13th October 2026
The Scottish Government published a new report, Shaping the Future: Strengthening Scotland's Education System through Empowered Schools, on 28 September 2026. John Wilson, a former headteacher, was appointed as an Independent Professional Advisor for Future School Reform to consider changes to governance, improvement, and funding that would empower schools. The basis for this idea came from 2018’s Education Bill. You can read the full Wilson report on empowered schools here.
This is the final report by the Independent Professional Advisor on Future School Reform in Scotland and makes recommendations on:
- Governance: by creating new Local Schools Authorities to take on the statutory responsibility for the delivery of school education, instead of the current system where 32 local authorities are responsible for education in their own areas.
- Improvement: by reviewing how schools measure success while making it easier for them to work together and share best practice.
- Funding: by clearly defining and ring-fencing national funding for education and improving consistency in the way this is recorded by local authorities.
These are currently only suggestions, and the Scottish Government and local authorities will now discuss how these may look in practice, or if they will carry them out at all.
Connect continues to highlight the importance of engaging with parents, carers, and young people if changes are to be made, and we will submit a formal response to any future calls for views on this.