Education

Where is Scotland in 2024?

Scotland has made progress in advancing the right to education for care experienced children and young people, aiming to provide equitable access and support. Efforts have included targeted activity aimed at improving educational outcomes. These emphasise the necessity for the attainment gap between care experienced children and young people and their non-care experienced peers, which historically has been significant, to be eliminated.

Progress is apparent in the development of support mechanisms to enhance post-school destinations and clarify the responsibilities of educational institutions and caregivers. This reflects a proactive approach to ensuring care experienced children and young people have the necessary resources and guidance to navigate their educational journey successfully. Specific examples of progress include an increase in the number of care experienced students studying for an undergraduate degree, and a decrease in school exclusions .

However, despite these efforts, the continued interruptions and exclusions signify Scotland is not yet meeting the educational commitments for care experienced children and young people set out in the promise, indicating a need for more decisive and co-ordinated action across all Local Authorities. Variability in the implementation of support frameworks and the effectiveness of partnership working between educational institutions and care services pose ongoing obstacles. Data transparency and the monitoring of educational attainment also require improvement to accurately assess progress and target support effectively.

Where does Scotland need to be by 2030?

By 2030, schools and educational establishments in Scotland will be ambitious for care experienced children and young people and ensure they have all they need to thrive, recognising they may experience difficulties associated with their life story.

Care experienced pupils will:

Have opportunities for mentoring support.
Learn about their rights in a developmentally appropriate way.
Understand ‘care experience’ as part of their communities and as types of family.
Not be excluded from education or have their timetables reduced to such an extent they are denied their right to education.

This means schools and educational institutions will:

Have a clear understanding of the rights of children and how to champion and uphold them with access to resources to do so.
Have engagement from the broader workforce around educational attainment, achievement and sustained positive destinations.
Provide time, support and opportunity for all staff to develop kind, supportive relationships with care experienced learners.
Support staff to be aware of the issues facing care experienced learners so they can best engage and encourage.
Not exacerbate the trauma of children and young people by imposing consequences for challenging behaviour that are restrictive, humiliating and stigmatising. This includes seclusion or restraint and can include certain use of behaviour reward systems.
Train their workforce to be trauma-informed and trauma-aware.
Remove all barriers for young people who have had parenting responsibility to continue their education.
Support care experienced learners to receive all they are entitled to, via the consistent application of legal requirements.

The route map to get there

Focus must be on the fact that money is not always focused on the right things and budgets are decreasing, leading to overstretched services and increasing numbers of families in poverty. There are clear tensions in what Scotland says it wants for its children and families, and what it is doing with the resources it has. For progress to be made, work must prioritise resolving this to ensure the money that is spent is clearly aligned to need and impact across the 'care system' and all adjacent systems.

Clear pathways, funding and resourcing for alternative education provision must be identified where required. Going forward, early help and support should be prioritised alongside developing greater levels of guidance for parents and carers.

Work is currently underway with Education Scotland, COSLA and Association of Directors of Education in Scotland to develop and agree meaningful, measurable outcomes in response to what was heard by the Independent Care Review.

The Scottish Government are considering the Scottish Advisory Group on Relationships and Behaviour in Schools (SAGRABIS) recommendations on the ending of formal and informal school exclusions. This commitment is one of many agreed strategic actions outlined. Other actions relate to supporting attendance, creating safe and consistent environments in schools and improved guidance and support on relational approaches and consequences. The national action plan is expected to be published in 2024.

There will be an evaluation of the MCR Pathways Mentoring programme reaching over 3,000 care experienced young people and young people on the edges of care across 85 schools in Scotland.

The actions outlined in the Voice foundation are fully embedded at every stage to progress actions on Education.

What is helping?

In academic year 2023/24, the Care Experienced Bursary (CEB) was increased to £9,000. This is a non-income assessed, non-repayable grant available to eligible Scottish domiciled students in full-time Further or Higher Education who have been in Local Authority care. In the academic year 2022/23 £13.8 million was awarded, benefiting 1,840 full time students.

In 2024, the first tranche of the Care Experienced Children and Young People Fund (CECYP) funding for the 2023/24 academic term was paid to Local Authorities totalling £7m, enabling additional support to be provided for care experienced children and young people.

There are examples of targeted support for care experienced children and young people, such as Hub for Success’ provision of impartial, one-to-one support, the #KeepingThePromise in Education award, Columba 1400 Young Leadership Academy and MCR Pathways Young Scottish Talent Programme.

Virtual Schools and the Virtual Head Teacher Network have positively influenced school experiences and the wellbeing of care experienced learners. In some areas across Scotland this has contributed to a significant reduction in school exclusions. The Scottish Government provides £100,000 annual funding to enable CELCIS to support the facilitation of the network.

Many education establishments have implemented trauma-informed training and have raised awareness amongst all staff on understanding the needs of care experienced learners. There is evidence of co-ordinated emotional health and wellbeing supports which are person-centred and rights based. A focus on attainment, achievement and positive destinations and nurturing the needs of care experienced learners enables them to flourish and reach their full potential. One example of this is the UNICEF Rights Respecting Schools programme and its focus on culture, ethos and learning environments.

The Scottish Attainment Challenge - which has a particular focus equity and on closing the poverty-related attainment gap - and practical support, advice and guidance from Attainment Advisers is helping Local Authorities to improve educational outcomes for those who encounter barriers to learning.