Education in Scotland

Pupils and Early Years Minister Adam Ingram, Education and Lifelong Learning Secretary Fiona Hyslop and Schools and Skills Minister Maureen Watt with pupils at Avenue End Primary Campus in Glasgow.

Children start primary school aged between 4½ and 5½ depending on when the child's birthday falls.[12] Scottish school policy places all those born between March of a given year and February of the following year in the same year group. Children born between March and August start school in August at between 5 and 5½ years old, and those born between September and February start school in the previous August at between age 4½ and 4 years 11 months years old. The Scottish system is the most flexible in the UK, however, as parents of children born between September and December can decide to defer for 1 year (but may or may not receive a funded nursery place in the deferral year), whilst children born between January and February can opt to hold their child back a year and let them start school the following August, with guaranteed nursery funding. This usually allows those not ready for formal education to have an extra year at an early years centre (formerly known as nursery).

Pupils remain at primary school for seven years. Then aged eleven or twelve, they start secondary school for a compulsory four years with the following two years being optional. In Scotland, pupils sit National 4/5 exams (previously Standard Grade or Intermediate exams) at the age of fifteen/sixteen, normally for between 6 and eight subjects including compulsory exams in English and Mathematics. A Science subject (Physics, Biology or Chemistry) and a Social Subject (Geography, History or Modern Studies) were also compulsory, but this was changed in accordance with the new curriculum. It is now required by the Scottish Parliament for students to have two hours of physical education a week; each school may vary these compulsory combinations. The school leaving age is generally sixteen (after completion of National 4/5s), after which students may choose to remain at school and study for Higher and/or Advanced Higher exams.

A small number of students at certain private, private schools may follow the English system and study towards GCSE instead of National 4/5s (Standard Grades), and towards A and AS-Levels instead of (or alongside) Higher Grade and Advanced Higher exams. The International Baccalaureate has also been introduced in some independent schools.

The table below lists rough equivalences with the year system in the rest of the United Kingdom (For England and Wales, the equivalence given is for children born before 1 September; the equivalence for those born from September to February [December for deferred pupils] is given in brackets):

Scottish school children during a classroom lesson

First Minister Alex Salmond visits a classroom at Turriff Academy

Government funded schools are free for children aged 5–19.[13] In many cases, this applies to children of international post-graduate students,[14] and other immigrants.

The age ranges specify the youngest age for a child entering that year and the oldest age for a child leaving that year. Playgroup can be described as a daycare centre for toddlers, then children may go on to attend an early years centre as soon as they have passed their third birthday, and progress to Primary 1 in the August of the year in which they turn five. In general, the cut-off point for ages is the end of February, so all children must be of a certain age on 1 March to begin class in August. All parents of children born between September and February (i.e. still 4 years old on the school start date) are entitled to defer entry to Primary School if they believe their child is not ready for school. Only children whose birthdays fall in January or February will be considered for funding for a subsequent year at an early years centre, unless there are special circumstances.

Children may leave school once they reach their statutory school leaving date; this is dependent on date of birth. For children born between 1 March and 30 September, this date is 31 May of their 4th year of secondary school. For children born between 1 October and 28 February, the last day of June is the first date they may leave school if they have a placement at college and the school have signed the health & safety forms. Which high school the children go to depends on the area where they live, known as the "catchment area", which has a specific high school that takes children who live in that area. Parents can also apply for a placement request if they would like their child to attend a school outside their catchment area and a panel will decide if the child is the most worthy (out of all placing requests) to take one of the spaces left after all children from the catchment area have been taken.

Access to secondary school education in Scotland's island communities can be complex. Due to lower population numbers in some of Scotland's island settlements, not every island community can have a secondary school given low pupil numbers and the financial strain this can present by having a secondary school open and operational for what, in some cases, can be a lower than average pupil roll.[15] In some areas, pupils attending secondary school require to travel from island communities to the mainland for access to secondary education, with children residing in residential accommodation (also called hostels) on the mainland during school term-term to avoid having to make lengthy travel back to their island communities.[16] The Scottish Government has pledged to ensure that "island students be put on an equal platform with their counterparts from the mainland".[17]

The table below lists list the numbers of children, schools and teachers in all publicly funded schools:[18]

Home education is also legal in Scotland. Parents wishing to home educate do not need the permission of the Local Authority unless the children are already registered at a school. There are no exact numbers available for children being educated at home in Scotland.[20]

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon with pupils, launching the National Improvement Framework which also conducted a review of national standardised assessments in Scottish schools

All educational qualifications in Scotland are part of the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework, ranging between Scottish Qualifications Authority qualifications, Scottish Vocational Qualifications and higher education qualifications. Pupils in Primary 1, Primary 4 and Primary 7 at primary school sit a set of national standardised assessments, with secondary pupils sitting the national standardised assessments in S3 in literacy, reading and numeracy. The assessments provided data and information to track pupils progress in education and allows the Scottish Government to collate data across Scotland regarding educational performance.[21]

The National Improvement Framework for Scottish Education was launched to ensure that children and young people in Scottish education experience a range of opportunities to learn and develop skills and capacities and ensuring that children and young people experience a broad general education.[22] The National Improvement Framework document highlighted six key drivers for improvement in Scottish education; School and Early Learning and Childcare leadership, teacher and Early Years Practitioner professionalism, parental/carer involvement and engagement, curriculum and assessment, school and Early Learning and Childcare improvement and performance information.[23]

Progression in Qualifications

The vast majority of Scottish pupils take Scottish Qualifications Certificate qualifications provided by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA). Generally, most pupils take National 4/5s (previously Standard Grades, but some schools offered Intermediates instead) in S3-S4, and Highers in S5. The number of National 4/5 qualifications a pupil enters can vary drastically depending on the individual, with the most common number of National 5s taken, per pupil, in 2017 being 6,[24] however some may choose to undertake as few as one or two, up to eight or nine. For those who wish to remain at school for the final year (S6), more Highers and Advanced Highers (formerly CSYS) in S6 can be taken. Previous qualifications Intermediate 1 and Intermediate 2 – were intended to be roughly equivalent to General and Credit Level Standard Grades respectively.

Pupils can go to university at the end of S5, as Highers provide the entry requirements for Scottish universities where degrees are normally four years long; however, recently it is more common for students to remain until S6, taking further Highers and/or taking Advanced Highers. The majority of English universities, the most popular choice for Scottish students who wish to study university degrees outside of Scotland, require Advanced Higher qualification levels as these are deemed by the English universities to be most similar to A-levels.

Scottish universities generally have courses a year longer (typically 4 years) than their counterparts elsewhere in the UK, though it is often possible for students to take more advanced specialised exams and join the courses at the second year. One unique aspect is that the ancient universities of Scotland issue a Master of Arts as the first degree in humanities. State schools are owned and operated by the local authorities which act as Education Authorities, and the compulsory phase is divided into primary school and secondary school (often called high school). Schools are supported in delivering learning and teaching by Education Scotland (formerly Learning and Teaching Scotland). There are also private schools across the country, although the distribution is uneven with such schools in 22 of the 32 Local Authority areas. At September 2011 the total pupil population in Scotland was 702,104, of which 31,425 pupils, or 4.5%, were being educated in independent schools.[25]

Qualifications at the secondary school and post-secondary (further education) level are provided by the Scottish Qualifications Authority, which is the national awarding and accrediting body in Scotland, and delivered through various schools, colleges and other centres. Political responsibility for education at all levels is vested in the Scottish Parliament and the Learning Directorate.[26] Inspections and audits of educational standards are conducted by three bodies: Care Inspectorate inspects care standards in pre-school provision; Education Scotland (formerly Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education) for pre-school, primary, education, further and community education; with the Scottish office of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA Scotland) responsible for higher education.

A review of Curriculum for Excellence gave powers to teachers to remove unnecessary bureaucracy

Unlike England's nationally followed National Curriculum, Scotland had no national standards for some time. In 2003, work began on an education reform programme, to produce a new Curriculum for Excellence that would replace existing guidance on the school curriculum.[27] Curriculum for Excellence was launched in Scottish secondary schools from school session 2012–2013. In 2017, new reforms were introduced moving control over curriculum and schools more towards head teachers and parents.[28][29] Additional recommendations were made regarding the level of bureaucracy attached to Curriculum for Excellence that had been raised by teachers and Early Years Practitioners as a major problem with the curriculum. Following a review, in 2017, the Scottish Government introduced a new framework that would empower teachers and Early Years Practitioners to remove the unnecessary levels of bureaucracy that had been attached to Curriculum for Excellence, planning and evaluating for children's progress and learning and the paperwork involved in Scottish education as a whole.[30]

A review was undertaken by the OECD, having been commissioned by the Scottish Government to look at the broad general education.[31]

The majority of schools are non-denominational, and include the parish schools, pioneered by the Church of Scotland and other Protestant Churches, which became state schools in 1872. Religious education is taught in non-denominational schools and in denominational schools. Of over 2,500 schools in Scotland, there are 366 state schools which are Roman Catholic, three Episcopalian and one Jewish. The Education (Scotland) Act 1918 brought Roman Catholic schools within the State education system, ensuring the promotion of a Roman Catholic ethos within such schools.[32]

Marr College in Troon, South Ayrshire, carries the name College rather than High School or Academy

There is not a set name for secondary schools in Scotland, but whatever they might be called, with just a few specific exceptions in mainly rural or island authorities, state secondary schools in Scotland are fully comprehensive and non-selective. Amongst the state-run secondary schools:

• 188 are nominally High Schools. These are spread across the country. Almost all Catholic secondaries are high schools, with the majority of the other names being non-denominational schools.
• 131 are nominally Academies. These are spread across the country but are in high concentration in North-East Scotland, Ayrshire and Galloway, an example is Banchory Academy. There are also three Royal Academies, in Irvine, North Ayrshire; Tain; and Inverness.
• 15 are nominally Secondary Schools (colloquially abbreviated to "secondaries"). These are found mostly in Glasgow.
• 14 are nominally Grammar Schools. Most of these schools were defined as grammar schools under a previous (now dissolved) system but their names remain. Popular areas for grammar schools are Argyll and Bute, East Lothian and South Lanarkshire.
• 13 are simply Schools. These schools cater for Primary as well as Secondary school children. They are found in rural areas or islands.
• 8 are Junior High Schools. These schools are found exclusively in the Orkney and Shetland Islands. They cater for school children from P1 to S4.
• 4 are Colleges. These include Madras College (in St Andrews, Fife), Marr College (in Troon, South Ayrshire) and St Joseph's College (in Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway).

Other schools include The Community School of Auchterarder, Auchterarder, Perth and Kinross; The Nicolson Institute, Stornoway, Western Isles; North Walls Community School on Hoy, Orkney Islands and Wester Hailes Education Centre, Wester Hailes, Edinburgh. All of these are, equally, fully comprehensive non-selective schools, differing only in designation from all other state secondary schools in Scotland.

The SNP-led government launched the Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy in 2011.[43] The survey showed a sustained decline in basic literacy and numeracy among school pupils over six years.[44] It was then scrapped by the government and its measures of literacy were replaced in part with a system based on teacher judgements.[43] The teacher judgement data from December 2018 indicated that 70% of pupils achieved the expected literacy level by the end of primary school.[43]

The government withdrew Scotland from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study in 2010, making international comparisons of literacy difficult.[45] It remains part of the Programme for International Student Assessment, which shows that Scotland's international standing in reading and mathematics (as well as science) in schools fell between the first decade of the century and 2018.[45]

The Scottish Survey of Adult Literacies in 2009 reported that 26.7% of adults in Scotland "may face occasional challenges and constrained opportunities due to their literacies difficulties, but will generally cope with their day-to-day lives". Of that group, 3.6% "face serious challenges in their literacies practices".[46]

Music education is available at several levels. Formal music education begins at 4½ years and can progress as high as postgraduate studies. Music education can take place within a Scottish Music school; through a music service or privately.

Some schools in Scotland provide education given in the Scottish Gaelic language. They are mainly located in the main cities of Scotland and in areas with higher amounts of Gaelic speakers. Gaelic medium education is becoming increasingly popular throughout Scotland, and the number of pupils who are in Gaelic medium education at primary school level has risen from 24 in 1985, to 2500 in the 2012–13 school year.[47]