​Developments in Scottish education are also influenced by the Scottish Government’s National Performance Framework, the recent OECD report on Scottish education and the ‘Shifting the Curve’ report.

The National Performance Framework

In Scotland, there has been a consistent approach to evaluating outcomes across the public sector since 2007. The National Performance Framework contains a number of national outcomes spanning the whole range of the Scottish Government's policy areas. A set of National Indicators is used to evaluate progress in relation to the national outcomes.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report

The OECD report (published December 2015), commissioned by the Scottish Government into Scotland's education system, noted a series of positive developments in Scottish education, including: 

• levels of academic achievement are above international averages and distributed evenly Scottish schools are highly inclusive 
• a clear upward trend in attainment and positive destinations 
• positive attitudes in schools and among pupils 
• noticeable drops in alcohol consumption and smoking among children and young people 

As well as noting the role of Curriculum for Excellence as 'an important reform to put in place a coherent 3-18 curriculum', the report also sets out a number of challenges facing Scottish education and makes 12 recommendations for action to improve Scotland's education system across areas such as leadership in schools, issues presented by existing data sources and complexities around Curriculum for Excellence.  

Shifting the curve

Informed by research evidence and views from stakeholders across Scotland, including people with experience of living on a low income, this report outlines the actions Scottish Government (and others) could take to significantly reduce the numbers of people living in poverty in Scotland.