Shaping the Future: Strengthening Scotland's education system through empowered schools

3. Executive Summary

Scotland through its schooling has a proud history of creating opportunities for young people to overcome systemic barriers and rise above glass ceilings. But we could become even better. The future of Scotland depends on how much and how well we invest in our children.

The three main sections of this report address the themes of improvement, funding and governance in our school system. Although dependent on the principles of Scottish education, this report attends to the levers and mechanisms by which those principles can be realised consistently across the system. The themes are interlinked and interdependent. They also affect the system at every level, and as such are powerful influences on the extent to which Scotland can become even better than we are now.

An aspiration to use joined-up thinking to deliver excellence and equity for our learners through a joined-up system is nothing new. Nor is achieving that aim any simpler now than it has been before. My engagements with a wide range of stakeholders who have contributed to this report have confirmed that we do not lack commitment, we do not lack ideas, and we certainly do not lack the willingness to work hard. What we do lack at present is a way to turn these attributes into collective strengths, enabled by an aligned and fully coherent system in which the component parts inform and complement each other. Scottish education, despite its strengths, is not yet greater than the sum of its parts.

Resolving this is not someone else’s responsibility.

Within the improvement theme my recommendations are based on the following: clarifying what we are trying to improve; clarifying who plays a part in improvement, then enabling them to perform effectively through increased capacity and resource; and strengthening the oversight function to ensure co-ordination of our improvement efforts. The recommendations on Improvement are detailed from page 21 – 44.

Education funding is a thorny subject. Resourcing schools competes with a myriad other societal needs. As an educator my stance on this is biased, but I would argue it is also rational: funding school education is the most powerful way for our country to invest in our future. My recommendations reflect some basic challenges, the first being to identify how much and how well Scotland invests in school education, moving on to illustrating how that funding should be channelled through the system. Schools, closer to learners than any other part of our system, must have greater flexibility over how they invest in young people, built on better funding transparency and stability. Transforming lives depends on it. The recommendations on Funding are detailed from page 45 – 67.

There is a fundamental need to uphold and protect democracy at national and local levels. This is borne firmly in mind when exploring how our governance model could support – and be supported by – recommendations in the two previous themes. To prolong the current disconnect between national government commitments and local government constraints would be untenable. While stakeholders debate these intricacies the pace of improvement, the level of resourcing, and the quality of provision to our learners continues to be hampered. Those entrusted with the delivery of the highest possible quality of schooling for our children should be entrusted with decision-making over the concomitant financial resources. Without this, the empowerment of schools and local communities will remain an aspiration, and Scotland will not achieve its own ambitions.

Improving the coherence of our highly complex system is sought by all stakeholders. Executive oversight that reduces gaps and overlaps, responds to a range of voices from learners and leaders, and matches intention with capacity would go a significant way towards realising that goal. The recommendations on Governance are detailed from page 68 – 88.

Below is an overview of the revised system, should the recommendations in this report be adopted.

Schools working in partnership with local and national public services

Scottish Government

Devolved Government for Scotland

Governance: Civil servants accountable to Ministers. Ministers accountable to Parliament.

Role

• Sets legislation, national priorities, and policy direction.
• Sets budget for national public bodies and provides funding to local authorities to fulfil statutory duties for education.
• Oversees reform of national bodies, including the creation of Qualifications Scotland, HMIE as a separate body, and the Centre for Teaching Excellence.
• Provides sponsorship and liaison of national bodies to align data, education reform, improvement, and system support.

National Public Bodies

Education Scotland

Scottish Government Executive Agency

Governance: National Executive Agency operating under the Education Scotland framework. Reports directly to Ministers.

Role

• Leads on the Curriculum Improvement Cycle.
• Provides resources, guidance, and support for learning, teaching, and assessment.
• Provides professional learning, including leadership, digital learning, and curriculum-related professional learning.

HMIE

Independent Inspectorate of Education in Scotland

Governance: Inspectorate operating under the Education (Scotland) Act 2025. Reports to the Scottish Parliament and Ministers.

Role

• Primary responsibility for evaluating and assuring the quality of education delivery.
• Conducts school and ELC inspections, thematic inspections, and Local School Authority inspections.
• Provides evaluation evidence to drive improved policy and practice.

Qualifications Scotland

National qualification body in Scotland

Governance: Non-departmental public body operating under the Education (Scotland) Act 2025. Accountable to Ministers.

Role

• Primary responsibility for developing, designing, and maintaining national qualifications.
• Manages the exam diet, marking, verification, and awarding of qualifications.
• Approves and regulates awarding bodies that deliver qualifications.

Centre for Teaching Excellence

National Network

Governance: Grant-funded network reporting to the Scottish Government.

Role

• Strengthens research-informed teaching through teacher engagement and practical pedagogical support.
• Enhances teacher expertise through inclusive professional learning, collaboration, and shared practice.
• Advances equity and excellence by elevating pedagogy and enriching learners' experiences.

National public bodies to be overseen by an Executive Director

Local Councils

Governance: Executive Board with representation from elected members from local authorities and education professionals to advise on and implement policy.

Role

• Lead coordination of public service provision in collaboration with LSAs and schools.
• Work in partnership with LSAs.

Local School Authority (LSA)

Statutory duty holders for school education

Governance: Led by Chief Education Officer.

Role

• Ensure adequate and efficient provision of school education.
• Secure improvement in relation to school education aligned with the NIF.
• Provide local curriculum guidance.
• Engage with parents on authority-wide matters and statutory parental engagement duties.

Schools

Front-line education delivery establishmentsGovernance: Working within LSAs underpinned by principles of empowerment, subsidiarity and full DSM.

Role

• Deliver education.
• Conduct self-evaluation, improvement planning, and standards and quality reporting using the HGIOS framework.
• Maintain individual pupil data.
• Provide direct parental engagement and support.
• Deliver qualifications and support learners.