Scottish Spending Review 2026
The Scottish Spending Review 2026 sets out the Scottish Government's indicative spending plans up to 2028-29 for resource, and up to 2029-30 for capital.
Chapter 7 Education & Skills
This Spending Review ensures the Education and Skills portfolio continues to deliver strong outcomes for children, learners and the wider economy. This settlement provides stability, enabling the portfolio to sustain delivery, embed reform and maximise the impact of available resources, while protecting priority services and front-line provision and the best teacher-pupil ratio in the UK. These investments play a key role in tackling child poverty by improving access to education, skills and support for families.
The portfolio will continue to support post-school education with over £2.4 billion resource and capital investment each year in colleges, universities, and the wider skills system. This will support sustainability and longer-term reform, protect free tuition, advance widening access, and support learners to progress into and through work, contributing to inclusive economic growth. Scotland’s colleges will see £146 million of additional resource funding allocated over the spending review period, creating a strong foundation for the sector to come together to deliver an ambitious body of reform and transformation alongside delivering vital services and opportunities for people and employers across Scotland. In a challenging external environment created by UK Government policy decisions, including on migration, these investments increase across the spending review period to strengthen system resilience at a critical time for both sectors. The Scottish Government will continue to work closely with colleges and universities as they design and deliver the reforms needed to meet learner and business needs in a net zero future.
Within this settlement, support for the University of Dundee reduces as it transitions from a period of targeted recovery to a more sustainable financial position. This reflects the positive impact and effectiveness of earlier interventions.
The portfolio builds on recent progress, with literacy and numeracy attainment at their highest levels on record, a narrowing poverty-related attainment gap, improved attendance, smaller class sizes and more teachers in Scotland’s classrooms. The Spending Review supports our continued investment in the teaching workforce, sustaining high-quality teaching and learning.
Over the spending review period, the portfolio will invest over £100 million to deliver a national breakfast club programme, providing a free breakfast club in every primary school in Scotland by August 2027. This will ensure children who need it most can access a nutritious free breakfast before school, whilst also supporting working parents with earlier drop-off. In addition, we will also fund additional after school club provision for families who need it most, building on the success of our Extra Time programme.
Continued investment will improve the condition and efficiency of the education estate across schools, colleges and universities, supporting long-term value for money and delivery of reform.
| Level 2 |
2026-27 £m |
2027-28 £m |
2028-29 £m |
2029-30 Capital & FT £m |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Learning | 530.6 | 554.6 | 554.8 | – |
| Education Reform | 84.7 | 84.9 | 84.7 | – |
| Education Scotland | 17.3 | 17.5 | 17.3 | – |
| Children and Families | 345.8 | 371.4 | 373.2 | – |
| Higher Education and Student Support | 313.1 | 308.2 | 308.1 | – |
| Scottish Funding Council | 2,010.6 | 2,004.7 | 2,000.6 | – |
| Lifelong Learning and Skills | 254.0 | 253.2 | 253.5 | – |
| Total Education & Skills | 3,556.1 | 3,594.5 | 3,592.1 | – |
| of which | ||||
| Total Fiscal Resource | 3,102.4 | 3,127.2 | 3,125.2 | n/a |
| of which Programme Costs | 3,056.6 | 3,081.9 | 3,080.8 | n/a |
| of which Operating Costs | 45.8 | 45.3 | 44.4 | n/a |
| Capital | 465.2 | 477.9 | 477.4 | 460.0 |
| Financial Transactions (FTs) | (11.5) | (10.6) | (10.5) | (9.3) |
Note: the figures for the L2 Scottish Funding Council include areas of timebound funding, such as funds to support the University of Dundee and strategic infrastructure investments.