Education Scotland has published its first National Summary Report which monitors and evaluates the impact of the ongoing Scottish Attainment Challenge (SAC).

The report focuses on the implementation of the SAC refresh, which aims to improve outcomes for children and young people impacted by poverty.

It provides an overview of the progress of all 32 local authorities for the period of September to November 2022.

Split into three themes, the second and third reports, which are scheduled for release later this year, will look at other key aspects central to the delivery of the Scottish Attainment Challenge.

Chief Executive of Education Scotland and His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Gayle Gorman said: "The National Summary Report highlights the range of work we have undertaken for the Scottish Attainment Challenge (SAC) and summarises our performance from September to November last year.

"Attainment advisors worked with local authorities to gather evidence of the progress made during that period and identified the next steps to focus on.

"The Scottish Attainment Challenge works to achieve equity in educational outcomes, with a particular focus on significantly reducing the poverty-related attainment gap.

"Education Scotland is committed to working with the profession to support educational recovery and reduce variation across Scotland and I hope all those involved in delivering the Scottish Attainment Challenge will find this publication useful in achieving the goals of the refreshed mission."

Patricia Watson, Strategic Director of Regional at Education Scotland said: "The National Summary Report is a great opportunity for education practitioners, attainment advisors and local authority colleagues to come together to analyse the progress of the Scottish Attainment Challenge for the period of September to November 2022.

"There is strong evidence that shows the majority of local authorities have made progress towards their next steps, with significant improvements in tracking and monitoring processes, using data for best practice, and increasing professional learning resources and opportunities.

"In many local authorities, SAC funding has been used successfully to fill posts such as equity leads, quality improvement roles, virtual headteachers, and family link workers.

"The National Summary Report is a three-part series, with reports two and three scheduled for release later this year. They will provide updates on progress made during 2023.

"There is still much to achieve in terms of significantly reducing the poverty-related attainment gap in Scotland and I hope this report will help local authorities achieve the SAC mission.”

In this first report, attainment advisors, in collaboration with SAC local authority project leads, gathered evidence from each local authority regarding progress with the SAC during the latter part of last year.

The key next steps for this period were identified as the Attainment Scotland Fund, stretch aims, and data.

Latest analysis shows the majority of local authorities have made progress in these areas by improving several fields of practice including, tracking and monitoring, professional learning and quality assurance.

Going forward, attainment advisors have highlighted the next steps for continuous improvement including, reducing Pupil Equity Fund underspend as a key priority for some local authorities.

There is also emphasis on developing data literacy at all levels to increase confidence and capacity in using it to inform practice.