Is real education reform now out of reach – at least until after the next election?

Back in June 2021, the Scottish Government told us that a process of “reform” in Scottish education was about to begin.

The announcement was timed to coincide with – and distract from – a major review into the nation’s school system by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and promised “change in order to improve, to achieve more and to deliver for Scotland’s pupils.”

It all feels a very, very long time ago.

The process of reform was essentially kicked off with the announcement that the government planned to replace the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA). The nation’s only exam board has struggled ever since its inception and, during Covid, was at the heart of the scandal over attempts to suppress the grades of pupils from the poorest areas. It’s worth noting, however, that even before that point the organisation was viewed with well-earned contempt by many teachers, including those who worked for it each year marking exam papers.

The government also decided to split Education Scotland, removing its school inspection powers and returning to a system of (in theory) independent inspection that it had abandoned a few years after the SNP first won power.

But just one day after the initial announcement, it started to become clear that this so-called reform process was already in trouble. For reasons that seemed baffling at the time, the Scottish Government........

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