The long-awaited Muir report on reform of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) and Education Scotland is being published today, a day earlier than expected.
Three national organisations are to be created through the reforms announced by education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville at around 5.30pm today.
The SQA and Education Scotland are expected to be replaced, as part of the reforms, with a new qualifications body and a new education agency being established, as well as an independent inspectorate for Scottish education. They would become fully established in 2024.
Here are some of the key points in the Muir report (which can be read in full here):
Curriculum for Excellence
- There should be “a national discussion on establishing a compelling and consensual vision for the future of Scottish education”, which should consider the “vision for Curriculum for Excellence”.
SQA’s successor
- A new body, Qualifications Scotland, should be established, taking on the SQA’s “current awarding functions, chiefly the responsibility for the design and delivering of qualifications, the operation and certification of examinations, and the awarding of certificates”.
- The remit of this “non-departmental public body (NDPB) should also include “income-generating contract services currently provided by SQA for organisations, governments and businesses” and the “SQA’s current international work”.
- The new qualifications body should “include more representation from, and accountability to, all learners, teachers, practitioners and the stakeholders with whom it engages”.
New national education agency
- A “national agency for Scottish education” should be established, “comprising the current support and improvement functions of Education Scotland, SQA’s accreditation/regulation directorate, the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) Partnership and elements of Scottish government’s Curriculum, Qualifications and Gaelic Division”.
- Regulation of qualifications should be “at arm’s length from Scottish ministers”.
Independent schools
- All teachers in independent schools should be registered and regulated by the General Teaching Council for Scotland.
Inspection
- A new education inspection body should be created, “with its independence enshrined in legislation”.
Early years
Vocational education
- The Scottish government’s online Insight tool should “help drive change in Scottish education, and in particular...enhance parity of esteem across academic and non-academic qualifications and awards”.
Workload
- “Arrangements should be put in place that allow for the active monitoring of the volume of policy expectations on local authorities, schools and senior leaders to ensure that these are realistic, manageable and well understood.”
Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “These changes are designed to improve outcomes and build trust in Scotland’s education system. Our renewed system must reflect the culture and values we want to see embedded throughout; it must be a system that puts learners at the centre and provides excellent support for our teachers and practitioners.”
Professor Ken Muir, the author of the report, said: “As our students and society change over time, so too do our expectations of what we want and need from our education system. It is important that Scottish education reflects and responds to those changes in ways that offer opportunities for all current and future learners to thrive.
“The recommendations in my report are designed to ensure that the needs of every individual learner lie at the heart of all decisions taken and all that we do.
“They are designed to ensure that the voices of learners, teachers and practitioners have greater prominence and influence in decision making and that teachers and practitioners receive the support they need in carrying out their challenging and critically important teaching role.”
