Gillian Hamilton has today taken up the interim position of Chief Executive of Education Scotland.

With more than 30 years’ experience of working within Scottish education, Gillian will undertake leadership of Education Scotland until the new national education agency and inspection body are set up.

Gillian said: "It is a huge privilege for me to be able to lead the organisation through the coming year, as we start to manage the transition to the new national organisations, while continuing to deliver on our strategic objectives. There is no question that this will be a challenging year for all in Education Scotland, but I believe we have a great opportunity to be part of something really important – the creation of two new organisations which support the delivery of real and meaningful change for Scottish Education.

"In the context of education reform, we cannot simply stand still as an agency until the new organisations are operational. As the interim Chief Executive, I will work with the wider leadership team to lead, challenge and motivate all in the organisation, and to begin to tilt towards a new model of how we work to align more closely with the remit and aspirations of the new organisations."

Gillian started her career as a primary teacher before progressing through roles to become a headteacher, working in schools in Glasgow, North and East Ayrshire. Gillian was then Head of Educational Services at the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) for three years, where she led on the revision of Professional Standards and the pilot of Professional Update, which was rolled out nationally in August 2014. She then became the first Chief Executive of the Scottish College for Educational Leadership (SCEL), a national organisation responsible for the leadership development of teachers and school leaders, before she was appointed as Strategic Director at Education Scotland when the roles and functions of SCEL transferred to the agency on 1 April 2018.

Most recently, Gillian has undertaken the dual roles of Depute Chief Executive and Strategic Director for Corporate Services and Governance which includes responsibility for corporate strategy, governance, business planning and performance management for Education Scotland. This involves the effective delivery of all internal enabling functions designed to ensure effective delivery of our outcomes, including, finance, HR, communications and procurement.

Gillian has also been a member of a number of national educational groups with a focus on professional learning and leadership. She was a member of the Strategic Board for Teacher Education, the COVID Education Recovery Group (CERG), and co-chaired the two CERG sub-groups focused on head teacher and workforce support.