Gaps, overlaps, and challenges
The report reviews the education reform agenda as it relates to the Scottish Government priorities and identifies what’s working, where it falls short, and what needs urgent attention. The results reveal how education and skills policy can be better integrated across national priorities to tackle longstanding societal challenges and secure a strong future.
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Executive summary
Fostering capable citizens across a range of capacities is key to a nation’s success, from the strength of its economy to the health and wellbeing of its population to its resilience in the face of change. Scotland is no different: the skills and knowledge of its people are inextricably linked to its overall prosperity.
A country’s education and training system forms the foundation on which these attributes are developed. Education and skills policy must therefore be viewed not in isolation, but as a fundamental component of a thriving nation. In Scotland’s case, it is essential that the policy objectives for the country as a whole are underpinned by an education and skills system that aligns with these objectives from both a social and economic perspective. This alignment must be evidenced not only in policy narratives, but also in the respective actions taken to deliver them.
Achieving the policies laid out by the Scottish Government across its main priority areas is heavily dependent on building a suitably skilled workforce. However, there remain significant challenges in ensuring those undertaking initial education – and those already in the workplace – can access the right opportunities to fulfil personal aspirations as well as contribute to the future success of Scotland. From the perspectives of the businesses and organisations that will provide the products and services to deliver these policies, the ability to recruit and retain highly qualified people across a variety of disciplines and competency levels is crucial.
This report presents the findings of a research project that sought to understand how Scottish Government’s principal policy areas – as captured by the Programme for Government – relate to each other, and how the changes brought by the educational reform agenda can support their delivery.
Findings and recommendations
A series of recommendations are provided for each identified priority that suggest how the various pillars of the education reform agenda can best serve that priority. In some cases, these recommendations are straightforward, calling for specific findings to be implemented as they stand. In other cases, they speak to more systemic and enduring challenges, most notably:
- the importance of reinforcing the parity of esteem between different educational journeys and career paths. Whilst changing current perceptions is a difficult task, addressing it should nevertheless be on the government’s immediate radar.
- the important role of both colleges and universities in supporting those entering, and those already in, the work force to achieve successful and meaningful careers in roles that are needed for Scotland’s future success.
- a paucity of data and evidence. Without access to the right evidence, even the most well-intentioned policies are at risk of failure. This report would go as far as to say the most glaring data shortages should be addressed before any other recommendations are enacted to ensure any next steps are enlightened ones.
- the introduction of new initiatives, while established and valuable interventions requiring sustained investment are left dormant or discontinued. The fact that many of the required solutions already exist speaks to the quality and dedication of Scotland’s policymaking community.
- how policy misalignment might disproportionately impact certain groups, such as women, minorities, older adults, and communities who are dependent on carbon-intensive industries, bringing an added imperative to correct it.
The detailed findings of the research are presented within the body of the report, highlighting areas where educational policy and national themes are coherent and where gaps and mismatches are present. A summary of the recommendations that arise from these broader findings are provided below, categorised according to the relevant national priority.
Priority 1: Education and growing the economy
There are already a number of worthwhile initiatives to be found across many of the policies under consideration, focused primarily on widening access and opportunities.
Recommendation: These should be duly prioritised, given their demonstrated benefits.
Some valuable funding programmes have been curtailed or dropped.
Recommendation: The government is urged to monitor the impact of its interventions and review the removal of programmes such as the Flexible Workforce Development Fund (FWDF)
There are broad overlaps between Scotland’s National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET) and Fit for the Future: developing a post-school learning system to fuel economic transformation.
Recommendation: Whilst we acknowledge the institutional changes proposed by Withers, there remains plenty of scope to amplify NSET’s potential impact by linking it to education reform more deliberately.
There is a lack of research into older working adults.
Recommendation: We propose greater research into – and indeed, practical efforts to harness – older adults’ experiences and talents to enhance equity and tackle skills shortages.
Recommendation: There should be a review of the age limitation on apprenticeship provision.
The proposal to establish “a new national skills planning approach” (Dey, 2025a) as part of the post-school funding landscape update is a positive step.
Recommendation: Policymakers are urged to seek genuine and meaningful alignment across the qualifications and skills landscape in secondary and tertiary education.
There is consensus on the need to maximise inclusivity and accessibility.
There is agreement across Fit for the Future: developing a post-school learning system to fuel economic transformation, the Adult Learning Strategy for Scotland 2022-2027 (ALS), and It’s Our Future: Report of the Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment on the introduction of a lifelong digital training record (LDTR).
Recommendation: The LDTR should be implemented. Its introduction should be preceded by a corresponding review of My World of Work to assess its suitability as a potential hosting platform.
Too little is known about the Skills Recognition Scotland (SRS) programme and its impact and effectiveness to determine how to proceed.
Recommendation: We strongly urge the government to increase its efforts to make this programme meaningful and successful; in particular, we call for greater transparency, oversight, and evaluation of the social justice principles that have informed the SRS.
The aforementioned data gap found within the policy literature extends to the area of adult literacies, which are generally understood to mean literacy, numeracy, digital literacy, and problem-solving skills.
Recommendation: We propose action to address the gap in data relating to adult literacies.
A pledge was made in the Adult Learning Strategy 2022-2027 to undertake a review of Adult Literacies in Scotland 2020: Strategic Guidance, originally published in 2010.
Recommendation: We would welcome clarity on the timeline, process, and outcome of this pledge. This would greatly contribute to our understanding of the adult literacies landscape and enable planning for provision to upskill for further opportunities and employment.
ESOL is particularly important for avoiding the pitfalls of underemployment: as one example, the Poverty Alliance reports the misassessment of migrant women’s levels of English, combined with a lack of instruments to suitably map their qualifications, resulting in their being put forward for roles for which they are overqualified.
Recommendation: Given Scotland’s ageing population and the reserved nature of migration policy, we urge the government to invest in the talent in our midst by accommodating New Scots appropriately in education, training, and employment.
Priority 2: Education and eradicating child poverty
There is clear evidence that early childhood experiences extend well into adulthood. Accessing high-quality early learning and childcare is therefore vital in setting young people up to become healthy and successful adults.
Recommendation: The next iteration of Best Start, Bright Futures (Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan: 2026 – 2031) (BSBF) should offer a clear sense of how education for caregivers is to be leveraged as a strategic measure to reduce child poverty and achieve better outcomes for young people in the long-term.
“Child poverty” is a manifestation of deprivation at the parental or family level. Interventions should therefore tackle the root causes of this deprivation (e.g. low-paid work) as well as its indicators.
Given its direct relationship to employability and earning potential, the post-school education system – including adult learning, community learning, colleges, and universities – should be a key locus for lasting poverty alleviation.
Recommendation: Given the range of courses, skills, sectors, and individuals that could be served by these funds – and, by extension, the breadth of policy priorities addressed by their availability – Individual Training Accounts (ITAs) and the Flexible Workforce Development Fund (FWDF) should be reinstated to facilitate adult employment and hence, mitigate family poverty.
Recommendation: The Lifetime Skills Offer should be taken forward at pace, given its ubiquity across policies and its potential to transform lives, communities, and public services.
Recommendation: Action on delivering the Adult Learning Strategy should no longer be delayed as it risks entrenching existing inequalities and counters its explicit mission “to tackle child poverty by ensuring that parents – both in and out of work – are able to access the skills they need to progress in their career” (Scottish Government, 2022e, p. 3).
Fit for the Future: developing a post-school learning system to fuel economic transformation (the Withers Review) offers multiple ways to enhance parity for access for those who need it most, such as calling “for those undertaking part-time learning or pursuing certain approved accelerated retraining programmes to receive the same pro-rata level of funding support for living costs as those in full time education” (Scottish Government, 2023f, p. 40).
Recommendation: The findings of the Withers Review can be further applied to alleviate poverty by improving access to post-school education. Significantly, although the government has accepted this recommendation, its delivery does not appear imminent and so should be suitably fast tracked.
The BSBF Progress Report 2023 – 2024 acknowledges the role of the Withers Review in supporting parents, and that post-school education reform is part of the wider strategy for alleviating poverty, promising “a paper bringing together the full evidence and related source documents [about the longer-term programme of reform of post-school education]” (Scottish Government, 2024a, p. 15).
Recommendation: We encourage the government to accelerate its release.
Community learning and development (CLD) is significantly under-funded given the strategic, social, and economic benefits it can address.
Recommendation: Considering CLD aims to serve marginalised groups of learners and communities, its lack of status and funding raise questions about equity and social justice and counters the “equity and excellence” narrative of the broader educational policy landscape in recent years. We need a better understanding of the government’s intentions to strengthen CLD provision and resources as integral parts of the post-school education system.
Very limited Scotland-specific evidence exists on the role of skills and training in alleviating poverty and child poverty.
Recommendation: The range and consequences of these data gaps is concerning and must be addressed, as it is difficult to imagine how sufficient progress can be made to eradicate child poverty without a meaningful strategy for research into this area.
Priority 3: Education and tackling the climate emergency
There is a need for clarity in the climate policy space, given there are several policies whose hierarchy and interrelations are not obvious. These include the Climate Emergency Scotland Action Plan (CESAP) (not formally updated since 2023) and the draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan.
The RSE’s response to the Draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan explicitly called for a skills strategy to align with the future energy strategy.
Recommendation: Acknowledging the approach to delivering the just transition plan has changed, we hope the eventual policy takes adequate account of accompanying skills needs.
We note indications that the government will assume a more central role in national and regional skills planning in response to recommendations 3 and 4 from Fit for the Future: developing a post-school learning system to fuel economic transformation (the Withers Review).
Recommendation: This should come with greater reassurance and evidence that the government possesses the appropriate capacity to undertake this skills planning, that this planning is accompanied by appropriate funding instruments and processes, and that suitably designed qualifications and assessments underpin the skills development required for Scotland to achieve its net zero goals.
We welcome the government’s action following the recommendations of the Withers Review in relation to funding models, regarding these as positive steps.
Recommendation: Greater commitment will nevertheless be required to affect the extent of reform envisaged by other aspects by the Withers Review.
There is consensus across Putting Learners at the Centre: Towards a Future Vision for Scottish Education, the Withers Review, and It’s Our Future: Report of the Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment (IRQA) to enhance and support modularisation and short, sharp, industry-specific courses for upskilling and reskilling.
Recommendation: Given the advantages of the Scottish Credit Qualifications Framework (SCQF) – which are well-suited to the rapidly evolving skills required for net zero – we urge the government to reconsider its hitherto muted responses to SCQF-related recommendations in these reports.
There is clear evidence that many of the existing or paused funding opportunities examined in this report have had a strong uptake and delivered clear impact.
Recommendation: We urge the government to review, and consider reinstating, initiatives such as the National Transition Training Fund (NTTF) that have had a demonstrable impact.
It is unclear to what extent the original intentions and ambitions of the Green Jobs Workforce Academy have been realized, and how would-be users can currently benefit.
Recommendation: The functioning and intended legacy of the Green Jobs Workforce Academy warrant a reexamination.
While the success of the Modern Apprenticeship scheme is clear, it could be made even more inclusive by removing age-related funding restrictions and other potential barriers to participation.
Recommendation: We would recommend a review of the eligibility criteria for the Modern Apprenticeship scheme.
As with the other priorities discussed in this report, green data gaps (in relation to investment, demand, provision, career progression, and other issues) are widespread.
Recommendation: Data gaps affecting the green sector must be addressed to avoid hampering training and recruitment efforts.
Many of the recommendations made by the IRQA have not been implemented.
Recommendation: The recommended progressive changes to senior phase qualifications would offer greater potential to develop and harness the necessary skills to contribute to Scotland’s net zero targets. The strategic potential of the Scottish Diploma of Achievement (the SDA), including its potential to align with tertiary pathways via the universal skills framework, warrants greater support.
The true extent and value of green careers is largely underrecognised by both learners and society.
Recommendation: There is more that should be done across the education system to emphasise the full spectrum of green careers that are available to learners, particularly those predicated on a more vocational mode of entry. Exposing young people to role models and more thoughtful and nuanced careers advice could go some way in achieving this. Getting the messaging right can also help to address persistent shortfalls in representation across green sectors, such as of women and migrants.
Education reform has a role to play in Scotland’s just transition, and there is a strong focus on the importance and strength of local provision throughout the education reform proposals.
Recommendation: Local provision is indeed critical to upskilling and reskilling the immediate community in response to disruptions to anchor industries. However, this local provision must be appropriately situated in a national context to avoid becoming overly parochial, competitive, and fragmented.
Recommendation: While we welcome the work that is said to be taken forward to strengthen local and regional skills planning, we are sceptical about the success of this outcome as long as the further education sector remains undervalued.
There is a need to consider the mechanisms by which SMEs, which comprise the bulk of Scotland’s economy, can be suitably empowered and incentivised to upskill their workforce.
Recommendation: Existing approaches to career development and upskilling across SMEs should be assessed for their effectiveness.
Acknowledgments
The RSE would like to thank Barbara Jane van der Meulen, independent Qualitative Researcher and report author, who approached this ambitious task with tenacity, precision, and enthusiasm.
The RSE would also like to acknowledge the work of its Education Committee and of the Learned Societies’ Group on Scottish STEM Education (LSG) in undertaking the first phase of this research, which provided a pivotal foundation for later analysis.
This report was further informed by engagement with multiple key stakeholders across the education sector and broader Scottish policy landscape. Their input was invaluable, and we thank them for being generous with their time and candid in their insights.
The RSE’s work is possible because of the continued support from the Scottish Funding Council.
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Download the RSE Gaps, overlaps, and challenges report (3MB, PDF)
