Education

Scotland in 2024

Scotland has made progress in ensuring care experienced children and young people have equal access to education. Efforts have focused on closing the attainment gap between them and their peers, improving post-school opportunities, and clarifying the roles of schools and caregivers.

Positive steps include more care experienced students entering university and fewer school exclusions. However, challenges remain. Interruptions to education and exclusions show that The Promise is not yet fully met. Support varies across Local Authorities, and stronger collaboration between schools and care services is needed. Better data transparency and tracking of educational outcomes will help measure progress and improve support.

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 (Pg 71).

This means:

For children and young people, including those at risk of, or experiencing, seclusion or exclusion:

All barriers for young people who have had parenting responsibility to continue their education will have been removed. They will be supported to enter education at any age. They will be entitled to repeat year funding (if they are required to repeat a year), and year round funding to include the holiday period (Pg 93).
Children and young people will have opportunities for mentoring support throughout school, college and university (Pg 93)
Students will be prevented from getting into significant debt and universities and colleges will act on their responsibilities (Pg 93).
The formal and informal exclusion of care experienced children from school will have ended. Care experienced children will not be excluded from education or find their timetable has been reduced to such an extent they are denied their right to education (Pg 72)
Where children’s educational experience has been disrupted it will be understood that some children may require additional or different support to realise their potential. Learning pathways will be accessible and promoted to all with appropriate funding routes to build a diverse workforce (Pg 108).
Schools will not exacerbate trauma of children 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 (Pg 72). Seclusion is not an acceptable part of trauma informed care (Pg 86).
There will be clear preventative factors built into practice around challenging behaviours, de-escalation and subsequent reflection (Pg 86).

For schools and educational institutions:

The workforce will be properly supported and resourced to step in to put theory into good practice by supporting and building relationships with care experienced children and young people (Pg 71).
Schools will ensure that pupils and parents understand ‘care experience’ as part of their communities and as another type of family (Pg 72).
There will be engagement from the broader workforce around children and young people’s educational attainment, achievement and sustained positive destinations (Pg 71)
Schools and Local Authorities will be doing everything required to support children to build positive relationships at school and maintain attendance, engagement and learning in a meaningful and supportive way (Pg 71).
Teachers and school staff must be supported to be aware of the issues facing care experienced pupils so they can best engage and encourage them. (Pg 72).
Schools and educational institutions will support care experienced children and young people to receive all they are entitled to, via the consistent application of legal requirements (Pg 71)

These statements and the page numbers referenced are taken from the promise report, published when the Independent Care Review concluded in 2020.

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.

March: 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.

December: The Scottish Government published an interim report and impact assessment on the Scottish Mentoring and Leadership Programme.

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 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.

January: Education Scotland and the Care Inspectorate published a Quality improvement framework for early learning and childcare sectors.

February: Education Scotland published a supporting care experienced learners who are adopted resource.

Virtual Schools and the Virtual Head Teacher Network continue to offer support for 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.

June: The Children and Young People's Commissioner for Scotland commissioned Who Cares? Scotland to produce a report on Care Experienced children in Scotland’s education system.

June: The Scottish Government introduced the Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill to the Scottish Parliament.

June: The Scottish Government has published guidance on fostering a positive, inclusive and safe school environment and guidance for local authorities and educational settings

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.