The Pupil Equity Fund (PEF) is not being used in the way it was intended and a different approach will have to be found when it ends in its current form in 2026, education secretary Jenny Gilruth told the School Leaders Scotland (SLS) conference in Aberdeen today.
Ms Gilruth also used her keynote address to: sound an upbeat note about the policy to reduce teachers’ class-contact time, call for more autonomy for headteachers, and express concerns about the probationer teacher scheme.
She reminded SLS - which represents the secondary sector - that the Scottish Attainment Challenge (SAC) and associated Pupil Equity Fund had started in 2016 as a way of providing schools with extra money to find innovative ways of reducing the “poverty-related attainment gap”.
However, she was concerned that, instead, PEF money was now often used by schools to plug gaps that should be the responsibility of non-education services.
Heads’ ‘major concern’ over PEF support
She had responded to a question from Christopher Smith, headteacher at Our Lady’s and St Patrick’s High School, in Dumbarton, West Dunbartonshire. He described the prospect of not having the PEF after the 2026 Scottish Parliament election as a “major concern”.
Ms Gilruth responded that money from the SAC and PEF was meant to be “additional”. She cited the example of “income maximisation officers” in Falkirk Council, which had admirable intentions but, in her view, was not in the spirit of what SAC and PEF were originally for.
There was now “too much expectation on schools to deliver” in areas that should instead be the responsibility of, for example, health services.
”What’s happened over the course of a number of years is that budgets have been eroded, and SAC and PEF filled that gap,” she said - but added that they are due to “come to an end” in 2026.
Looking at the current set-up around budgets and support for schools, she said that “I don’t think the status quo is sustainable” and that “we need to look fundamentally at how we fund our schools”.
Ms Gilruth also responded to secondary headteachers’ concerns that the promise to reduce teachers’ weekly class-contact time by 90 minutes would be prohibitively expensive and that there were not enough teachers for it to happen.
“We do have enough primary teachers to move on non-contact time,” insisted Ms Gilruth, who added that some authorities, such as Fife, were ready across both primary and secondary.
She is “very focused on how we can reduce class contact before 2026”.
She alluded, however, to a key problem that would have to be addressed: while school leaders would like to see much of the 90 minutes used for “collaborative work” and CPD, teaching unions have argued that it should be for preparation and correction of pupils’ work.
Ms Gilruth also said that the drive to empower headteachers had been stalled by Covid, and that Scottish education has “got to get back to that”. She questioned the sustainability of 32 councils controlling the country’s schools and suggested that heads should have more control over staffing.
Probationer ‘churn’ to be addressed
The education secretary conceded, too, that the probationer scheme - more formally known as the Teacher Induction Scheme - was not working in the way intended, with too much “churn” of new teachers.
She had listened to suggestions that it should be extended from one to two years and said she would consider the merits of that idea. She has also asked local authorities body Cosla to look at probationers as part of budget negotiations.
On teacher numbers more generally, she said this issue must be addressed in any discussions about education reform.
Ms Gilruth explained that she remained open-minded about aspects of education reform set out in reports such as the Hayward review of qualifications and assessment. Of its recommendations, she said, the only idea she had categorically ruled out was ending exams at National 5.
Damian Hayes, a depute head at Boroughmuir High School in Edinburgh, suggested a “half-way house” might be to shorten National 5s - an idea Ms Gilruth said she would look at.
She also flagged up that an important milestone for Scottish education would come in December, with the publication of a revised National Improvement Framework.
One of biggest challenges for schools in the years ahead, Ms Gilruth said, would be tackling extremism and disinformation, pointing to a growing problem around misogynistic behaviour.
Education Scotland ‘trying to be all things to all people’
Yesterday at the SLS conference, Education Scotland won some praise from outgoing SLS president Peter Bain. However, in a speech later that day, Education Scotland strategic director David Gregory stressed that there was still room for improvement: Education Scotland had been guilty of trying to be “all things to all people” and that “has to stop”.
He also said the Education Scotland website could be more useful. It was easy to find fairly niche information at times - such as how to use drones in education - whereas some advice that has far wider interest could prove “impossible” to find.
On education reform, Mr Gregory highlighted the Education Scotland report that was the subject of a Tes Scotland exclusive earlier the same day. While it marked a significant step forward in addressing the weaknesses of Curriculum for Excellence, he stressed that “it’s impossible to change a system in 7-8 months”.
Also yesterday at the SLS conference, Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) chief executive Fiona Robertson promised that assessment reform would bring more “more streamlined choice” and “clearer progression pathways”.
The transformation into the proposed new body of Qualifications Scotland would be “keeping the best of what SQA does”, she said, but would nevertheless represent “fundamental” change - “this is not merely about the rebranding of the SQA”, she added.
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