Strategic Equity Funding: national operational guidance 2026-2027

Key Principles

• This guidance should be considered alongside the Scottish Attainment Challenge Framework for Recovery and Accelerating Progress and the Scottish Attainment Challenge Logic Model.
• Strategic Equity Funding must be used to deliver targeted activities, approaches or resources which are clearly additional to universal local improvement plans.
• Headteachers, teachers, parents and carers, children and young people and other key stakeholders should be meaningfully involved throughout the processes of planning, implementing and evaluating approaches. This should be inclusive of all children and families affected by poverty, including those where alternative communication methods need to be considered.
• Strategic Equity Funding must provide targeted support for children and young people (and their families if appropriate) affected by poverty to achieve their full potential, focusing on targeted improvement activity in literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing.
• The operation of the Strategic Equity Funding should be included within existing planning procedures, such as local authority Education Service Improvement Plans, which should be easily accessed by stakeholders. This must provide clarity to stakeholders on how Strategic Equity Funding is being used and its expected impact.
• Local authorities must develop a clear rationale for use of the funding, based on a robust contextual analysis, including relevant data which identifies the poverty-related attainment gap in their schools and learning communities, and plans must be grounded in evidence of what is known to be effective at raising attainment and achievement and widening opportunities for children and young people affected by poverty.
• Local authorities must set stretch aims for progress in impoving outcomes for all whilst closing the poverty-related attainment gap. Local plans must include these aims. These were last set in September 2023 for the period 2023/24 – 2025/26 and published on gov.scot in December 2023. These should be revised and updated by local authorities for 2026/27.
• Plans should consider the totality of Scottish Attainment Challenge funding – working collaboratively with headteachers, senior leaders and stakeholders to inform planning – coming into the local authority and how this is best utilised to enhance local plans to tackle the poverty-related attainment gap and contribute to the mission of the Scottish Attainment Challenge.
• Local authorities should not ‘top slice’ Strategic Equity Funding. Strategic Equity Funding should not substitute or compensate for any expenditure reductions which arise from local authority budget efficiency savings.
• The contributions of wider services supporting children and young people and their families are vital to supporting pupils’ readiness to learn. Collaboration across services is crucial in tackling the poverty-related attainment gap.
• Plans should read across to related local authority service improvement plans, such as Community Learning and Development, social work, housing etc., which may also contribute to efforts to tackle the poverty-related attainment gap. They should also have clear links to the local authority tackling child poverty and children’s service plans. The use of SEF may go beyond traditional academic support and seek to improve the family’s wider circumstances, including through income maximisation support and linking with other services, as needed, including those relating to employability.
• Progress against plans should be monitored on an ongoing basis. If plans are not achieving the results intended, these plans should be amended locally. Plans for sustainability must be considered as part of this.
• Progress, including progress towards core and plus stretch aims, should be reported annually through local authority Standards and Quality Reports (or equivalents).
• The Scottish Attainment Challenge is evaluated in line with the Evaluation Strategy for the Attainment Scotland Fund 2022 – 2026 to ensure the evaluation continues to assess progress towards closing the poverty-related attainment gap.
• This is informed by the Scottish Attainment Challenge Logic Model – developed through a collaborative process with a range of stakeholders.