What is the SNP plan to reform Scottish education?

Scotland has a good education system. But there’s much still to do. The life chances of our young people must not be determined by where they’re born, or what their background is.

The SNP Scottish Government is investing £750 million to tackle the attainment gap between pupils from the least and most wealthy backgrounds – with most money going direct to teachers.

We are reforming too. Our reforms will encourage best education practice to be shared around the country and give more power to head teachers to decide what works best in their classrooms.

Schools will have more freedom about their curriculum, improvement and funding and headteachers will have more say in choosing school staff and management structure.

New Regional Improvement Collaboratives, working across councils, will also provide improved support for teachers, including access to teams of attainment experts.

To implement these reforms the Scottish Government has reached a landmark agreement with local councils to deliver them without the need for an 18-month delay while legislation is passed. However, if sufficient progress is not made over the next twelve months, legislation has been prepared that can still be introduced.