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I fully recognise that young people continue to be impacted by the disruption arising from COVID-19. The package of support in place has rightly evolved to reflect the latest circumstances, with decisions being matched to the assessment approaches taken each year.

SQA took a sensitive, evidence-based approach to grading for the 2023 results and continued the existing modifications to National Courses from 2022 – as part of the transition back to pre-pandemic standards - informed by evaluation of the assessment arrangements in places in 2022 and feedback from the National Qualifications 2023 Group, which includes representatives of teachers, parents and learners. SQA will also be undertaking an evaluation of their 2023 assessment arrangements to inform decisions going forward.

The Scottish Government and Education Scotland published the Equity Audit in January 2021 which involved an evidence review of local, national and international literature, along with a representative sample of 54 schools in Scotland. This helped our understanding of the impact that COVID-19 and school building closures had on children from disadvantaged backgrounds, and set clear areas of focus for accelerating recovery, including the refresh of the Scottish Attainment Challenge programme.

In addition, Officials have begun research and stakeholder engagement work to ensure that the Scottish Government fully understands the impact of COVID-19 in schools and continues to support ongoing education recovery. This follows on from the actions and next steps publication in October 2021.

Given the different approaches to assessment the pandemic has necessitated since 2020, it is difficult to directly compare this year’s exam results with any other year. However, in 2023, 20% of Higher entries by candidates from the most deprived areas (SIMD quintile 1) resulted in a grade A. This is higher than in 2017 (18.1%).

We use a basket of measures (including the 13 NIF measures, ACEL data and school leaver attainment) to measure the attainment gap as different conclusions may be drawn depending upon the data under consideration. For example, the attainment gap at National 5 has narrowed between 2017 and 2023. It is therefore unrealistic to assess the performance of the education system via a single measure (such as Higher A grades).

This year’s exam results showed significant progress with overall pass rates for National 5, Highers and Advanced Highers being above those in 2019.

The proportion of A grades for National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher were also above those in 2019.

It is testament to the resilience and hard work of our young people that overall, this is a strong set of results in an exam year.

As outlined in my letter to the Scottish Parliament’s Education, Children and Young People Committee dated 27 September 2023, Scottish universities and colleges can bid for one short term grant for a minimum of £1,000 and maximum of £25,000 to undertake international projects by 31 March 2024. They can also apply for an additional £10,000 for projects which contain cross sector educational partnerships e.g., with schools, youth work providers, adult learning, and sports organisations and will prioritise placements for disadvantaged groups.

As outlined in the Programme for Government, in 2024-25, we will build on this initial test and learn project to further develop the Scottish Education Exchange Programme.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on any costs associated with transition plans that local authorities have in place for children and young people, as this is a matter for individual authorities.

Under the Additional Support for Learning Act 2004, when a young person is expected to leave school the education authority has a duty to request and share information within specific timeframes to help support their transition. Local authorities are responsible for meeting their duties under the legislation and there are a range of planning mechanisms used by local authorities to meet children’s and young people’s needs.

The Scottish Government does not provide guidance to local authorities on offering temporary contracts to newly qualified teachers, as the recruitment and employment of teachers including recruitment practices are matters for individual councils.

All newly qualified teachers in Scotland must complete a period of probationary service to show that they meet the standards for full registration. Meeting this standard means that they can take on the demands and responsibilities of teaching.

Newly qualified teachers are not provided with 'temporary' contracts - they are provided with a probationary contract to ensure they complete the required training. This can be completed via the Teacher Induction Scheme (TIS) or via the Flexible Route and is financially supported by the Sottish Government.

We are supporting councils with an additional £145.5 million in this year’s budget to protect teacher numbers, which provides assurance of funding and removes this as a barrier to employing staff on permanent contracts.

The Scottish Government is working with partners to develop national guidance on school uniform. It is anticipated that non-statutory guidance will be published by spring 2024.

The guidance will be reintroduced as statutory guidance before the end of the Parliamentary term following the introduction of the relevant legislative provisions.

The Scottish Government and the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) engage regularly with colleges, which, are key anchors for the transition to Net Zero, acting as both community enablers and demonstration hubs in cities and regions.

Published in November 2022, SFC’s ‘Net Zero and Sustainability Framework for Action’ establishes a clear, long-term plan to support Scotland’s colleges and universities through the transition to Net Zero, reflecting improved corporate accountability and collective responsibility across the Further and Higher Education sector.

The plan sets out a clear timeline of actions which aim to embed net zero and sustainability across all aspects of the sector which you can find more information about here: https://www.sfc.ac.uk/net-zero/net-zero-reponse.aspx .

The aim of our long-term staffing strategy for education is to ensure there continues to be a high-quality education workforce that is empowered to deliver improved learning and societal outcomes for all children and young people, and has access to a wide range of effective professional learning.

We are supporting the recruitment of teachers by providing local authorities with £145.5m in this year's budget to protect increased teacher and support staff numbers. We also work with partners on the Teacher Workforce Planning Advisory Group (TWPAG) to determine the number of initial teacher education students required across Scotland.

To help support recruitment and retention of high-quality professionals, we have agreed the most generous pay deal for teachers since 2001, meaning that Scottish classroom teachers on the main-grade scale are the best paid in the UK. The impact of this is shown by the fact that Scotland has the most teachers-per-pupil in the UK.

We are also supporting existing teachers with their wellbeing and ensuring that they have access to high-quality professional learning.

To ensure effective and evidence-informed longer-term teacher workforce planning, the Scottish Government has commissioned an external analysis and research exercise that will bring together a range of factors including current teacher numbers, pupil teacher ratios and the projected decline in the number of school-aged children. This analysis will inform decisions on education workforce planning for future years.

The Programme for Government 2023-24 set out major new commitments on childcare, including how we will test, for the first time, what an all-age childcare system will look like for Scotland in six local authority areas. We are working closely with communities, our partners and providers to consider how the early learning and school age childcare workforce can support these systems, and what they will need to do so. This includes regulation, qualifications, professional development and recruitment planning. We are also supporting a sustainable childcare profession by providing funding to increase pay to £12 per hour to early learning and childcare professionals working in the private, voluntary and independent (PVI) sector who are delivering funded provision.

We are committed to reducing the cost of school uniform and supporting families so that every child in Scotland can attend school feeling comfortable, confident, and ready to learn.

It is for local authorities to determine the eligibility criteria for school clothing grant and respond to the individual needs and circumstances of pupils in their area. This vital support for families has increased to at least £120 for eligible primary school pupils and £150 for eligible secondary school pupils. As part of action to further reduce the cost of the school day for families, we have committed through the
‎ 2023-24 Programme for Government to uplift funding by inflation to local authorities for school clothing grant in the next financial year.

We recognise that not all families will be eligible to receive school clothing grant. Therefore, we will introduce national guidance on school uniform to support schools to work with families to develop and implement affordable and sustainable uniform and clothing policies that recognise the individual needs, circumstances and identities of all pupils. It is anticipated that the guidance will be published in spring 2024.

The Scottish Government home education guidance sets out the legal position on home education and provides advice on the roles and responsibilities of local authorities and parents in relation to children who are home educated.