Budget cuts and geography form ‘barriers’ to council support

There is “notable variability” in the consistency and quality of support provided to schools by local authorities, says Scotland’s interim chief inspector of education in an Education Scotland report.

Local authority approaches to supporting school improvement finds that only “a minority” of local authorities are succeeding in “demonstrably improving attainment and standards in learning, teaching, and assessment in primary schools” and that the situation is worse in secondary schools.

It states: “In most authorities, there is a need to revisit the principles of self-evaluation for improvement, so that this is well understood by school leaders and staff at all levels, particularly in secondary schools.”

However, the report also highlights “the very challenging fiscal landscape and the resulting cuts to education budgets and some services”.

Concerns shared by school leaders

It says that “budget cuts and fiscal challenges are a shared concern among all local authorities and school leaders” and that “financial constraints mean that the numbers of staff in central teams, in almost all geographical areas, are diminishing”.

The report, published last week, says: “In a few local authorities, the central team do not have capacity to support high numbers of schools requiring targeted or intensive support.”

It also finds that while high-quality professional learning provided by councils for teachers is a strength, the staff whose role involves supporting schools are themselves often in need of training.

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In a foreword, Scotland’s interim chief inspector of education, Janie McManus, says: “There is a gap in comprehensive professional learning for central officers in local authorities - an area that must be addressed to ensure that they are equipped to lead and support improvement effectively.”

The report makes seven recommendations, including: all schools must receive “high-quality, consistent support”; improvement of training for middle leaders, particularly in secondaries, on self-evaluation for improvement; and establishing a national professional learning programme for local authority central officers.

Scottish education directors’ body ADES welcomed the report, saying it identified “many strengths” - as well as recognising its work to improve consistency of standards across all 32 Scottish councils.

Sheena Devlin, ADES general secretary, added: “The critical work now needs to begin; that is, identifying how, and by who, the recommendations will be realised.”

The national thematic inspection report on how local authorities in Scotland support school improvement was announced in the wake of the 2024 exam results.

On results day in August 2024, education secretary Jenny Gilruth expressed her dissatisfaction with the ”wide degree of variation in results between our 32 local authorities”.

Strengths and weaknesses

In her foreword, Ms McManus says that across Scotland “there is much to commend”, including “strong examples of strategic leadership, robust data-driven self-evaluation, and collaborative cultures where schools and local authorities work together to improve outcomes for children and young people”.

However, she adds that there are also “areas where improvement is needed”.

She says: “There is notable variability in the consistency and quality of support provided to schools, both within and across local authorities.

“The effectiveness of self-evaluation processes requires strengthening, to maximise the progress of children and young people. Strengthening leadership development at all levels is essential for building capacity for continuous improvement.”

Ms McManus also recognises “the fiscal challenges facing all local authorities are significant”, as well as “unique challenges” for the third of Scottish councils with “rural and remote contexts”, where the report finds that “consistent in-person engagement” with schools is difficult, given “significant journeys for central officers to remote schools” and “transport difficulties”.

Rurality is also cited as a barrier to teachers engaging in professional learning and ”attracting and retaining high-quality staff”. Even hybrid approaches - where a mix of in-person and online engagement is used - can fail because of “poor broadband or digital infrastructure”.

Regional improvement collaboratives, or RICs - which grouped local authorities together in a bid to improve capacity across a region and “add value through collective efforts” - were introduced by the government in 2018 and then had their funding cut in 2023.

The report only mentions them once. It says that smaller local authorities “cite [RIC] partnerships as having been instrumental in facilitating connections and partnerships with other local authorities”.

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