Why the SNP's education shake-up has been branded 'autocratic' and will fail to fix broken system

SNP ministers have been urged to rethink the changes outlined in their Education Bill, amid claims the reforms are a “surface makeover” that will not go far enough.

The Bill, which was finally published in June following a year-long delay, paves the way for the creation of ‘Qualifications Scotland’ to replace the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), as well as a new office of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education in Scotland.  A consultation was launched by Holyrood’s education committee, which has now published its responses. They include a damning assessment from the Association of Directors of Education Scotland (ADES).

The body said: “There is a danger that change will be minimal and that the existing elements of the system are being repackaged and reinstated in a different order. This does not meet what is required or recommended by [Ken] Muir, [Louise] Hayward and OECD.

“A change of name and structure is not a sufficient response to Muir and OECD recommendations. In recent history we default to structure change rather than looking at the root causes and making plans for significant change. “There is a disproportionate focus on structures when cultural and behavioural change in national organisations is also required.”

ADES said the Bill looked “autocratic and top down”, and questioned why the same personnel would be running new organisations.

The submission said: “The announcement of ‘no compulsory redundancies’ reinforced that job titles and structures may be changing, but the same people will still be involved, leading to the criticism that the process is a simple means of ‘moving the deckchairs’. “As outlined in Muir report, should the agency responsible for curriculum not also be responsible for assessment qualifications?” The submission added: “The Scottish education system for the 21st century requires a more significant change in its qualifications and national agency model rather than surface makeover.” The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), the nation’s largest teaching union, also criticised the Bill.

“The EIS is not satisfied that the Bill, as currently framed, addresses the concerns raised in the OECD Review of the Curriculum for Excellence or in Professor Muir’s report, ‘Putting Learners at the Centre’,” the union said.

The organisation highlighted concerns about the lack of separation between accreditation, regulating and awarding functions of the new qualifications body.

“Given the close relationship potentially between the membership of Qualifications Scotland and the Accreditation Committee, we believe these arrangements lack transparency and independence, with the clear potential for conflict of interest,” the union said.

“The EIS has been clear that if there is to be renewed trust and confidence in the new qualification agency, it must also be seen to be independent of the Scottish Government. With Scottish ministers having the power to direct the Accreditation Committee, we would question whether the Bill, as currently drafted, meets this objective.”

Similar concerns were raised by the NASUWT teaching union

The union said: “NASUWT notes the decision taken within the Bill to ignore Professor Muir’s recommendations that Qualifications Scotland should include the awarding functions of SQA, but not the accreditation function in this area and would reiterate our belief that this is unwise. “Looking at the wording of the policy memorandum accompanying this consultation, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that this decision has been a purely financial one.”

School Leaders Scotland (SLS), which represents secondary school head teachers, deputes, and principal teachers, said: “Although the Bill deals with the replacement of the SQA with Qualifications Scotland, there needs to be a complete change of culture in the new body.

“It cannot be a rebranding (which currently it seems to be) with the same attitudes, and a lack of transparency and of trust.”

AHDS, a trade union for promoted teachers in Scotland's primary, nursery and additional support needs schools, looked at proposed inspection changes.

The union said: “It is plain that the legislation is designed to establish a separate body for inspection in Scottish education.

“However, as drafted, there has been no attempt to reimagine inspection to develop a more modern, efficient and effective system which better supports school improvement. “It is our view that individual school inspections do not strategically contribute to system assurance or system improvement. Very infrequent school level inspections resulting in a moment in time summative report cannot perform these roles effectively. Further, this approach fails to recognise the important statutory role of local authorities in relation to school improvement. “Instead, in relation to schools, the Inspectorate should inspect local authorities to ensure they have staffing and systems in place that allow them to effectively know and support improvements in education provision.”

The Bill comes after ministers announced in 2021 the SQA would be scrapped, following the exam results fiasco during the pandemic, and an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report into the Curriculum for Excellence.

Prof Muir was appointed to review the options and recommended the creation of three new bodies the following year - a qualifications body to take over from SQA, with Education Scotland’s functions to be split into a new national agency and an independent inspectorate of schools.

The bodies were due to be established by 2024, but Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth paused the process in June last year, because she believed the plans were “on a trajectory of travel that wasn’t in the right space”. Under the plans, the new bodies would be operational by autumn 2025.

The Scottish Government has been contacted for comment.

Ms Gilruth has previously said the changes set out in the Bill would “strengthen the national education landscape to better support pupils and teachers”.

She said: “The governance processes for the new national qualifications body will ensure the knowledge and experience of pupils and teachers are central to decisions taken on qualifications and assessment. Greater independence for the new inspectorate body will see the power to set the frequency and focus for inspections moving from Scottish ministers to His Majesty’s Chief Inspector.”