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Ministers and Scottish Government officials have met representatives of the college sector frequently since 1 April 2021 through in-person meetings, visits and online meetings.

The information requested relates to Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) data and is not held by the Scottish Government.

SQA has advised that this information is available on their website, including historical data for all courses including those specifically listed. The data can be accessed at https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/105159.html .

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Individual local authorities may gather this data.

The Scottish Government commissions six-monthly reports from local authorities on school counselling services which asks for number of young people accessing counselling, broken down by gender and year groups. The reports also seek information on outcomes, inward and outward referrals as well as the issues young people are presenting with.

Within the reporting form there is a free text box where authorities are encouraged to share additional information, such as information on waiting times if they have that data available. Although some authorities have reported that services are at capacity, no concerns have been raised about young people’s needs not being met.

The Teacher Workforce Planning Advisory Group (TWPAG) considerations are based on an annual statistical model which estimates the number of ITE students required to achieve particular pupil teacher ratios. TWPAG includes representatives from local authority employers, as well as university providers of ITE, teacher unions and the General Teaching Council for Scotland.

TWPAG’s considerations are based on annual statistical model which estimates the number of ITE students required to maintain pupil teacher ratios. This model is based on a number of inputs including projections about the number of pupils in the system, churn in teacher numbers (for example recruitment, maternity leave, retirements, returners,) and the retention rates of ITE students.

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.

Teachers require a broad professional knowledge of early reading as a complex interplay of skills and background factors in order to improve children's literacy.

Phonics approaches form one aspect of an overall pedagogy for early reading.

Education Scotland is currently working to develop updated guidance and research-informed professional learning resources which will support teachers to develop children’s early reading. The resources will include guidance and advice on phonics as part of an overall reading pedagogy. In line with other items of guidance relating to Scotland’s curriculum, the resources are being developed within a broader context which seeks to empower teachers and schools to adapt their approach to meet the needs of individual learners.

The Scottish Government has an ongoing programme of evaluation on the employability services it provides.

A programme of evaluation has been in place for Fair Start Scotland (FSS) since its inception and all evaluation reports are publicly available on www.gov.scot . The evaluations have adopted a range of methodological approaches to represent and capture the experiences of a variety of contexts, including rural, medium, or large urban areas. The Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 FSS overall evaluation reports provide information on outcomes associated with taking part in FSS for individuals with a range of socio-demographic characteristics, including participants living in rural areas.

The Year 1 report is available at: Fair Start Scotland evaluation report 2: overview of year one - November 2019 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Year 2 report is available at: Fair Start Scotland - evaluation report 3: year two - overview - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Year 3 report is available at: Fair Start Scotland: evaluation report 4 - year 3 overview - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

An implementation evaluation of No One Left Behind and Young Person’s Guarantee was published in August 2023. The evaluation explored how effectively No One Left Behind and the Young Person's Guarantee had been implemented, the experiences of service providers and service users, and lessons from early delivery. The first stage of fieldwork included interviews with local employability stakeholders within several local authority areas, with areas selected to ensure a mix by geography (island, rural, medium / large urban), size and stage of implementation of service delivery.

The Implementation Evaluation of No One Left Behind and Young Person’s Guarantee Implementation is available at: No One Left Behind and the Young Person's Guarantee: implementation evaluation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Scottish Government will continue to undertake evaluation of its employability services, and plans for further evaluation activity are under development.

An implementation evaluation of No One Left Behind and Young Person’s Guarantee was published in August 2023.

This evaluation considered progress in implementation and delivery of No One Left Behind and Young Person’s Guarantee, the experiences of service providers and service users, barriers and enablers to implementation and identified lessons from early delivery. These areas are core features of process evaluations .

The Implementation Evaluation of No One Left Behind and Young Person’s Guarantee is available at: No One Left Behind and the Young Person's Guarantee: implementation evaluation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

There is a currently a mixed delivery of breakfast provision across Scotland with a range of service providers including public, private and third sector. We have conducted provisional modelling of breakfast provision and have begun work with local authorities and key stakeholders to better understand and map provision. We are continuing our mapping work which will contribute to more detailed modelling in future.

Discussions with both COSLA and individual local authorities about breakfast provision have taken place over the last eighteen months. These have covered issues such as existing delivery, and the range of possible delivery models and costs. The Scottish Government is currently working with the local authority facilities management organisation, AssistFM, to develop a clear picture of the scale and uptake of breakfast provision across Scotland.

There is a currently a mixed delivery of breakfast provision across Scotland with a range of service providers including public, private and third sector. We have begun work with local authorities and key stakeholders to better understand and map that provision. This mapping work will inform the development of a delivery strategy for breakfast provision designed around the needs of children and families.