Strategic Equity Funding: national operational guidance 2026-2027

Planning

Strategic Equity Funding will support local authorities to achieve strategic aims to support the mission to improve outcomes for children and young people impacted by poverty, with a focus on tackling the poverty-related attainment gap.

Local authorities should consider the totality of Attainment Scotland Funding (Strategic Equity Funding (SEF), Pupil Equity Funding (PEF) & Care Experienced Children and Young People (CECYP) funding), working collaboratively with headteachers, senior leaders and other partners to identify how the funding is best utilised to enhance local plans to tackle the poverty-related attainment gap and contribute to the mission of the Scottish Attainment Challenge.

As set out in the Framework for Recovery and Accelerating Progress, there should be alignment between aims set by schools to improve the outcomes for children and young people affected by poverty and the stretch aims of the local authority.

Planning can be supported by the logic model which shows how a programme produces change. The SAC logic model can help bring detail to programme goals, aid planning, evaluation, implementation, and communication. It incorporates outcomes reflecting the mission, which encompasses child poverty, broader achievement and an increased focus on health and wellbeing and family and community support.

As set out in the Framework for Recovery and Accelerating Progress, local authority plans and stretch aims for the Scottish Attainment Challenge should be embedded within existing local authority education service improvement plans. Local Authorities set their stretch aims for the period 2023/24 to 2025/26 and are published hereScottish Attainment Challenge – Local stretch Aims: 2023/24 to 2025/26 – gov.scot. These should be reviewed and updated for 2026/27.

To that end, local authorities should ensure there is collaboration with stakeholders, e.g. children, young people, families and third sector partners in the planning process for SEF. This should be inclusive of all children affected by poverty, including those with identified additional support needs and those where alternative communication methods are required.

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 action plans and children’s services plans.

A comprehensive evaluation has been ongoing since the start of the Scottish Attainment Challenge programme in 2015, to provide evidence and learning about the overall implementation of the Attainment Scotland Funding to enable assessment of progress towards its long-term outcomes. The Attainment Scotland Fund (ASF) Evaluation Summative report, published in March 2026, brings together both quantitative and qualitative evidence to report on progress towards the short, medium and long term outcomes of the Scottish Attainment Challenge.

• The full report may be accessed here
• A concise 5 page summary of this report may be accessed here

General principles for planning for Strategic Equity Funding within the Scottish Attainment Challenge

The planning cycle will use the academic year, aligning with existing annual Education Service Improvement Planning cycles.

Stretch aims for the period 2023/24 – 2025/26 were set by local authorities and submitted to Scottish Government as part of their education service improvement plans and have been published on gov.scot. Scottish Attainment Challenge – Local stretch Aims: 2023/24 to 2025/26.

Local authorities should set out revised stretch aims for 2026/27 in their NIF reports/Standards and Quality Reports in September 2026. These updated aims should retain the current core measures. Local authorities can review and update their plus measures to suit local priorities.

Education Scotland’s Equity Toolkit resource has been developed to support the planning and implementing of approaches to meet the needs of children and young people affected by poverty in order to close the attainment gap.

Collaborative:

Actively engage children, young people, families, communities, staff and partners in planning process.

Evidence informed:

Plans are based on data and a clear understanding of the context of communities they will be implemented. This data should include: local and national data and reference to research including SAC Theory of Change and Logic Model.

Setting ambitious and SMART aims:

Aims should be smart, measurable, achievable, realistic and timed. They also need to be ambitious enough to achieve long term goals of closing poverty-related attainment gaps.

Measuring progress:

SMART measures and baseline data are needed to be able to show progress towards aims. Regular tracking and monitoring will support staff respond timeously to interventions which are not having the desired impact and make adaptations.

Evaluative:

All plans should have aims and measures which allow leaders to clearly state whether aims have been achieved.

Quality assurance processes embedded

to support the development and implementation of SAC plans. This can be both internal or external, involve peers or senior leaders.

Financial Planning

Local authorities should submit a high-level financial planning template for SEF which sets out how funding will be invested over the course of the financial year. This should be submitted to Scottish Government alongside the first drawdown of funding.

Funds will be drawn down twice in each financial year, once during the financial year and once at the end of the financial year (March).

Scottish Government should be notified of any changes to plans at the financial draw down points where appropriate.