislative changes to the national education body landscape. These changes have been the main focus of the programme up to 2026.

Education Scotland is now reviewing and updating all areas of the curriculum, using research and feedback from learners and teachers to create an updated curriculum, with clearer progression from early years to senior phase. Curriculum improvements will be taken forward in conjunction with qualifications reform, which is strengthening coherence across the education system. Qualifications Scotland is leading changes to qualifications and assessment. The goal is a balanced, fair, and subject specific approach to assessment that works for learners and teachers.

Most of the changes are longer term, however others are already taking place such as removing written exams from some National 5 subjects from 2025/26. The full programme finishes in 2033. The new curriculum from early to third Level will be introduced from August 2028 with Fourth Level to the Senior Phase from August 2029.

Once fully implemented, the goal is that learners will experience an updated, inclusive and relevant curriculum, more diverse forms of assessment, clearer progression and greater opportunities to demonstrate the breadth and depth of their education, making this system fairer for all, including learners with additional support needs.

Both Education Scotland and Qualifications Scotland are taking forward their own programmes of stakeholder engagement, including with learners, parents, carers and educators, to support their decisions.