Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth has said she wants to see “further improvements across Scotland’s schools” as legislation to create a new organisation to replace exams body the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) was published.
A new organisation called Qualifications Scotland will take over its role, ministers have proposed.
It could be up and running by autumn 2025 if the Education (Scotland) Bill is passed by Holyrood.
The new organisation would be more accountable to both students and teachers, the Scottish Government said, with special charters proposed to set out what learners and teachers can expect from it.
Other reforms involve His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education in Scotland taking on the inspection role currently held by Education Scotland.
Ms Gilruth said this was a “significant change” which would “increase confidence in the independent role of inspections”.
Education Scotland will have its role refocused, so it takes the lead on issues of curriculum design, delivery and improvement.
Speaking about the proposed changes, Ms Gilruth said: “I am determined to drive further improvements across Scotland’s schools and the changes being set out in this Bill will strengthen the national education landscape to better support pupils and teachers.
“The governance processes for the new national qualifications body will ensure the knowledge and experience of pupils and teachers are central to decisions taken on qualifications and assessment.
“Greater independence for the new inspectorate body will see the power to set the frequency and focus for inspections moving from Scottish ministers to His Majesty’s Chief Inspector.
“This is a significant change and will increase confidence in the independent role of inspections in assessing and identifying strengths and areas for improvement across our education system.”
She continued: “The Scottish Government’s programme of education and skills reform will drive improvement right across the education system.
“That’s why we’ve taken time to engage with learners, teachers and other professionals across the education and skills sector to ensure these changes meet the needs of future generations.”
Liberal Democrat education spokesman Willie Rennie said the changes looked “more like tweaking than reforming Education Scotland”.
The MSP said: “The real test will be whether the national agency can be for teachers with their full engagement. This is essential to restore the position of Scottish education up the world rankings.
“The even bigger question is what exactly the wider education reforms will look like. There are still no answers from the SNP.”
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