AN independent review will be launched into the education provided to older secondary school pupils after concerns were raised about a narrowing of subject choices.
Ministers said the move would examine whether any improvements can be made to boost learning for youngsters in S4 to S6.
It comes after a report published by Holyrood’s Education Committee made a series of recommendations following an inquiry into the number of subjects available to pupils.
It raised “serious concerns” over a lack of clarity within the Scottish education system around who has overall responsibility for curricular structure and subject availability.
And it hit out at continuing confusion regarding the responsibilities of Education Scotland, the agency charged with supporting quality and improvement in Scottish education.
The committee said the body is “failing to provide adequate support for the continuing implementation of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE)”, which was introduced in 2010.
READ MORE: SNP launch review into schools after concerns over subject choice
MSPs added: “The evidence provided to this inquiry by senior leaders from Education Scotland revealed a serious gap in knowledge about the current state of curriculum implementation and the associated challenges facing schools which was alarming to the committee and must be addressed as a matter of urgency.”
Education Secretary John Swinney said CfE “gives children and young people the skills and knowledge to achieve their ambitions”.
He said: “Learners can now choose from the widest range of qualifications ever and what matters is outcomes – and last year a record proportion of pupils went on to positive destinations such as work, training or further study. Following a strong set of exam results, we must continue to ensure teachers can provide the most appropriate senior phase for their learners.
“We will commission an independent review of the senior phase to help us better understand how the curriculum is being implemented in schools and identify any areas for improvement.”
MSPs previously heard 76 per cent of parents felt their children were not able to take all the subjects they wanted because of timetabling clashes between popular subjects.
Evidence indicated timetabling restrictions had prevented pupils in more than half of schools from choosing more than six subjects in S4 - when National 4s and National 5s are studied.
READ MORE: £1m St Andrews University study to examine mankind’s ‘global war’ with the rat
Around two thirds of 1,000 teachers surveyed by the Education Committee said the range of subjects had narrowed in S5 and S6 and more than 80% said that was the case in S4.
Scottish Tory shadow education secretary Liz Smith said the conclusions of the committee’s latest report are “deeply troubling”.
She said: “Not only do they confirm that subject choice provision has been diminished in S4, with knock-on effects in S5 and S6, but they also confirm that the main education agency, Education Scotland, has lost control of the Curriculum for Excellence.”
Education Committee convener Clare Adamson said: “Our committee found the lack of clear leadership from Education Scotland and SQA around the curriculum structure has resulted in some narrowing of subject choice. This was compounded by a lack of awareness from these bodies, who are charged with supporting Scottish education, about the extent of the problem and their role in leading change.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel