Building a New Scotland: Education and lifelong learning in an independent Scotland

This paper sets out the Scottish Government's vision for Education and Lifelong Learning in an independent Scotland.


Footnotes

1. Scottish Government (2024) Children's Rights

2. Times Higher Education (2023) World University Rankings 2024

3. Scottish Government (n.d.) Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC)

4. In 2021 the Icelandic parliament unanimously passed the Prosperity Act, on the integration of services in the interest of children's prosperity. The Act is rights based and its development was informed by the principles, values and national practice model of 'Getting it right for every child'.

5. Ministry of Social Support and Health (Finland) Right Type Of Support At The Right Time

6. Anderberg M, Forkby T, and Thelin A (2022) A Pendulum Swing in Child Welfare Policy – The Case of Implementing GIRFEC in Sweden Nordic Social Work Research, 12:4, pp578-591

7. National Scientific Council on the Developing Child (2009) Young Children Develop in an Environment of Relationships: Working Paper No. 1

8. Brooks-Gunn, J and Duncan, GJ. The Effects of Poverty on Children, Future Child, Vol 7, Issue 2, 1997, pp.55–71; Aber, JL et al. The Effects of Poverty on Child Health and Development. Annual Review of Public Health, 18:1, pp463–483; Hair, NL et al. Association of Child Poverty, Brain Development, and Academic Achievement. JAMA Pediatrics. Vol 169, Issue 9, 2015, pp 822–829 [published correction appears in JAMA Pediatrics, Vol 169, Issue 9, 2015, p 878]; Hart, B and Risley, TR (1995) Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children; Paul H Brookes Publishing; Centre on the Developing Child at Harvard University (2016) From Best Practices to Breakthrough Impacts: A Science-Based Approach to Building a More Promising Future for Young Children and Families; see also Scottish Government (2023) Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan – Progress Report 2022-23: Annex A – Measurement Framework – the child poverty measurement framework includes two indicators on food insecurity on food affordability and food security

9. Scottish Elections Reduction of Voting Age Act 2015

10. Eichjorn J and Hübner C (2023) Lower Voting Age Boosts Participation in Elections (University of Edinburgh)

11. The Electoral Reform Society (n.d.) Extending the voting age to 16

12. United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024

13. The Supreme Court (2021) Judgment: Reference by the Attorney General and the Advocate General for Scotland – United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill REFERENCE by the Attorney General and the Advocate General for Scotland – European Charter of Local SelfGovernment (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill

14. Education (Scotland) Act 1980

15. MacAlister, J (2022) The Independent Review of Children's Social Care – Final Report

16. Equality Act 2010

17. Center on the Developing Child (n.d.) What is Early Childhood Development? A Guide to Brain Development (Harvard University)

18. Scottish Government (n.d.) Early Education and Care – Baby Boxes

19. NHS Inform (n.d.) Ready Steady Baby

20. Scottish Government (2023) Early Child Development Transformational Change Programme

21. Cusick, S and Georgieff, MK (2013) The First 1,000 Days of Life: The Brain's Window of Opportunity (Unicef)

22. Bowlby, J. A Secure Base: Parent Child Attachment and Healthy Human Development, 2015 (Routledge); National Scientific Council on the Developing Child (2009) Young Children Develop in an Environment of Relationships: Working Paper No. 1

23. UNICEF (2018) Fathers are One of the Best, yet Most Underutilized Child Development Resources

24. OECD Family Database, table 2.1.A (n.d.) Parental Leave Systems (OECD)

25. OECD Family Database, Table 2.1.B (n.d.) Parental Leave Systems (OECD)

26. Scottish Government (2023) Tackling Child Poverty Priority Families Overview

27. Independent Care Review (2020) The Promise, p.21

28. Independent Care Review (2020) The Promise, p.74

29. Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017

30. Scottish Government (2022) Best Start, Bright Futures: Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2022-26

31. Scottish Government (2024) Child Poverty Cumulative Impact Assessment: Update. See Section 4: Results (last accessed 8 March 2024)

32. Scottish Government (2024) Child Poverty Cumulative Impact Assessment: Update. See Section 7: Welfare reforms (last accessed 8 March 2024)

33. Child poverty in Scotland: See single year estimate for 2021-22 on Relative Poverty after housing costs – 23% in 2021-22: Scottish Government (2023) Child poverty summary. Child poverty in the UK – chapter 7 on

Percentage of Children on low income households (after housing costs) – 29% in 2021-22: see Department for Work and Pensions (2023) Households Below Average Income: an analysis of the UK income distribution: FYE 1995 to FYE 2022

34. Joseph Rowntree Foundation (2023) UK Poverty 2023. See page 39 of the downloadable essential guide to understanding poverty in the UK

35. See for example: Try, L (2024) Catastrophic Caps (Resolution Foundation); Patrick, R et al. (2023) Needs and Entitlements. Welfare Reform and Larger Families (Larger Families Study); End Child Poverty (2023) Children are Living in Families Impacted by the Two-Child Limit Everywhere in the UK

36. European Commission (2022) Building a Better Understanding of the Impact of Early Childhood Education and Care on Medium- and Long-Term Educational and Labour Market Outcomes in Europe; OECD (2017) Starting Strong 2017: Key OECD Indicators on Early Childhood Education and Care; Melhuish, E et al. (2015) A Review of Research on the Effects of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) upon Child Development

37. Scottish Government (2022) Best Start – Strategic Early Learning and School Age Childcare Plan 2022 to [2026]; McKendrick J et al. (2022) Rapid Review of Evidence on the Impact of Childcare on Parental Poverty, Employment and Household Costs in Low-income Families (Glasgow Caledonian University)

38. European Commission (2022) Building a Better Understanding of the Impact of Early Childhood Education and Care on Medium- and Long-Term Educational and Labour Market Outcomes in Europe; OECD (2017) Starting Strong 2017: Key OECD Indicators on Early Childhood Education and Care.

39. There is strong evidence in relation to intensive and explicit programs of early intervention, and some evidence to suggest that programs of universal preschool have the potential to reduce risks within normal populations

e.g. Hall, J et al. (2013) Can Preschool Protect Young Children's Cognitive and Social Development? Variation by Center Quality and Duration of Attendance, School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 24:2, 155-176; Melhuish, E. (2004) A Literature Review of the Impact of Early Years Provision on Young Children, with Emphasis given to Children from Disadvantaged Backgrounds

40. Public Health Scotland (2022) Early Entry into Early Learning and Childcare and Children's Developmental Outcomes: Evidence Review; Cadmina, J. et al (2020) Literature Review on Early Childhood Education and Care for Children under the Age of 3; European Commission (2014) Proposal for Key Principles of a Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Care.

41. Public Health Scotland (2022) Early Entry into Early Learning and Childcare and Children's Developmental Outcomes: Evidence Review; Melhuish, E. (2004) A Literature Review of the Impact of Early Years Provision on Young Children, with Emphasis Given to Children from Disadvantaged Backgrounds.

42. McKendrick et al. (2022) Rapid Review of Evidence on the Impact of Childcare on Parental Poverty, Employment and Household Costs in Low-income Families (Glasgow Caledonian University); Scobie G et al. (2017) Provision of Early Learning and Childcare and Parents' Outcomes (NHS Health Scotland); Thompson, S and Ben-Galim, D (2014) Childmind the Gap: Reforming Childcare to Support Mothers into Work (IPPR)

43. McKendrick et al. (2022) Rapid Review of Evidence on the Impact of Childcare on Parental Poverty, Employment and Household Costs in Low-income Families (Glasgow Caledonian University); Scobie G et al. (2017) Provision of Early Learning and Childcare and Parents' Outcomes (NHS Health Scotland); Thompson, S and Ben-Galim, D (2014) Childmind the Gap: Reforming Childcare to Support Mothers into Work (IPPR)

44. Scottish Government (2023) Access to Childcare Fund: Phase 2 – Evaluation Report

45. Scottish Government (2022) Best Start: Strategic early learning and school age childcare plan for Scotland, 2022-26

46. Melhuish, E. et al (2015) A review of research on the effects of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) upon child development

47. Care Inspectorate (2023) Early Learning and Childcare Statistics 2022. See page 4 (last accessed 8 March 2024)

48. Education Scotland (2020) Realising the Ambition: Being Me

49. This figure was arrived at by calculating an hourly rate (£5.12) using the figures reported for weekly childcare costs for 3 and 4 year olds in Scotland in the 2023 Coram Childcare Survey (£102.37 for 20 hours) (See Table 6, page 14) and multiplying it by 1140. Note that these figures are based on an average and that childcare costs faced by parents are likely to vary considerably, particularly due to location and provider type.

50. Scottish Government (2022) Scotland's National Strategy for Economic Transformation

51. McKendrick et al. (2022) Rapid Review of Evidence on the Impact of Childcare on Parental Poverty, Employment and Household Costs in Low-income Families (Glasgow Caledonian University); Scobie G et al. (2017) Provision of Early Learning and Childcare and Parents' Outcomes (NHS Health Scotland)

52. De Henau, J (2022) Simulating Employment and Fiscal Effects of Public Investment in High-Quality Universal Childcare in the UK. International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy, Vol.16, 3; Stephens T (2023) Investing in Universal Early Years Education Pays for Itself (New Economics Foundation)

53. Scottish Government (2023) International Council of Education Advisers: Third Report 2021-2023 (Page 20: Strategic Area 7: Equity and excellence)

54. OECD (2021) Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence: Into the Future (Page 1: Key findings)

55. Scottish Government (2023) School Estate Statistics 2023 See Section 2 (last accessed 8 March 2024)

56. Scottish Government (2021) Ten Year School Plan Delivered

57. Education Scotland and the Scottish Government (2021) Equity Audit

58. Scottish Government (2023) Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) levels: 2022/23 (see Chapter 3) (last accessed 8 March 2024)

59. OECD (n.d.) PISA – Programme for International Student Assessment

60. Scotland's Curriculum (n.d.) Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence

61. European Commission (n.d.) Erasmus+ – EU Programme for Education, Training, Youth and Sport

62. See for example Erasmus (n.d.) Results and statistics, see 2007-2014 Higher education mobility statistics, Table 3 (last accessed: 11 March 2024)

63. Scottish Government (2024) Teacher Workforce Planning Advisory Group: initial teacher education intake figures 2023 (2023 data) and Teacher Workforce Planning Advisory Group: initial teacher education intake figures 2021 (2021 data) (accessed 19th March 2024)

64. HESA (2023) HE Student Enrolments by Domicile 2017-18 to 2021-22 (Use drop down menus to select 'Scotland', 'First Year', 'First Degree' and 'Full-time') and Scottish Government (2017) HESA Students Publication – Additional Tables (for historic data)

65. Scottish Funding Council (2023) Report on Widening Access 2021-22 (see Table 1)

66. OECD (2023) OECD.CFEOECD Data Explorer Educational attainment – Regions (last accessed 12 March 2024) (Select 'Table' and then select 'Scotland' for Reference Area, and other selected EU countries, select 'Total' for Sex, '25 to 64' for Age and 'Tertiary Education' for Education Level

67. Student Loans Company (2023) UK Comparisons – to Financial Year 2023 (UK Government)

68. Student Awards Agency Scotland (2023) National Statistics Publications (see Table FT.1) (last accessed: 8 March 2024)

69. Scottish Government (2018) The Impact of International Students in Scotland

70. Scottish Government (2024) Scotland's International Education Strategy

71. Cannings, J et al. (2023) The Benefits and Costs of International Higher Education Students to the UK Economy (London Economics)

72. HESA (2023) Higher Education Student Statistics: UK, 2021/22 and HESA (2019) Higher Education Student Statistics: UK, 2017/18 (last accessed: 8 March 2024)

73. HESA (2023) Table 28 – Non-UK domiciled HE students by HE provider and country of domicile 2014/15 to 2021/22 (last accessed: 8 March 2024)

74. For more discussion on this, see: Scottish Government (2023) Building a New Scotland: Migration to Scotland after Independence

75. UCAS (2023) UCAS Undergraduate End of Cycle Data Resources 2023 (last accessed 8 March 2024) (Select 'Applicants & acceptances' and then 'Country of provider' and 'Number of Accepted Applicants' from drop down lists and select EU domicile from menu on the right)

76. Cabinet Office and Home Office (2022) Common Travel Area Guidance

77. IDP (2024) Benefits of Exchange Programs

78. UK Government (n.d.) Graduate Visa

79. Stevenson C et al. (2023) Impacts of Research from Scottish Universities – Analysis of the REF 2021 Impact Case Studies (Rand Corporation)

80. Research Excellence Framework (2021) Results and Submissions

81. Scottish Government (n.d.) National Performance Framework

82. United Nations (n.d.) The 17 Goals

83. European Commission (2024) R&I Country Profile (Select 'Key Figures', within Programme select 'H2020', within Country select 'United Kingdom'. The net EU Contributions are €7.84bn for the UK and €865.1m for Scotland (by selecting Scotland on the 'Participations by Regions' map))

84. ONS (2023) Population Estimates (last accessed: 8 March 2024)

85. Scottish Government (2023) Gross Expenditure on Research and Development Scotland 2021

86. Spowage M et al. (2023) The Economic Impact of University Research Funding (Fraser of Allander Institute)

87. European Commission (2024) R&I Country Profile

Contact

Email: ConstitutionalFutures@gov.scot

Back to top