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The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) accredit all initial teacher education programmes. This involves ensuring all programmes meet the GTCS Standard for Provisional Registration (SfPR). The SfPR sets out that student teachers are required to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of theory and practical skills required in curricular areas such as literacy.

The Scottish Government and COSLA agreed jointly in 2018 to a significant investment in the training of educational psychologists, to address a shortfall in numbers of practitioners across Scotland. This investment was made to secure a workforce for employment in Scotland, acknowledging that there are a range of career paths available including those who require part-time employment.

Under the grant terms and conditions of the Qualification in Educational Psychology (QEP), trainees must make every reasonable effort to secure employment as an Educational Psychologist with a local authority to begin as soon as possible after the completion of the Training Programme.

Failure to meet these requirements may result in default of the grant terms and conditions. In these circumstances the full Grant Funds received by or in respect of the Trainee, or a pro rata share, may be required to be repaid to the Scottish Ministers.

I will lead the summit on behaviour and relationships in our schools, with the first stage of the taking place on 5 September. The views and experiences of school staff will be central to the summit process, which is focusing on practical support at classroom, school and local level to make a difference on this issue.

A multi-stage approach to the summit is planned to ensure the issues are considered in detail and to allow the later stages of the summit to benefit from the latest data following the publication of the Behaviour in Scottish Schools research. This research will provide a robust national picture in relation to behaviour in Scotland’s schools when it publishes in Autumn this year.

As well as our plans for the summit, I convened a Headteacher taskforce which includes representatives from across the education sector. The taskforce met in June and we considered the issue of school exclusions and consequences. We will use these discussions to inform our approach to the summit.

I will continue to update Cabinet colleagues in the usual manner.

The Scottish Government does not gather this information. It is for local authorities to determine how they deliver the service to suit the needs and circumstances of children and young people in their area. We produced guidance to support local authorities, available at: Access to counselling in secondary schools: guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Scottish Government collects information on the condition, suitability and capacity of all local authority schools in the annual School Estates Core Facts Survey. Information is also collected on schools that were built or substantially refurbished during the previous year. The latest School Estate Statistics were published on 5 September and are available on the Scottish Government website .

The Scottish Government’s School Estates Core Facts Survey show that we have a record number of schools in “good” or “satisfactory” condition in Scotland. Moreover, the proportion of schools in “good” or “satisfactory” condition has increased from 61% in April 2007 to 90.7% in April 2023.

The General Teaching Council for Scotland’s (GTCS) Standard for Full Registration, which is the benchmark for competence required of all registered teachers, outlines that all teachers are required to demonstrate a depth of knowledge and understanding of pedagogical and learning theories, and draw on these appropriately to inform practice in areas such as dyslexia. Furthermore, the GTCS Guidelines for Accreditation of Initial Teacher Education Programmes, are clear that programmes should expose all students to national priorities and pedagogies to develop their understanding and practice in areas such as dyslexia.

Over 700 teachers have GTCS registration in additional support needs which is available to those with appropriate qualifications.

The Scottish Government have invested £16m per year in order to ensure that children and young people have quick and effective access to support for their mental health and wellbeing through counsellors in schools. Local authorities provide six-monthly reports to the Scottish Government on this commitment. The reports confirm that the overall picture on improving children and young people’s outcomes is positive.

A summary of the reports can be found here: Access to counsellors in secondary schools and children and young people’s community mental health services – summary reports - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . We will publish a summary of the 2022 reports in the coming weeks, which will include the number of counsellors local authorities reported were in post.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18589 on 15 June 2023 where the benefits of the Erasmus+ sector to Scotland, and as such subsequent loss due to the UK Government decision not to associate to Erasmus+ were outlined.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at Questions and answers | Scottish Parliament Website .

Over the next three years the Scottish Government will invest in a new programme of work to support early intervention in speech and language for children and their families, helping to build confidence and capacity for staff working in early learning and childcare settings, and joining up efforts across other key public services, such as health visiting.

In our Best Start - strategic early learning and school age childcare plan 2022 to 2026, we outlined a commitment to invest in a new programme of work to support early intervention in speech and language. As part of that work we are recruiting six Full Time Equivalent Regional Leads for Early Years Speech and Language – in collaboration with Education Scotland.

The leads will be based in each region in Scotland, aligned to Regional Improvement Collaboratives. We anticipate that their work will improve outcomes for children’s speech and language across Scotland, by setting up new stakeholder networks, supporting frontline staff, promoting quality improvement and learning from best practice.

Scottish Government Officials have been working with representatives from the higher education sector over the summer to develop a Scottish Education Exchange Programme Test and Learn project. This working group includes representatives from individual universities and colleges in addition to the national bodies who represent these sectors.