National Improvement Framework 2026: improvement plan

Outcome 1

A globally respected, empowered and responsive education and skills system with clear accountability at every level that supports children, young people and adult learners to thrive. The system enables the development of their knowledge, skills, values and attributes that give them the best opportunity to succeed and contribute to Scotland’s society and economy.

What the evidence is telling us

Work is well underway to establish His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education in Scotland (HMIE) underpinned by the Education (Scotland) Act 2025. This marks a significant shift in Scotland’s approach to quality assurance and improvement. A transition plan is in place to support the smooth transition for inspection functions to move from Education Scotland to HMIE, safeguarding continuity and public confidence.

In March 2025, HMIE published a thematic inspection of local authority approaches to supporting school improvement. The report found that, across Scotland, there was much to commend, with strong examples of strategic leadership, robust data-driven self-evaluation, and collaborative cultures where schools and local authorities work together to improve outcomes for children and young people. Positive relationships, grounded in professional trust and respect, underpin many of these successes. In particular, effective leadership at all levels – central officers, school leaders, and middle leaders – emerges as a critical driver of sustainable improvement.

However, the report also identifies significant challenges. There is notable variability in the consistency and quality of support provided to schools, both within and across local authorities. Self-evaluation processes are not always rigorous enough to maximise the progress of children and young people. Leadership development at all levels remains uneven and this is essential for building capacity for continuous improvement.

The Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland have jointly developed the Early Learning and Childcare Quality Improvement Framework to strengthen consistency, reduce bureaucracy and provide clarity for providers. The framework streamlines quality indicators from 28 to 11 and was launched in January 2025, followed by pilot testing with stakeholders settings. The framework is being used by the Care Inspectorate and HMIE when carrying out inspections from September 2025. The implementation of the framework is supported by ongoing engagement with the Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) sector to ensure the framework delivers high‑quality, improvement‑focused inspection across ELC.

HMIE is developing a framework for inspecting local authorities and this will be published in draft in 2026.

The Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES) and Education Scotland has developed a new framework “How Good Is Our Education Authority?” to support self-evaluation within local authorities, and to encourage collaborative working across groups of local authorities to identify strengths and support areas for improvement. The use of the framework aims to promote partnership working, collaboration has identified a number of key strengths including, leadership and strategic planning, and inclusive and supportive practices. It has also identified some points of action to help deliver sustainable improvements for all children and young people. These include strengthening collaboration and knowledge sharing, enhancing digital learning strategies, and improving data utilisation. All local authorities are committed to working collaboratively to bring about system improvement. There is, however, an understanding that there are numerous factors across Scotland which inevitably contribute to variability and that change and improvement is an ongoing, continuous process.

The targeting and implementation of local improvement activity is key to the delivery of the NIF. Local authority plans, informed by school improvement planning, identified a number of common themes which relate to the NIF priorities and outcomes. Almost every plan emphasises improving educational outcomes and closing attainment gaps, as well as preparing young people for life beyond school, including employment, training, and further education. Promoting mental health, resilience, and wellbeing for children, young people, and staff is a core theme.

Findings from HMIE school inspections, tell us that the quality of strategic planning for continuous improvement varies considerably, with notable strengths evident in the majority of schools and persistent challenges in others. Where practice is strongest, senior leaders articulate a clear, ambitious vision for improvement and lead change with confidence and empathy. They foster a culture of trust and collaboration, ensuring that improvement priorities are well understood and shared by staff, children, and families. Leadership teams operate cohesively with clearly defined remits, using robust self-evaluation and quality assurance processes to inform decision-making. These schools demonstrate a systematic use of data, research and stakeholder feedback to shape improvement plans that are streamlined, measurable, and aligned with the national priorities set out in the NIF.

A comprehensive review of school inspections is underway. This review covers the inspection framework, the models used, the frequency of inspections, and the reporting arrangements. The aim is to strengthen the role of inspection as a driver of improvement and public assurance on the quality of education in schools in Scotland. The review is informed by extensive stakeholder engagement, including consultation with children and young people. Significant stakeholder engagement took place between January and May 2025, which informed a public consultation 'School Inspections are Changing: Shape What's Next' which launched on 3 September 2025. In addition, a significant programme of engagement with children and young people is underway.

The 2025 School Estate Statistics, which were published in September, show that the proportion of schools in "good" or "satisfactory" condition has increased to a record 92%, compared to 62.7% in 2007. However, despite this significant progress, there is still more to be done - with 8% of schools in an unsatisfactory condition.

During the passage of the Scottish Languages Act 2025, it became clear that current arrangements are not supporting the development or long-term sustainability of Sabhal Mòr Ostaig (SMO). In particular, there are limitations on the student roll - linked to its position as the sole higher and further education institution delivering training entirely in the medium of Gaelic. Size also impacts on the current criteria for an independent, degree-awarding body, and university status, as the current conditions are designed for majority languages and apply to all higher and further education institutions in Scotland.

The 2023 Withers’ report of the skills delivery landscape highlighted a fragmented skills landscape in Scotland, inconsistent terminology across sectors, and a recommendation to develop a single national framework with consistent language.

What we will do to deliver

We committed within the Programme for Government (PfG) to appoint an experienced headteacher to set out priorities for future reform of school education, and announced in September that John Wilson, the recently retired headteacher of Broughton High School, Edinburgh will undertake the role. Drawing on his experience of 30 years of working in the education system, Mr Wilson will provide a report and recommendations to Ministers by the end of March 2026 focused on three areas of school reform – improvement, funding and governance.

An improved education system will continue to be supported through our £2bn Learning Estate Investment Programme (LEIP), the details of which were set out in the 2025 Improvement Plan. 34 school projects will have started construction by autumn 2026. The LEIP will deliver 47 school infrastructure projects across Scotland by the end of 2027-28.

In 2026 HMIE will publish a draft new inspection framework for school inspections, the content of which is currently being developed. This will be further informed by the analysis of the public consultation which closed on 26 November 2025.

HMIE will review and update school inspection models to implement the new inspection framework, taking account of findings of the public consultation.

HMIE will extend its work with local authorities to support improvement across Scotland.

Taking forward a review of Sabhal Mòr Ostaig as required by Section 32 of the Scottish Languages Act 2025, with the aim of providing it with a secure future; and to take other action to support its development.

Scottish Government will work with key strategic partners to develop a high level architecture for skills setting out our priorities and a shared language. This will not replace existing frameworks, but provide a structure that helps bring more consistency across the system.

The Scottish Government will continue to work with our partners in local government to ensure that the improvement planning process adds value at all levels in order to support positive outcomes for children and young people.

How we will measure progress

Monitoring of progress towards the key NIF measures through the NIF Interactive Evidence Report (NIFIER)

We will continue to use PISA assessment, and our position when compared with other developed nations as a measure of the success of our education system. This will be complemented going forward with specific data to compare in reading literacy, maths and science compared to other nations, via the TIMSS and PIRLS studies.

We will use data from the Scottish Household Survey on school and Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) setting satisfaction levels as an indicator that the reforms we are introducing are leading to improvements. The data collected includes measuring satisfaction levels amongst the general public and more specifically, in households where a school aged child is present.

We will use the evidence from HMIE inspections to assess performance at individual school, local authority, and national levels, enhancing quality and supporting improvements. This aims to promote the highest standards of learning, leading to better outcomes for all learners.

We will use data on positive destinations for school leavers in assessing the extent to which our children and young people are being provided with the best opportunity to succeed and contribute to Scotland’s society and economy.

We will measure the success of the Learning Estate Investment Programme by delivering state-of-the-art schools which will benefit tens of thousands of pupils across Scotland. We also aim to see the percentage of pupils in “poor” or “bad” condition schools continue to decrease each year within the school estate statistics.

The review of SMO will deliver practical recommendations and findings to inform future decisions by Ministers on future support and development of SMO which will in turn support strong and clear outcomes.

We will have achieved agreement on our priorities for skills, in a high level architecture to which other frameworks and skills programmes can align.