Education Reform Programme Board minutes - June 2025

Attendees and apologies

Attendees:

• Clare Hicks
• Graeme Logan
• Lisa Bird
• Lewis Hedge
• David Roy
• Shirley Laing
• John Booth
• Janie McManus
• Gillian Hamilton
• Laura Caven
• Sheena Devlin
• Sarah Hart
• Graham Thomson
• Sean Stronach
• Molly Illingworth
• Letitia Donnelly

Apologies:

• Laurence Findlay
• Chris Dunne
• Kieran Watson
• Jaxon Parish

Secretariat:

• Pauline Hendry
• Lewis Worobec

Items and actions

Welcome and introductions

The Chair welcomed members to the meeting and noted apologies.

Previous action points

The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed without comment.

There are two open actions from the last board:

Action – Fiona Comrie and Jennifer Lowry to liaise with Education Scotland to assess the impact of a professional learning cluster on organisational design work, which Education Scotland are leading on. Consideration should be given to staff messaging, transition timescales, and the avoidance of duplicating functions. Action remains open - Work is ongoing with Education Scotland colleagues to develop messaging for staff on high-level functional designs (once these are shared with Trade Unions and Scottish Government for sign-off).

Action – PMO to invite the University of Glasgow to update the Board on progress following formal establishment of the Centre for Teaching Excellence. Action remains open. Work is underway to confirm a date for the formal launch event. In the meantime, the University of Glasgow have been meeting with external stakeholders, launched a teacher survey, undertaken social media engagement and held focus groups.

Education (Scotland) Bill

Members were updated on the progress of the Education (Scotland) Bill noting Stage 2 concluded on 7 May. Over 350 amendments were considered across four committee sessions, reflecting high engagement with the Bill.

Stage 2 progressed largely as anticipated, with broad support for Scottish Government amendments. Where differing views were raised, agreements were made to work together to bring forward revised amendments for Stage 3.

One area of significant interest was the location of the function of accreditation. Preparations, including cross-party discussions, are underway to agree revised amendments on this ahead of Stage 3.

The importance of maintaining momentum and clarity for staff involved in education reform was highlighted. Members noted the value of continuing stakeholder engagement and cross-organisation collaboration throughout the next stages of the Bill.

Stage 3 timings are yet to be confirmed, but an intense period of activity is expected over the coming weeks. A further update will be provided at the next meeting.

Delivery assessment

An update from the recent Project Steering and Assurance Group meeting was provided highlighting the amber/red status, reflecting work to manage finance and resource requirement in line with delivery timelines for transition.

Delivery updates included:

• transition plans for Qualifications Scotland and Education Scotland/HMIE remain on track and feasible. While progress has been made, critical dependencies around organisational design (OD), HR, and digital continue to present challenges for delivery timelines
• digital delivery is progressing, with a Digital Delivery Healthcheck expected to be scheduled for the summer 2025
• branding and communications work is advancing for both new organisations (HMIE and Qualifications Scotland)
• a Monitoring and Evaluation Strategy is being developed, with Theory of Change workshops scheduled for June and July 2025
• work is progressing to define the scope for the Fiscal Sustainability Project to support long-term fiscal sustainability of the national organisations

Board members discussed capacity constraints across ES/HMIE, particularly around engagement with organisational design and digital priorities. Organisational design work was recognised as a critical dependency with ongoing specialist capacity requirements creating pressure on delivery timescales. It was agreed that further consideration would be given to alleviate capacity constraints, with a view to reprioritising to release capacity for reform work.

Board members reflected that, while work on the Centre for Teaching Excellence remained on track to provide its offering to teachers in the new academic year, a date is currently being sought for an event where the Cabinet Secretary will mark the official launch. ADES indicated that they would welcome further discussion with the SG, COSLA and Education Scotland on how best to collectively support the Centre’s success, building on their existing representation on the Centre’s Advisory Board. ADES indicated that they would set out their feedback and thoughts in writing in the first instance.

Action: ADES to share their feedback on the Centre’s development with the SG.

Programme risk profile overview

Members received an overview of the refreshed Programme risk profile, following revisions made at the Risk and Dependency Management Group workshops in May 2025. The updated profile reflects continued focus on risks relating to transition delivery planning, affordability, resourcing, and communications and engagement. The profile has a dual focus on future risks relating to transformation planning, sustainability of national organisations and alignment with curriculum improvement and qualifications reform. Efforts have also been made to clarify plan mitigating actions and provide greater assurance that these risks are being actively managed.

Additional points raised during the discussion around the recruitment timelines for senior posts in Education Scotland and HMIE, with members seeking clarity on next steps and whether changes were being considered to the role definitions. SG are currently considering this. A further update will be provided once Stage 3 of the Education (Scotland) Bill concludes.

Board members requested more information on upcoming youth-focused roundtables, and how insights from these sessions would be captured and shared with the Programme Board. Scottish Government is working with four young people’s organisations this year to deliver a series of engagement ‘huddles’ covering a range of Education Reform activity, including the Curriculum Improvement Cycle. A report will be produced for each of the topics covered via the huddles, with an overall report produced at the end of the financial year.

Action: Programme Board members to be updated on senior recruitment plans later in the summer, following Stage 3 of the Education (Scotland) Bill.

Action: Information on July 2025 stakeholder roundtables to be shared with Programme Board members.

Curriculum and Qualifications Reform

The Board received a presentation on the Curriculum Improvement Cycle and Qualifications Reform setting out the background and key drivers for change, drawing on the OECD, Stobart, Muir, and Hayward reviews, alongside commitments in the Programme for Government. It was noted that the reform builds on existing strengths within the education system, with an emphasis on coherence, progression, and long-term impact across the 3–18 learner journey.

Revised project objectives were shared, emphasising improved clarity on knowledge and skills, strengthened professional learning, and a coherent approach to evaluation and assessment. The Programme for Government commitment to set out a combined timeline for curriculum improvement cycle and qualifications reform by June 2025 was outlined, as was the scope and scale of the project. Work is underway, and a timeline is expected to be in place in June 2025.

Curriculum Improvement Cycle and Qualifications Reform project governance structures were set out, with the first Assurance Board for this project taking place on 2 April. Areas covered include approach to assessment, modularisation, interdisciplinary learning, wider achievement, rationalisation, and parity of esteem.

An outline of risk and the complexity of dependencies across the system was provided. It was noted that the project has a high degree of interconnectivity with other elements of reform, including the Centre for Teaching Excellence and post-school reform, which will require continued alignment and coordinated communications. Board members welcomed the clarity provided by the revised timelines and workstreams and reflected on the importance of sustained engagement with practitioners and young people over the lifetime of reform.

Action: Education Reform PMO to circulate the June Curriculum and Qualifications Reform publication to Programme Board members once available.

Any other business

The next meeting of the Programme Board will take place on 31 July 2025.