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Building the Foundations of A LIFELONG LEARNING SOCIETY

A REVIEW OF COLLABORATION BETWEEN SCHOOLS AND
FURTHER EDUCATION COLLEGES IN SCOTLAND
Interim Report

This document is also available in pdf format (730k)

MINISTERIAL FOREWORD

Jim Wallace photo
Peter Peacock photo

This interim report has been developed in the context of our National Priorities in Education, our lifelong learning strategy and our agenda for action set out in Ambitious, Excellent Schools. Its focus is on how increased and enhanced school/college partnership can help meet the needs of school pupils by delivering high quality experiences.

It has been informed by conference discussions in October 2003 to launch our school/college review and by the responses we received to consultation paper issued in February this year, not least from school pupils themselves. We are consulting on this interim report (and its detailed partner document) because we recognise the importance of getting the framework right.

We welcome views on any aspect of this report and its partner document, be they about the broad principles or the detailed drafting.

This interim report marks the completion of phase I of the school/college review. Executive officials will hold discussions with stakeholders on the detail of the strategy up until the end of January 2005. A strategy for schools and further education colleges, including an implementation plan, will be published in April 2005 for implementation from academic year 2005/06 onwards.

Our strategy's success will be measured by the success of the pupils undertaking collaborative activity - by their attendance, by their attainments and achievements, and by the success of their transitions into further learning, training or employment.

We look forward to your comments.

Jim Wallace Signature

JIM WALLACE MSP

Peter Peacock Signature

PETER PEACOCK MSP

Deputy First Minister

Minister for Education and Young People

 

SECTION ONE
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1.1 In this interim report we explain how we plan to increase and enhance school/college partnerships so that pupils have high quality experiences and gain suitable recognition for their work in further education colleges.

1.2 We want further education colleges to help develop the attributes and abilities of young people to enable them to become successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors to society and at work by assisting schools to deliver the
3-18 curriculum. This requires the delivery of continuous quality improvement across both the school and further education sectors with the focus on the pupil.

1.3 In its Partnership Agreement, the Executive committed itself to allow 14 to 16 year old pupils the chance to develop vocational skills by opting for further education courses during part of the school week. We want to widen pupils' opportunities and ease their transition from school to further learning, training
or employment. Further education courses can present pupils with opportunities to broaden their curriculum choices and enrich their educational experiences.
We want to make the most of pupils talents, and that means finding the most suitable way of stimulating their interest in learning. For some, vocational education can provide the context which best engages them. For others, college may present the opportunity to study some non-traditional subjects, such as Higher Sociology, which may not be taught in their school. We plan to deliver the Partnership Agreement principally by:

  • working with the Scottish Qualifications Authority to develop skills-for-work courses leading to nationally recognised qualifications for pupils in S3 and S4 in vocational subjects as another option choice, for example as an alternative to one or more Standard Grades;
  • making clear that all secondary and special schools should have effective, meaningful and appropriate partnerships with at least one further education college for S3 pupils and above; and
  • establishing long term, clear and stable funding arrangements in place of the current anomalous funding mechanism that disadvantages further education colleges in providing courses to school pupils (because it fails at present to deliver fee income to colleges).

1.4 We will ensure school/college collaboration delivers quality, positive outcomes and safeguards pupil safety and welfare. We will put in place a framework for collaboration which enables effective local decision-making and removes barriers to collaboration.

1.5 Further education colleges already have in place their own robust internal quality procedures to measure progress on quality issues. To further ensure high quality experiences for school pupils:

  • Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education, which undertakes independent reviews
    of the quality of provision in further education colleges and in schools, will evaluate school/college collaboration from both angles;
  • the Scottish Qualifications Authority will develop the new vocational qualifications, with quality experiences at their core, in close partnership with the education and training community, including employers' organisations; and
  • the Scottish Executive will complete its review of the occupational standards and national guidelines on provision leading to the teaching qualification in further education (TQ(FE)) and related professional development so that it incorporates, among other things, the teaching of young people under 16 years of age.

1.6 We have set up a working group to examine the issues surrounding the qualifications of college staff to teach school pupils. We have also established a group to produce national guidelines on 'best practice' on a number of important matters, including issues about the application of colleges' duty of care to pupils. Both groups will report by the end of January 2005.

1.7 Collaboration will be developed with a view to the long term and we anticipate that it will grow in an evolutionary way over the coming years. It may involve school pupils studying in college for part of the week. It also presents opportunities for college courses to be delivered by college staff in schools.

1.8 Options will be made available to school pupils as they are with all other students in further and higher education - on the basis of available capacity. We expect pupils of all abilities in S3 and above to be able to be considered for college courses. That said, given that there is a limit on capacity we expect that due regard is paid to those pupils for whom collaboration is especially beneficial in activities that particularly broaden pupils' educational experiences and enhance their life chances.

 

SECTION TWO
INTRODUCTION

2.1 In Ambitious, Excellent Schools1 we set out our agenda for action built on our belief in the potential of all young people and our commitment to help each of them realise that potential. We also gave a clear commitment in A Curriculum for Excellence2 of the purpose of school education from 3 to 18 along with principles for the design of the curriculum for Scotland in the 21st Century.

2.2 Our young people have a very wide range of individual skills, talents, aspirations and enthusiasms and their success comes through realising their individual potential. Our agenda for action is focussed on giving them the opportunity to gain essential skills, such as literacy and numeracy, and to choose and develop the other personal skills and talents most important to them.

2.3 We want to give young people the opportunity to benefit from a wide range of educational opportunities and equip them with a variety of skills that prepare them for life, the workplace and the community. The principal locus for the education of school pupils is, and will remain, the school. However, we want to broaden opportunities. This means that schools3 will work increasingly in partnership with other bodies to meet pupils' educational needs. For some pupils, accessing the more specialised learning opportunities available through our further education colleges may be the most suitable way to help them fulfil their potential.

2.4 Increasing the range of flexible learning opportunities will also contribute to the delivery of our Closing the Opportunity Gap objectives, which were announced on 12 July, to improve the confidence and skills of the most disadvantaged children and young people and to increase the chances of sustained employment for disadvantaged groups4.

2.5 This interim report marks the completion of phase I of our review of collaboration between schools and further education colleges in Scotland. In it we explain how we will progress to the final stage of the review - the publication of a partnership strategy in April 2005 for implementation from academic year 2005/06 onwards matching the resources available.

2.6 Funding allocations, which clearly impact on, among other things, the number of school pupils undertaking courses through further education colleges, will be considered during phase II of the review in the light of the Executive's recent Spending Review, which allocated resources for programmes for 2006/07 and 2007/08.

Review Publications

2.7 A detailed partner document, which forms the basis of an outline strategy for schools and further education colleges, has been produced in electronic format to accompany this interim report. This interim report and other review publications can be found on the Scottish Executive's website at www.scotland.gov.uk/publications . You can telephone Freephone 0800 77 1234 to find out where your nearest public Internet access point is. The interim report is also available on request in alternative formats.

2.8 Other publications issued as part of the review are listed in Annex A. All review publications are also available from the contact point mentioned below.

Consultation

2.9 Views are invited on this interim report (and/or its partner document). Annex B lists the consultees.

How to respond:

By post to: School/College Review
Scottish Executive
2nd Floor, Europa Building
450 Argyle Street
Glasgow G2 8LG

0141 242 0102

By email to: scrt@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
By fax to: 0141 242 0251

When by: Responses to this paper are required by 28 February 2005.

Please remember to enclose the Respondee Information Form when sending your response.

2.10 Responses will be made available to the public on the Scottish Executive website and in the Scottish Executive Library5 unless confidentiality is requested. Any confidentiality disclaimer generated by your computer system in an email will not be treated as such a request. Confidential responses will be included in any statistical summary of numbers or comments received or views expressed. All responses not marked confidential will be checked for any potentially defamatory material before being logged in the library or placed on the website.

2.11 A new email alert system for Scottish Executive consultations (SEconsult) has been launched6. This system will allow stakeholder individuals and organisations to register and receive a weekly email containing details of all new Scottish Executive consultations (including web links). SEconsult will complement, but in no way replace, Scottish Executive distribution lists, and is designed to allow stakeholders 'keep an eye' on all Scottish Executive consultation activity, and therefore be alerted at the earliest opportunity to those of most interest. We encourage you to register as soon as possible.

Scottish Executive Consultation Process

2.12 The Scottish Executive Consultation Process is explained in Annex C.

 

SECTION THREE
PURPOSES AND NATURE OF SCHOOL/COLLEGE COLLABORATION

Overall Rationale for Collaboration

3.1 The overall rationale for school/college collaboration is to help develop the attributes and abilities of young people to enable them to become successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors to society and at work by assisting schools to deliver the 3-18 curriculum. It can be encapsulated in the following purposes:

  • to widen pupils' opportunities for progression and prepare them for further study;
  • to ease pupils' transition from school to further learning, training or employment;
  • to broaden pupils' curriculum choices; and
  • to enrich pupils' educational experiences.

Other Purposes

3.2 We encourage collaboration between schools and further education colleges in order to help7:

  • give pupils access (appropriate to their educational development) to specialist staff, materials and facilities, which schools may generally be unable to offer (because of too few student numbers or other constraints such as accommodation);
  • give pupils the opportunity to undertake courses in vocational areas, such as hospitality;
  • give pupils the opportunity to study non-traditional subjects, including academic, such as Psychology and Philosophy;
  • provide pupils with a different learning environment from that of school;
  • provide pupils with a wider range of learning opportunities (e.g. open and distance learning);
  • improve pupils' access to a wide range of educational opportunities to deliver social justice;
  • demystify post-school learning, encouraging pupils to see the value of post-school education and understand the 'lifelong' nature of learning;
  • re-engage pupils most at risk of disengagement with the education system;
  • support the learning of pupils with additional needs, and from special schools;
  • improve pupils' retention rates at school and their acquisition of qualifications, both of which have a positive impact on pupils' lifetime earnings;
  • give pupils the opportunity to explore career options within the context of the 3-18 continuum of career planning;
  • place into context for pupils the relevance of aspects of their learning;
  • improve pupils' general work-readiness, including through Enterprise in Education activities under Determined to Succeed;
  • give pupils over school age technical skills to improve their chances of securing employment in their chosen field;
  • promote to pupils over school age career opportunities in key areas of Scotland's economy and where skills gaps exist or are emerging;
  • break down pupils' gender stereotyping of occupations;
  • encourage pupils' interest in science, technology, engineering and maths; and
  • encourage pupils' interest in creative and cultural subjects, including sports, art, theatre and dance.

Nature of Collaboration

3.3 The sharing of resources between the two sectors is essential to the delivery of a modern flexible school curriculum. All secondary and special schools in Scotland should have effective, meaningful and appropriate partnerships with at least one further education college for S3 pupils and above.

3.4 A key issue to be considered is whether the pupil would be able to cope with the level and format of the learning. The activity should have clear objectives and outcomes expressed in terms of pupils' achievement and attainment (in relation to, among other things, social skills, life skills, and self-reliance). Collaborative activity should only take place with the full agreement of the pupil and their carer. It should be a positive choice to access specialist provision in further education colleges - it should not be regarded as opting out of school for young people with additional support needs or disaffected or disengaged pupils.

3.5 We recognise and commend the fundamental re-alignment which further education colleges themselves have undergone in recent years to satisfy local demand from schools. This is evidenced by 9% of Scottish Further Education Funding Council funded activity in colleges being devoted since 2000 to school/college collaboration. Partnership will be developed with a view to the long term and we anticipate that it will grow in an evolutionary way over the coming years. We set no target on the eventual increase in such activity, because collaboration is not an end in itself. It is meeting the identified needs of pupils that is important. Partnership with schools is an essential and significant part of colleges' work, but it is - and will remain - a minority activity for colleges. We have no intention of turning further education colleges into schools. The distinctive contribution that colleges can make to pupils' education arises from their role as centres of voluntary learning for adults. It is therefore essential to the success of collaboration that that ethos is not altered.

3.6 There are a number of related policy developments that are likely to lead to increased demand for school/college collaboration. These include:

  • Enterprise in Education activities under Determined to Succeed (further education college activity is one way of delivering this);
  • the introduction of Education Maintenance Allowances (and the anticipated increase in retention rates in schools in S5/S6);
  • ending the Age and Stage regulations to remove unnecessary bureaucracy in the exam system. This will allow schools and education authorities to maximise their use of flexibility to ensure students meet their full education potential. This may increase the number of pupils undertaking courses more likely to involve some form of school/college collaborative activity;
  • the continued delivery of our target to reduce the proportion of 16-19 year olds not in education, employment or training (NEET) and the delivery of our target to increase the average tariff score of the lowest attaining 20% of S4 pupils by 2008. Flexible learning opportunities is key to achieving these targets; and
  • the delivery of our Partnership Agreement commitment, the details of which we go on to explain overleaf.

3.7 The nature of provision for different age cohorts has to be necessarily different because they will have different needs.

3.8 We expect all of Scotland's further education colleges (with the exception of Newbattle Abbey College, which is an adult residential college) to have effective, meaningful and appropriate partnerships with secondary and special schools.

3.9 We regard further education colleges' collaborative work with schools to be a priority for the further education sector that sits alongside its other priorities. It supplements and supports the sector's other priorities. Subject to maintaining colleges' central ethos, we see no conflict between them. Growing Scotland's economy and closing the opportunity gap require that we help realise the full potential of our school pupils.

3.10 Options should be made available to school pupils as they are with all other students in further and higher education - on the basis of available capacity. We expect pupils of all ability in S3 and above to be able to be considered for college courses. That said, given that there is a limit on capacity we expect that due regard is paid to those pupils for whom collaboration is especially beneficial in activities that particularly broaden pupils' educational experiences and enhance their life chances.

Vocational Education

3.11 Education should open up a range of opportunities to young people and give them a variety of social, personal and educational skills that are transferable to many different situations, including the workplace and community life. There should be no dead end to learning. It should provide opportunities for further learning and training.

3.12 For school age pupils, vocational education can provide a suitable context, something which may better engage some pupils to learn. It gives pupils general skills for life and work, including core skills such as communication or team-working. It should help prepare pupils for the workplace - not for a particular occupation (though there may properly be exceptions to this in a student-centred approach to the assessment of need).

Delivery of Partnership Agreement

3.13 The key means by which we plan to deliver our Partnership Agreement to "enable 14-16 year olds to develop vocational skills and improve their employment prospects by allowing them to undertake courses in further education colleges as part of the school-based curriculum" is through the development of skills-for-work courses leading to nationally recognised qualifications for pupils in S3 and S4 in vocational subjects as another option choice, for example as an alternative to one or more Standard Grades. They would be also available at Access and Higher levels. The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) and the Executive are working closely to develop courses. These courses would be within the framework of new National Qualifications at Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework levels 2-6 and would have the same SCQF credit value as a National Course8.

3.14 These courses will be integral to the school curriculum. They will not stand alone. Nor will they be an add-on. It may be possible for some schools to provide such courses, but for many we envisage that they will be delivered in partnership with further education colleges. We recognise that the success of these qualifications will depend on the quality of the progression routes they present to pupils, the extent to which the qualifications are respected in the labour market and the learning community, and how they improve job prospects and career development. The SQA will develop the qualifications, with quality experiences at their core, in close partnership with the education and training community, including employers' organisations. They will be piloted during the academic years 2005/06 and 2006/07, with a view to rolling them out nationally from 2007/08.

3.15 The availability of such courses to S3 pupils and above will provide a wider range of activities that will constitute a balanced education.

3.16 During phase II of the review the SQA and Executive will also work closely with Learning and Teaching Scotland, the Scottish Further Education Unit and the Colleges Open Learning Exchange Group in respect of the development of new course materials.

3.17 In addition, we will consider further how further education colleges can help deliver appropriate provision for independent schools, specialist schools and home-educated pupils.

Articulation to Further Education Courses and Other Programmes

3.18 There should be clear articulation of progression opportunities from school/college collaborative activity. Relevant courses should provide pupils with articulation to, and credit for, full-time programmes where possible. This will be built into the development of the new vocational qualifications. This presents the opportunity for pupils to either:

  • accelerate their programme of full-time study (i.e. the course could be shorter to reflect the work already undertaken);
  • study part-time (where previously full-time study would have been the norm); or
  • study further units.

3.19 The SQA will be taking forward discussions to ensure that there will also be clear articulation to Skillseekers and Modern Apprenticeships programmes.

Models of Delivery

3.20 Decisions on the best model of delivery in any given circumstance should be guided by the interests of pupils and adult students and in achieving best value. This may mean that school pupils go through college doors. It may also mean that it is more effective and efficient for further education courses to be delivered by college staff in schools.

3.21 We acknowledge that for some schools and further education colleges collaboration will be challenging because of geographical inaccessibility. This is both a rural and an urban problem.
We will ensure an equitable national framework for all Scotland's pupils with decision-making at a local level on the most appropriate means of delivery.

Transport

3.22 We are conscious that transport arrangements can be challenging. However, the innovation and pragmatism of existing local arrangements can be developed further by education authorities and schools. We will consider transport issues further during phase II of the review.

 

SECTION FOUR
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Role of Education Authorities and Schools

4.1 Education authorities are - and will remain - responsible for the whole package of school age pupils' learning and welfare. We will not seek to amend or extend to further education colleges the statutory responsibilities of education authorities (and schools) for school pupils. Pupils' curriculum needs will therefore remain entirely the responsibility of the education authority and schools.

4.2 We have considered whether there is any scope for releasing funds dedicated to school pupils' school education when those pupils undertake college courses. We are not persuaded that there are reciprocal savings. Given that education authorities and schools remain responsible for the whole package of school age pupils' learning and welfare, irrespective of where that pupil is taught at any given time, savings that may notionally exist on paper are unlikely to be realised. We recognise that school/college activity is additional activity to school education. It will therefore be financed separately.

Further Education Colleges

4.3 Further education colleges9 are autonomous bodies. Such autonomy concords with their academic freedom, one of the main principles upon which colleges (and universities) are founded. In encouraging collaboration with schools we in no way seek to restrict this autonomy.

4.4 Further education colleges determine the particular courses they wish to offer and the pupils and students they accept on to them. Colleges also establish their own local priorities and balance of activity. This will continue.

Scottish Further Education Funding Council (SFEFC)

4.5 We have concluded that maintaining a coherent system of funding for further education colleges would be in the best interests of pupils and adult students, and would bring a level of stability upon which evolutionary growth can be managed effectively. SFEFC (and its successor body) will therefore remain primarily responsible for funding school/college enrolments.

4.6 The issue of primary funding responsibility was fully aired in the review group's earlier consultation paper. Ministers' views on this matter are settled. We can therefore begin forward planning on the basis of the continuing responsibilities of the Funding Council in relation to school/college collaboration.

4.7 The rules governing fee-waiver will be revised to ensure that all enrolments of school pupils that form part of pupils' school-based curriculum attract automatic fee-waiver. Decisions on the timing of this change cannot be divorced from decisions on resource allocation. We are not therefore able to take them at this time. A decision on timing will be taken before the completion of the review.

Careers Scotland

4.8 The provision of well-informed information, advice and guidance is crucial to the success of school/college collaborative activity. We have asked Careers Scotland to prepare a business case for its engagement with school pupils in considering further education college courses as part of their school-based curriculum and in helping them (and the school and college) evaluate such courses. The plan will include how to inform career advisors fully of the range of existing and future opportunities which further education colleges can offer school pupils.

 

SECTION FIVE
PUPIL WELFARE AND SUPPORT

5.1 The Scottish Executive published in March 2004 its national, multi-agency framework for standards for child protection10, which translated the Charter for Protecting Children and Young People into practice. The framework was sent to schools and further education colleges. We expect its content to be reflected in their procedures and actions.

5.2 We have established a sub-group of the school/college review group and invited staff from the school and further education sectors, Careers Scotland, Trade Unions, NUS Scotland as well as the sectors' representative organisations, to join the group and prepare national guidelines on 'best practice' in relation to a number of important matters, including issues about the application of colleges' duty of care to pupils. The group will develop a model Partnership Agreement for schools, education authorities and further education colleges. It will also develop a model 'Pupil Charter', which will spell out pupils' rights and responsibilities arising from their enrolment as further education students.

5.3 The Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003 will introduce a new regime for individuals considered unsuitable to work with children. Although this legislation is not yet in force, the sub-group will have regard to this new regime when preparing its guidelines.

 

SECTION SIX
QUALITY ASSURANCE

HMIE External Quality Assurance of School/College Collaboration

6.1 HM Inspectors undertake an independent review of the quality of provision in further education colleges on behalf of the Scottish Further Education Funding Council (SFEFC) under the terms of the Memoranda of Understanding between the Council and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (HMIE). HMIE is also responsible for undertaking independent inspections of schools and for reviews of education authorities themselves. By its very nature, further education college provision for school pupils falls within the quality assurance regimes of both sectors. The strength of this, given the common role of HMIE, is that school/college collaboration can be considered from
all angles.

Internal Quality Assurance

6.2 Education authorities and schools have in place arrangements to assure the quality of their programmes for pupils. Further education colleges also have arrangements for the programmes they deliver to their students. Quality assurance arrangements for collaborative programmes delivered to school pupils either jointly by school and college or solely by a college should satisfy the quality assurance requirements of the school, the college and external agencies. Education authorities, schools and further education colleges should agree, as appropriate, the elements of joint quality assurance arrangements.

 

SECTION SEVEN
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

Further Education College Lecturers

7.1 Equipping further education lecturers with the necessary skills to teach under 16 year olds effectively is being considered in the context of the current Executive review of occupational standards and national guidelines on provision leading to the teaching qualification in further education (TQ(FE)) and related professional development.

Professional Development Award for Teaching Young People Under 16 Years of Age

7.2 One of the outcomes of the review will be a new Professional Development Award (PDA) for teaching young people under 16 years of age. This PDA, which will form part of provision for Continuing Professional Development, will be an optional award which can be taken by lecturers who are to teach pupils in S3 or S4.

Support Staff in Further Education Colleges

7.3 We have asked the Scottish Further Education Unit to scope the work necessary to build on and expand existing arrangements to give guidance, teaching support and other staff in further education colleges training on matters concerning the welfare and safety of school age pupils.

Working Group on 'Qualifications of College Staff to Teach School Pupils'

7.4 We have set up a working group chaired by Professor David Raffe of the University of Edinburgh to examine the issues surrounding the qualifications of college staff to teach school pupils.

Schoolteachers

7.5 The Scottish Executive Education Department recently announced the second stage of its review of teacher education for schoolteachers. Included within the remit of this review is to examine whether existing initial teacher education courses prepare staff as well as possible for entry into the profession and to look at whether current guidelines and requirements relating to initial teacher education remain appropriate.

Scottish Executive Education Department
Scottish Executive Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department
November 2004

 

ANNEX A
OTHER SCHOOL/COLLEGE REVIEW PUBLICATIONS

1. A consultation analysis report, which includes a summary of the responses to the consultation paper issued in February 2004 has been published electronically to accompany this interim report.

2. The Executive published in October 2004 the following reports of research commissioned as part of its review:

  • School Pupils' Attitudes to Further Education11
  • Management of School/College Partnerships and the Main Operational Issues Involved12; and
  • Collaboration Between Schools and Further Education Colleges in Scotland - Literature Review13.

3. The earlier consultation paper14, and the papers that accompanied it - a summary of the paper15, a report of the school/college conference16 held to launch the review, a leaflet17 seeking specifically the views of school pupils, and Building the Foundations of a Lifelong Learning Society: The Experience of Motherwell College and Local Schools18 (which reproduces articles that first appeared in the spring 2003 edition of 'Broadcast', the journal of the Scottish Further Education Unit) - are also still available.

 

ANNEX B
LIST OF CONSULTEES

All education authorities in Scotland
All further education colleges in Scotland
All schools in Scotland
The four higher education institutions which provide TQ(FE) programmes (i.e. the Universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Stirling and Strathclyde).
ACCESS Centres
Action of Churches Together in Scotland
Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland
Association of Directors of Education in Scotland
Association of Learning Providers
Association of Scottish Colleges
Beattie Resources for Inclusiveness in
Technology and Education Centre
Careers Scotland
CBI Scotland
Centre for Careers Guidance, Personal &
Social Development
Church of Scotland
Colleges Open Learning Exchange Group
Commission For Racial Equality
Community Learning and Development
Communities Scotland
COSLA
Disability Rights Commission
Disclosure Scotland
Education Assessment Unit
EIS
Equal Opportunities Commission
Equality Network
Federation of Small Businesses
Further Education National Training Organisation
Futureskills Scotland
General Teaching Council for Scotland
Head Teachers Association of Scotland
Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education
High Technology Talent Strategy Board
for Scotland
Highlands & Islands Enterprise
Home Education Advisory Service
Institute of Directors
Institution of Electrical Engineers
Lead Scotland
learndirect scotland
Learning and Teaching Scotland
National Association of Social Workers
in Education
National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of
Women Teachers
National Association for Scottish Colleges
Schools Liaison Officers Committee
National Centre: Education for Work & Enterprise
National Deaf Children's Society
NUS Scotland
Prince's Scottish Youth Business Trust
Professional Association of Teachers Scotland
Quality Scotland
School Library Association in Scotland
Scottish Chambers of Commerce
Scottish Civic Forum
Scottish Council for Development & Industry
Scottish Council for Independent Schools
Scottish Council for National
Training Organisations
Scottish Council for Research Education
Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations
Scottish Enterprise
Scottish Further Education Funding Council
Scottish Further Education Unit
Scottish Guidance Association
Scottish Inter Faith Council
Scottish Parent Teacher Council
Scottish Parliament Education Committee
Scottish Parliament Enterprise
and Culture Committee
Scottish Qualifications Authority
Scottish Secondary Teachers Association
Scottish School Board Association
Scottish Trades Union Congress
Scottish Training Federation
Scottish Youth Parliament
Sector Skills Alliance Scotland
SKILL: National Bureau for Diabled Students
Socialist Educational Association Scotland
T&G
UNISON
Universities Council for the Education of Teachers
Universities Scotland
University of Stirling
Volunteer Development Scotland
Young Enterprise Scotland
Young Scot
Youthlink Scotland

 

ANNEX C
SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE CONSULTATION PROCESS

1. Consultation is an essential and important aspect of Scottish Executive working methods. Given the wide-ranging areas of work of the Scottish Executive, there are many varied types of consultation. However, in general, Scottish Executive consultation exercises aim to provide opportunities for all those who wish to express their opinions on a proposed area of work to do so in ways which will inform and enhance that work.

2. While details of particular circumstances described in a response to a consultation exercise may usefully inform the policy process, consultation exercises cannot address individual concerns and comments, which should be directed to the relevant public body. Consultation exercises may involve seeking views in a number of different ways, such as public meetings, focus groups or questionnaire exercises.

3. Typically, Scottish Executive consultations involve a written paper inviting answers to specific questions or more general views about the material presented. Written papers are distributed to organisations and individuals with an interest in the area of consultation, and they are also placed on the Scottish Executive website enabling a wider audience to access the paper and submit their responses.

Copies of all the responses received to consultation exercises (except those where the individual or organisation requested confidentiality) are placed in the Scottish Executive library at Saughton House, Edinburgh (K Spur, Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, Edinburgh EH11 3XD, telephone 0131 244 4552).

4. The views and suggestions detailed in consultation responses are analysed and used as part of the decision-making process. Depending on the nature of the consultation exercise the responses received may: indicate the need for policy development or review; inform the development of a particular policy; help decisions to be made between alternative policy proposals; and be used to finalise legislation before it is implemented.

5. If you have any comments about how this consultation exercise has been conducted, please send them

By post to: Colin Baird
Scottish Executive
School/College Review
2nd Floor, Europa Building
450 Argyle Street
Glasgow G2 8LG

By email to: colin.baird@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
By fax to: 0141 242 0251.

 

RESPONDEE INFORMATION FORM

Respondee Information form

 

 

 

 

 

Footnotes

1 A copy of which can be found on the Executive's website at www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/education/aesaa-00.asp

2 A copy of which can be found on the Executive's website at www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/education/cerv-00.asp

3 References to schools in this paper include, where appropriate, new 'Learning Communities', which are groups of primary and secondary schools in Glasgow under one principal.

4 The Executive's Social Justice targets on Closing the Opportunity Gap objectives can be found at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2004/07/5793 . More detailed targets including targets for children and young people, will be anounced shortly.

5 K Spur, Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, Edinburgh EH11 3XD

6 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations/seconsult.aspx

7 These purposes are not ranked.

8 This means that they will have 18 SCQF credit points at levels 2 and 3, and 24 SCQF credit points at levels 2-6.

9 Orkney College and Shetland Colleges are under the management of their local education authority, but the same principle applies to them in this regard.

10 Protecting Children and Young People: A Framework for Standards, a copy of which can be found on the Executive's website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/education/pcypfs-00.asp

11 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/education/ellspa-00.asp

12 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/education/mscpr-00.asp

13 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/cru/resfinds/cbsfec-00.asp

14 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations/lifelonglearning/bfll-00.asp

15 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations/lifelonglearning/bfllsc-00.asp

16 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/lifelong/alls-00.asp

17 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/lifelong/bfpv-00.asp

18 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/lifelong/bflls-00.asp

 

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