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Recruitment of teachers is a matter for local authorities. In recognition of the challenges faced by local authorities in relation to teacher recruitment, the Scottish Government launched its 'Inspiring Teachers' recruitment campaign in September 2015, with an initial focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects, including computing. We are currently considering how best to build on that in the future.

The Scottish Government conducts an annual teacher workforce planning exercise, in partnership with other stakeholders, to project the minimum requirements for the number of newly trained teachers. This exercise involves analysis of the teacher workforce details, including the age profile of the profession, and local intelligence relating to teacher supply and demand. Subject-specific targets have been set for secondary subjects, including computing, since academic year 2014-15.

The approach to national standardised assessment as set out in the National Improvement Framework was developed after extensive engagement with teachers, parents, children and academics. We have drawn evidence from a range of advice and publications, particularly from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development – specifically their publication Synergies for Better Learning: An International Perspective on Evaluation and Assessment and Education Policy Outlook 2015.

Many local authorities already use standardised assessment at primary 1 (P1). For example, over 1,100 schools in Scotland use the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring’s Performance Indicators in Primary Schools assessment to assess the progress children make in P1 in early maths, early literacy and non-cognitive development and behaviour. Schools find this information useful to ensure the right support is in place to secure good outcomes for children.

It is important to note that the assessments are not tests or exams. They are designed to create an understanding of how children are progressing. All children will not need to sit the assessments on the same day but at a time when the teacher thinks it will be most helpful to assess a child’s progress. Assessments will also be age-appropriate so for example, the needs of children in P1 and their early stage of vocabulary and development will be taken into account in the design.

Familial Arrhythmia Network for Scotland (FANS) aims to improve outcomes in heart disease care for people with life threatening inherited cardiac conditions and their families. FANS is a national managed clinical network comprising specialist healthcare practitioners, such as cardiologists and geneticists, and patient representatives. FANS provides a section for patient involvement on its website, and undertakes a range of actions to work with the general public through its public education events intended to raise public awareness of inherited cardiac conditions.

FANS coordinators and a number of its members participate in the National Advisory Committee for Heart Disease, which works closely with the Scottish Government and a range of key partners to support NHS boards in delivering improved clinical outcomes in treating heart disease conditions including inherited cardiac conditions.

FANS are currently organising their annual national patient education and information event which will take place in the autumn and hosted their 7th professional symposium on the 27 April 2016 to raise awareness and increase knowledge among professionals. The symposium is an annual event which aims to provide the participating healthcare professionals and researchers from across the UK with an opportunity to share best practice in the detection and treatment of inherited cardiac conditions.

As a result of the work currently on-going to monitor, report on, maintain and support implementation of the additional support for learning legislation and policies, Scottish Ministers have a good understanding of how the system is working. This will be improved further as the national improvement framework develops, and we gather more information about the progress of children and young people with additional support needs. This will help to focus our improvement efforts more clearly. Through our links with stakeholders and stakeholder groups, we have the means to address any issues which may arise and have regular dialogue about securing improvement for Scotland's children and young people.

We will gather and analyse a range of data and evidence, through the national improvement framework, to ensure that we have a comprehensive picture of children’s progress that does not focus on one single measure of performance.

The evidence will include a range of information on health and wellbeing, qualifications and awards, post-school destinations, findings from school and local authority self-evaluations and school inspections, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Programme for International Student Assessment study and, over time, early years evidence. We will also gather from teachers their judgement of children’s achievement of Curriculum for Excellence levels in literacy and numeracy in P1, P4, P7 and S3. Teachers will use a range of assessment evidence to inform their judgement of achievement of these levels, including information from new standardised assessments.

The Scottish Government has no plans to reintroduce the Progress in International Reading and Literacy Trends (PIRLS) and Trends in International Mathematics and Science (TIMSS) studies for Scotland.

The Scottish Government welcomes international scrutiny of our education system and since 2000 has participated in the largest international survey, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) run by The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), focusing on maths, reading and science. Unlike TIMSS and PIRLS, all OECD countries participate in PISA and it is a more effective indicator of how the whole Scottish education system is performing relative to other countries. It is also more closely aligned to Curriculum for Excellence. The Scottish Government took the decision to withdraw from PIRLS and TIMSS in 2010 in order to reduce the bureaucratic burden on teachers and because the PISA tests provide better information and better international comparisons than either TIMSS and PIRLS.

The Scottish Government has committed to expanding our Attainment Fund and investing an additional £750 million during this parliament to close the gap in educational attainment. To date the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation has been used to identify schools and local authorities with high concentrations of pupils experiencing socio-economic challenges and these have been prioritised for resources. We will continue to focus our efforts on deprivation and the poverty related attainment gap. Details of the plans to allocate the funding to support the challenge will be forthcoming in the next few weeks.

The national improvement framework will ensure that we have more robust and consistent evidence to measure the extent of the attainment gap. For the first time, we will be collecting data on children’s progress as they move through their education from early years until they leave school.

A wide range of progress measures will be used at school level across the curriculum to measure the extent of the attainment gap. This will include teacher judgement, informed by standardised assessment, on achievement of Curriculum for Excellence levels in literacy and numeracy at P1, P4, P7 and S3 by school, local authority and nationally. Data from a range of surveys on health and wellbeing will also be gathered, with changes tracked over time. Further evidence, such as senior phase qualifications, awards data, the percentage of school leavers in positive and sustained destinations, and, over time, early years evidence will also be analysed. Additional information, for example external reviews of careers information, advice and guidance services, will also be gathered to help build a picture of improvement This approach will ensure we have a wealth of data to measure the extent of the attainment gap which can be analysed at pupil level using the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.