Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thank you—I look forward to reading that report.

I have a couple of questions, so I will group them all together, and you can answer them all at the same time.

With major reform of the SQA and Education Scotland planned, how well do those Government agencies currently serve the needs of colleges? There seems to be a perception that they are very school focused. Do you feel that you get something of value from them? Do they really understand the challenges that you face? Have they supported the sector to respond flexibly to Covid? What changes, if any, would you like to be made?

The Auditor General for Scotland’s blog reports that many colleges

“continue to face significant financial challenges.”

We have a strong sense from the committee papers as to what those are, but I ask the participants to share their experiences of the challenges on the ground.

No, that is fine.

I am an MSP for South Scotland.

The Scottish attainment challenge, supported by the attainment Scotland fund, is designed to reduce inequality in education. However, in paragraph 74 of the report, on page 31, Audit Scotland notes that

“the SAC does not fully reflect broader demographic issues”,

and specifically mentions rural communities. What improvements could be made to the ASF to reflect the inequalities mentioned in paragraph 74?

Would that affect your ability to judge attainment within schools? Would it have a large impact or a small impact?

Picking up on something that Ms Meldrum said earlier, do you think we have a robust enough system for following those who choose to leave school at 16, to ensure that they have positive outcomes and do not fall through the cracks? What more could we do?

Good morning, Mr Boyle. In its key audit themes report, the session 5 committee expressed its concern that a number of the audit reports had revealed that data and outcomes in relation to key service provision were incomplete or absent. Can you tell us the extent to which having less consistent and robust data in the national improvement framework and wider outcomes has impacted your ability to measure the impact of the national improvement framework and whether it is delivering value for money?

Your report states that the Scottish Government, councils and their partners need to build on the work that is already being undertaken to agree clear priorities for education recovery and improved outcomes after Covid-19. Are you aware of any action that is being taken in relation to how those who are responsible will ensure that the national improvement framework outcomes will be measured, reported and acted on?