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Contract cheating is a global problem affecting higher education. Essay mills have the potential to damage the reputation of higher education throughout the world, so protecting against them is vital and we must be vigilant in cracking down on anyone involved in cheating or any kind of academic misconduct.

While all universities have disciplinary procedures to tackle students who commit academic misconduct, I welcome the updated guidance Contracting to Cheat in Higher Education : How to Address Essay Mills and Contract Cheating and the Academic Integrity Charter for UK Higher Education published last year by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education which will help our institutions combat the use of essay mills, especially during the disruption caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.

I am aware that a Private Members Bill to prohibit the operation and advertising of essay mill services is currently before the UK Parliament. Any potential legislation to ban or regulate essay writing businesses is a reserved matter for the UK Government and we will continue to monitor developments with interest.

The following table shows the number of devices, ordered, received and distributed by end-January 2021, as reported by local authorities. Local authorities will report February figures in early March and we expect further devices will have been distributed.

The following table shows the number of Teacher Induction Scheme teachers who were in teaching posts in publicly funded schools in Scotland in September of the year following their probation.

The mental health and wellbeing of children and young people is an absolute priority for the Scottish Government.

Our local authority partners have made excellent progress during the school closures and have confirmed that access to counselling support services are in place across Scotland.

There is variation in how the counselling service is being delivered across authorities. Twenty four authorities are providing a specific resource in schools and eight authorities are providing an authority wide service according to need across their region.

Counselling is just one of a range of services that helps to support children and young people’s mental health. Local authorities have significant wider support in place to support children and young people through universal, targeted and community approaches. This includes approaches such as telephone helplines, education psychology support, bespoke support packages and resources as well as whole-school approaches such as trauma informed and nurture.

Since the first lockdown in March last year we have worked closely with partners to develop continuity in learning guidance. This made clear that local authorities and schools should ensure that personalised support is in place to meet the needs of children and young people in light of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. This includes the assessment, planning, action and review for individuals’ needs and is consistent with the values and principles of getting it right for every child, and the provisions of the Additional Support for Learning Act 2004. Further guidance was published on 16 February to support the phased return of pupils to schools in February to March 2021.

The approach to the identification of dyslexia in children and young people in Scotland is an inclusive and collaborative process, which takes place over a period of time and should include consultation with teachers, school staff, parents, pupils and other relevant agencies when there are concerns about a pupil’s progress.

We have provided a range of free professional learning opportunities for teachers aimed at supporting practitioners to further develop their knowledge, understanding and skills in supporting learners with dyslexia, and reduce barriers to learning. This includes the Addressing Dyslexia Toolkit and identification pathway, launched in 2017, and the Dyslexia and Inclusive Practice online professional learning modules, which enable staff to gain professional recognition in this area.

A formal identification of dyslexia is not required in order for pupils to access support while learning from home.

We greatly value the work of all of Scotland’s carers, particularly during this pandemic. To save lives it’s essential that vaccination be given to the first priority groups as set by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), and unpaid carers are included.

• Adult unpaid carers aged under 65 and young carers aged 16 and 17 will be offered vaccination at the same time as adults with eligible at-risk health conditions (under JCVI priority group 6).
• Unpaid carers aged 65 and over will be offered the vaccine earlier as they are included in JCVI priority groups 2-5.

Some unpaid carers will be invited to get their coronavirus vaccine by phone or letter, if they are already known to support services, for example, Social Security Scotland or a local carer centre. If they are not in contact with a service, they can register with their local carer centre. Unpaid carers will also be able to self-refer for the Coronavirus vaccine if they are not contacted by phone or letter. Further information on this will be available shortly.

Each year the Scottish Government undertakes a teacher workforce planning exercise in partnership with other educational stakeholders through the Teacher Workforce Planning Advisory Group. Statistical modelling and other intelligence relating to teacher supply and demand is taken into account.

Information on the projections of teacher numbers can be found at:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/teacher-workforce-planning---2021-exercise
-statistical-model---november-2020/

The statistical teacher workforce planning model indicates a reduction in primary student teachers. However, the Scottish Government has recommended to the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) maintaining intakes to initial teacher education (ITE) in 2021-22 at 2020-21 levels, 1,934 in primary and 2,136 in secondary. This is on the grounds that pressures on Education Recovery from the Covid 19 pandemic may require additional teachers in the system moving forward.

Prior to issuing annual guidance to the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) on initial teacher education (ITE), the Scottish Government conducts a teacher workforce planning exercise in partnership with other educational stakeholders, through the Teacher Workforce Planning Advisory Group. This includes Universities and the General Teaching Council for Scotland.

Scottish Minsters’ guidance to SFC and the Council’s announcement to Universities on ITE target intakes in 2021/22 can be found at:

Intake Targets for Initial Teacher Education 2021-22 (sfc.ac.uk)

Scottish Ministers’ guidance to SFC on ITE in 2021-22 recommended maintaining intakes at 2020-21 levels, 4,070.

The Scottish Government has provided local authorities with‎ £80 million of additional investment in education staff, sufficient for the recruitment of around 1,400 additional teachers, and 200 support staff this year.

In addition, a package of £45 million of new funding was announced on 13 January to support the delivery of remote learning. This funding is sufficient to employ an additional 2,000 teachers during this financial year, and a further £25 million has been made available to local authorities to support this to the end of the school year.

The funding is not ring-fenced for a specific group of teachers, and may be used by local authorities to recruit additional newly qualified teachers, recently qualified teachers and other qualified teachers.

This money is additional to the £160 million that we have already committed for education recovery since the start of the pandemic. A further £100 million for‎ 2021-22 was announced on 16 February to support education recovery.

 Whilst the recruitment and deployment of teachers are matters for local authorities, given the significant additional funding we have made available to local government to support education recovery, and the need to ensure that children and young people have appropriate support for their learning and wellbeing as we return to in-person learning, we would expect employment opportunities to be available for many teachers.

Since the start of the pandemic we have committed to investing over £300 million to support education recovery, this has helped to recruit an additional 1,400 teachers and over 200 support staff.