Children (Withdrawal from Religious Education and Amendment of UNCRC Compatibility Duty) (Scotland) Bill: island communities impact assessment

Step Four – Assessment

Does your assessment identify any unique impacts on island communities?: No

• Demographic
• Economic
• Gaelic
• Social

Does your assessment identify any potential barriers or wider impacts? No

Are there mitigations already in place for these impacts raised? N/A

Religious Observance and Religious and Moral Education in Schools: As stated previously, the only impact we anticipate which would impact island school communities in a way which would be more significant than other parts of Scotland would be where there are smaller schools (more likely in island communities) with fewer teachers. The extra work involved in considering pupils’ views where the existing guidance is not already being implemented may result in difficulty in terms of capacity prior to the withdrawal decision being made, though the scale of this impact would depend on whether there was a large increase in withdrawal requests as a result of the legislation. We do not anticipate the numbers of withdrawal requests to change from the introduction of these changes, therefore any impact on island schools should be minimal and time limited to cases where a withdrawal is requested.

It may also be helpful to note that the proposed changes introduce the opportunity for a pupil to object to their withdrawal (but not to initiate a withdrawal request themselves). This could conceivably result in a reduced rate of withdrawal from RO and/or RME, and reduced overall resource expended by schools on the on-going supervision and management of withdrawn pupils, including for island schools.

We have already planned how to address concerns in statutory guidance, however we will further engage with teachers in island communities to ensure specific concerns based on contextual knowledge and experience of schools on Scottish islands are reflected in this guidance.

Amendment to the UNCRC Act: The proposed UNCRC Act amendment is not anticipated to have an effect on an island community which is different from the effect on other communities.

Is a full Island Communities Impact Assessment required?

Religious Observance and Religious and Moral Education in Schools: As stated previously, the only impact we anticipate which would affect island school communities in a way which would be more significant than in other parts of Scotland would be where there are smaller schools (more likely in island communities) with fewer teachers. The extra work involved in considering pupils’ views where the existing guidance is not already being implemented may result in difficulty in terms of capacity prior to the withdrawal decision being made, though the scale of this impact would depend on whether there was a large increase in withdrawal requests as a result of the legislation, which we do not currently expect. As noted above, it is possible that the changes will reduce overall workload for schools associated with withdrawals, if a pupil’s right to object to withdrawal leads to reduced requirements for alternative activities and supervision, though there is no way to anticipate how many pupils will object to being withdrawn.

These impacts are not significantly different from those experienced by smaller schools on the mainland, though the incidence of such schools may be more likely in island communities.

We have already planned how to address concerns in statutory guidance, however we will further engage with teachers in island communities to ensure specific concerns based on contextual knowledge and experience of schools on Scottish islands are reflected in this guidance.

Amendment to the UNCRC Act: The proposed UNCRC Act amendment is not anticipated to have an effect on an island community which is different from the effect on other communities.

A full Islands Community Impact Assessment is NOT required

In preparing the ICIA, the Scottish Government have formed an opinion that our policy, is NOT likely to have an effect on an island community which is significantly different from its effect on other communities (including other island communities). The reason for this is detailed below.

These impacts are not significantly different from those experienced by smaller schools on the mainland, though the incidence of such schools may be more likely in island communities.

The proposed UNCRC Act amendment is not anticipated to have an effect on an island community which is different from the effect on other communities.

ICIA authorised by: Lewis Hedge, Deputy Director, Curriculum and Qualifications

Date completed: October 2025