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The programme is now in its third year following the initial pilot. In total 279 applications have been received from the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) registered teachers across Scotland. 166 have been successful in gaining a place on the programme since it began.

Pilot programme 2017 85 applications

Cohort 1 (2021-22) 56 applications

Cohort 2 (2022-23) 53 applications

Cohort 3 (2023-24) 85 applications

The SFC last undertook a review of the college estate in late 2017 through the College Sector Estate Conditions Survey. This identified that approximately one-third of the college estate required significant backlog maintenance, either through major repair or replacement of core elements of colleges’ estate. As a result, the college sector was allocated additional funding in 2018-19 to help fund very high priority maintenance needs.

The college sector capital funding allocation for 2023-24 increased by over 10% with £31.2m being allocated for backlog and lifecycle maintenance. The SFC offered greater flexibility by combining the two funding allocations. Additionally, the SFC has targeted £4.7m of capital maintenance funding to support the highest priority needs such as significant known and emerging health and safety issues, including making buildings wind and watertight.

The Scottish Government has working relationships with the Welsh Government on a number of issues but does not currently publish minutes of its meetings. This is to preserve a safe space for officials to discuss a range of matters.

While there are no plans to publish minutes of meetings with Welsh Government officials where areas of mutual interest including the Scottish Education Exchange Programme have been discussed, our engagement with the Welsh Government is helping to inform our Exchange Programme test and learn project.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. We have therefore sought information from the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS).

GTCS advised that they process applications by country of qualification as opposed to the location of the applicant and have therefore provided information based on the origin of the qualification (Scotland, rest of UK, international) rather than the location of the applicant.

Qualified in Scotland (hold a recognised teaching qualification from an accredited Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programme)

Applicants are invited to apply between November and February in the final year of their programme. The application process concludes when the ITE pass lists are received from Higher Education Institutions (through June and the start of July). Individuals are then added to the Register of Teachers once the applicant has paid their annual registration fee. In this cohort, 2,767 applications were concluded for the start of the 2023-24 academic year.

Qualified outside of Scotland (QoS)

GTCS use the same process for all QoS applications no matter where the applicant is currently domiciled, as their assessment process focuses on the qualifications held.

GTCS receive 1,300 applications from individuals who have qualified as teachers outside Scotland on average each year. They carry out individual assessment of these applications to ensure that their qualifications meet their standards.

For applications received where the qualification gained is from a country outside Scotland but within the UK, it is currently taking 10 weeks from the date of submission of the complete application (where all required documents are included) to individual assessment by a Case Officer.

For applications received where the qualification gained is from a country outside Scotland and outside the UK, it is currently taking 5 months from date of submission of the complete application (where all required documents are included) to individual assessment by a Case Officer.

The Scottish Government has published guidance for teaching staff which focuses on supporting positive behaviour and includes advice on prevention and de-escalation of incidents.

The latest iteration of our longitudinal Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research will report in the Autumn. The research informs the development of policy, guidance and support by providing a clear and robust picture of current relationships and behaviour in schools, and of policy and practice in this area.

Future developments will also be informed by discussions from the Head Teacher’s taskforce on school exclusion and the forthcoming summit on relationships and behaviour in schools. A multi-stage approach to the summit is planned, with events already having taken place in September, with more planned in October and November. These events will focus on practical support at classroom, school and local level to make a difference on relationships and behaviour.

There is a wide range of support material and resources on Education Scotland’s National Improvement HUB . Education Scotland have also provided professional learning through training the trainer models, and webinars. The resources are designed to address the behaviour of vulnerable children and young people whose behaviour is unregulated and results in significant challenges for themselves, practitioners and their peers.

The Independent Panel on Career Pathways for Teachers was established in August 2018 in response to a request from the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT).

The final report of the Panel published on 30 May 2019 set out 10 recommendations aimed at developing and supporting new flexible and exciting career pathways for teachers and headteachers.

The Scottish Government remains committed to working with the SNCT and partners to progress these ambitions.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information, because it is statutory responsibility of local authorities to manage and maintain their school estate.

This government has a strong record on the school estate, working in collaboration with local authority partners. The 2023 school estate statistics show that 90.7% of schools were in a good or satisfactory condition in 2023, up from 90.4% in 2022 and 61.1% in 2007. Since 2007-08, 1,098 school builds or substantial refurbishment projects have been completed.

The Scottish Government’s £2 billion Learning Estate Investment Programme is being delivered in partnership with local authorities and will build on this progress.

The Scottish Government is currently considering next steps and will update the Scottish Parliament later this year.

We continue to support our local authority partners with £16 million per year to ensure all secondary schools have access to school counselling services. It is for local authorities to determine how they deliver the counselling service in their area.

In December 2020, local authorities confirmed that counselling services were in place across Scotland for all school pupils aged 10 and above.

School counselling is just one a range of services in place to support children and young people’s mental health.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20534 on 6 September 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at : https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers