National Islands Plan Annual Report 2025

Education

Strategic Objective 12 – Promote and improve education for all throughout life

Commitment 12.1 Work with UHI, the University of Aberdeen, Heriot-Watt University, Robert Gordon University and other education providers to ensure a broad range of options are available to young people.

University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI)

The bi-annual UHI Islands Forum monitors and supports delivery of the UHI Islands Strategy and continues to ensure that tertiary education and research play a pivotal role in tackling the challenges and opportunities faced by island communities in Scotland. The most recent Forum, held in September 2025 in Stornoway, sought to explore how islands can deliver on the green energy transition whilst creating new opportunities for communities, skills, and jobs.

The Forum took place at the new UHI Stornoway Technology and Innovation Centre. The facility, funded by the Islands Growth Deal and the Scottish Government’s Islands Programme, expands the college’s capacity to train learners in a variety of sectors across Na h-Eileanan Siar.

University of Aberdeen

Secondary schools in Orkney, Shetland, and Na h-Eileanan Siar are priority schools for the University of Aberdeen (UoA) and each pupil who applies from these areas is guaranteed a contextual offer of admission for MA, BSc, and BEng degree programmes.

To ensure learners on Scottish islands have the same opportunities as their mainland peers, UoA hold hybrid outreach sessions. Where in-person attendance would provide a better learner experience, the university provides additional funding opportunities to overcome geographical and financial barriers – including travel bursaries. In 2025, ten bursaries were awarded to allow island students to attend five events at a total cost of £1,500.

In November 2025, UoA hosted Brae High School S6 pupils free of charge to support their tour of mainland universities. UoA also welcomed Shetland’s Anderson High School to campus for a visit later that month.

The University has an established relationship with Developing the Young Workforce, particularly in the northern isles. In 2025, UoA attended six events across Orkney, Shetland and Na h-Eileanan Siar.

Final year medical students undertake clinical placements in all island health boards. In addition, the School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition undertakes quality visits and provides support and professional development opportunities for the clinical staff who support the students.

University of Aberdeen final year dental students undertake outreach general dental practice placements in Na h-Eileanan Siar.

The School of Education has structured teaching activities so as to minimise disruption for students in island communities. For example, several courses are taught partly or entirely online, school placements are organised based on pupils home addresses to enable them to stay in their community and courses which require part attendance in Aberdeen are structured to ensure minimal travel and disruption to pupils from Scottish islands.

The Archaeology department regularly work in Shetland including the high profile Kame of Isbister site. A season of excavation was also carried out at Mail, Mainland Shetland in 2025 involving both university academics and students, as well as local volunteers through the Archaeology Shetland Community Organisation.

Heriot-Watt University (HWU)

Heriot-Watt University (HWU) has delivered postgraduate teaching from its Orkney Campus for 35 years. In 2025, students graduating from HWU’s Orkney Campus joined local companies in the renewable energy supply chain. HWU is working with Scottish Government to develop funding pathways for postgraduate study in Scotland’s islands and continue their involvement in Islands Growth Deal projects including the Island Centre for Net Zero (ICNZ).

Robert Gordon University

Community engagement remains central to Robert Gordon University’s (RGU) approach and ensures that activities and ethos are embedded within island communities. Since 2018, RGU’s graduate apprenticeship degree programme has enrolled nearly 90 island-based students from Orkney, Shetland and Na h-Eileanan Siar. The university’s Online Upskilling Short Courses regularly draw participation from the island regions, with fee-waiver places regularly available.

Commitment 12.2 Support UHI as it deepens collaboration with isl and partners to promote learner pathways, innovation and industry/employer engagement.

Education Scotland has worked with UHI to deliver lectures and provide support materials to those who are currently studying to become education practitioners. The focus of this work has been on using Scots language within literacy in education, with a particular focus on indigenous language and dialect use in the Highlands, Orkney and Shetland.

Commitment 12.3 Ensure that young people are given the same oppo rtunities to access education as young people on mainland Scotland.

In the 2025-26 Programme for Government, we confirmed our commitment to introducing a new Scottish Government-led approach to national skills planning and strengthening regional skills planning. The aim is to ensure that post school provision becomes more responsive to Scotland’s strategic skills, needs and priorities. This new approach will support a better understanding of skills needs at national and regional levels, including how to address them and with particular regards to potential solutions within the education and skills system.

The Scottish Government continues to engage with key regional stakeholders including Regional Economic Partnerships, Enterprise Agencies, Colleges Scotland, and Universities Scotland to co-design ways to collectively strengthen regional skills planning and build on existing best practice. Recent engagements include:

• targeted discussions at the Convention of the Highlands and Islands (April and November 2025);
• a dedicated meeting with the Highlands and Islands Regional Economic Partnership, and;
• ongoing work to drive the Workforce North Mission (WFN) into delivery phase, focusing on translating the WFN Roadmap into tailored opportunities for island communities.

In parallel, and as part of the Post-school Education and Skills Reform, the Scottish Government established a dedicated Employer Network in May 2025. The Network enables employers from across Scotland to shape policy design within the programme.

The Minister for Higher Education and Further Education hosts employer roundtables several times a year to provide strategic engagement with employers at programme level. The roundtable includes a range of employers from Scottish islands.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise

The Science Skills Academy (SSA) project seeks to provide equitable access for all to STEM education, removing geographical barriers to access. In March 2025, SSA launched a new pop-up “Newton Room” serving schools across Shetland. This gave pupils access to the same excellent full day learning experiences that have been delivered in Highland for the last 5 years. The SSA has also leveraged private funding for the last two years, to deliver STEM educational experiences as part of targeted trips to both Orkney and Na h-Eileanan Siar.

Commitment 12.4 Work with young people across Scottish islands to ensure that they are able to contribute to the implementation of the Plan from an education perspective and to ensure that their voices are present.

Commitment fulfilled.

This commitment was fulfilled in 2020. Please see the National Islands Plan Annual Report 2020 for further details.

Commitment 12.5 Continue to support and promote Gaelic medium education at all levels.

The Scottish Government continues to support local authorities in their provision of Gaelic medium education. We continue to sponsor Sabhal Mòr Ostaig as the National Centre for Gaelic Language and Culture. This extends to the funding and sponsorship of bodies such as Bòrd na Gàidhlig, MG ALBA and Stòrlann in their provision of Gaelic learning resources.

The Scottish Languages Act 2025 will enhance Gaelic medium education by placing a duty on Scottish Ministers to promote Gaelic education and introducing standards and guidance in relation to it.

For information on the initiatives supported by HM Inspectors of Education to promote the use of Gaelic, please see commitment 10.8.

Commitment 12.6 Work with all island authorities to scope potential projects that could benefit from successive phases of the new £1 billion Learning Estate Investment Programme which runs until 2026.

The Learning Estate Investment Programme (LEIP) is delivering 47 school infrastructure projects across Scotland, including 5 on islands. These are Broadford Primary School in Skye; Barra and Vatersay Campus; Brae Campus in Shetland; Campus in Mull; and Kirkwall ASN Centre in Orkney.

Commitment 12.7 Increase our collective efforts to improve the educational outcomes of children living in poverty by continuing to support island authorities/schools plans to raise attainment through Scottish Attainment Challenge programmes such as Pupil Equity Funding.

Education Scotland continues to collaborate with island local authorities to improve educational outcomes of children living in poverty. Attainment advisors for each of the island local authorities have provided extensive support, working alongside central officers and schools to maximise the impact of the Scottish Attainment Challenge. This has included analysis of attainment and attendance data, support for planning and carrying out attainment meetings. A range of additional activity in each island area has also been carried out and was determined by local context – for instance:

• All Comhairle nan Eilean Siar schools’ have now engaged with the Children and Young People Improvement Collaborative National Improving Writing Programme, which has resulted in an increase in attainment in writing for P4 pupils.
• In Orkney, professional learning focused on maximising attendance was delivered to all heads of establishments. Key national messages were also shared, and all participants were involved in tasks such as the analysis of their own schools’ data, and evaluation of their own schools’ practice.
• In Shetland, the Attainment Advisor is a member of the ‘Excellence and Equity Board’ and provides support and challenge in relation to attainment data throughout the year. Their recent participation in attainment meetings with primary schools has resulted in targeted support such as using a data driven process to help teachers analyse standardised assessment data in both literacy and numeracy.
• In Argyll and Bute, Education Scotland continues to provide support for the National Improving Writing Programme. Improvements in writing at primary level have increased significantly since inception. Whilst entire classes participate, it is of note that specific success has been achieved by pupils from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

Commitment 12.8 Consider the needs of adult learners in our island communities as we develop our adult learning strategy for Scotland.

The implementation of the Adult Learning Strategy was paused in light of the Independent Review of Community Learning and Development (CLD) announced in December 2023. The findings of the review were detailed in the Learning for All for Life Report. The review examined the extent to which CLD is delivering positive outcomes for some of Scotland’s most vulnerable learners. The Scottish Government and COSLA accepted the recommendation to establish a joint CLD Strategic Leadership Group (SLG).The group has now met on five occasions and is playing a central role in developing a response to the findings and recommendations in the Report. The SLG agreed the immediate priorities for 2025-26 centred around the following recommendations:

• The work of the SLG should be supported by a working-level CLD Strategic Delivery Group.
• The Scottish Government should develop and communicate a clear Statement of Strategic Intent for CLD.
• The Scottish Government working alongside New Scots partners, Colleges and Local Authorities needs to take immediate action to tackle the current ESOL crisis.
• The CLD Standards Council should lead work to develop a CLD Workforce Plan for consideration by the Strategic Leadership Group.

As a working-level group, the Strategic Delivery Group will take forward actions linked to the identified priorities of the SLG.