The results of a survey of secondary headteachers, carried out for the Scottish government, has been published today.

The survey asked them about the “senior phase” curriculum, covering the last three years of secondary school from S4 to S6. Here are some of the key findings, based on responses from 159 of the country’s 357 secondary schools.

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• Most heads (85 per cent) report “achieving an integrated, progressive and coherent experience” for pupils in the senior phase.
• 77 per cent are “very confident or confident that their school provides a sufficient variety of learning pathways” to meet the needs of pupils in the senior phase.
• 88 per cent of heads “felt they had sufficient autonomy to determine the pathways that their school offers in the senior phase”.
• 74 per cent identified timetabling pressures as “a constraint”.
• 61 per cent reported that the training or professional learning they receive to enable them to design the senior phase has been helpful, but two-fifths disagreed that it was helpful.
• On concerns over narrowing subject choices in the senior phase, 41 per cent of respondents indicated that S4 pupils can select six courses.
• 48 per cent said S4s can select seven-course choices.
• In S5, 74 per cent of heads said pupils can select five-course choices.
• In S6, 63 per cent said they offered five-course choices at their school, while just under 20 per cent said six.
• 97 per cent of heads said that they were flexible in their approach and offered individualised timetables where possible.
• 90 per cent felt they were able to mostly, or completely, ensure “continuity of learning” between the “broad general education” (S1-3) and the senior phase.
• Timetabling pressures and a lack of teachers were identified by over 70 per cent of heads as factors limiting their ability to ensure continuity.
• 95 per cent of schools have established long-term partnerships with colleges, and 75 per cent with employers.

Education secretary and deputy first minister John Swinney said: “Young people now have the widest-ever range of courses to gain skills and knowledge and last year a record proportion of pupils went on to positive destinations such as work, training or further study. This survey is welcome evidence that, through Curriculum for Excellence, headteachers are embracing that choice.

“Nearly all schools are giving young people the flexibility to choose the courses to suit them, by offering personalised timetables in schools or by collaborating with other schools, colleges or other partners to deliver learning. Almost nine out of ten headteachers say they have the autonomy to determine the senior phase in their school.

“This demonstrates that our focus on empowering schools is working and that schools are making decisions about how best to meet the needs and aspirations of their pupils.”

Mr Swinney added: “These results will feed into our independent review of the senior phase to help us better understand how the curriculum is being implemented in schools and identify any areas for improvement.”