Scottish Government's Programme for Government 2026-2031

The Scottish Government’s Programme for Government sets out the Government’s plans for education and family support in Scotland for 2026 - 2031.

Connect’s Executive Director, Gavin Yates, said:

‘The Programme for Government has a number of educational proposals and Connect will do what we always do, which is to consult with Scotland’s parents and families.  We will then tell Parliament of their views and concerns.

We are pleased to see a number of proposals which reflect calls for improvement and action from our work. In particular, we welcome more engagement with Parent Councils, a new childcare blueprint, progress on qualifications reform and an extensive overhaul of additional support for learning.

However, some of the timescales for progress and action are unclear and need more ambition.  They also do not address many of the underlying, urgent and systemic failings and issues. For example, when young people with additional support needs leave school without a diagnosis, this can impact on support in the workplace, in education and in later life.

We are also disappointed not to see the Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodivergence (LDAN) Bill be reintroduced which had much to commend it with regard to children’s rights and the rights of autistic and neurodivergent young people.

Supporting children and young people who are struggling in school is a top priority – parents and carers raise their concerns with us again and again. We need rapid improvements before a generation of our most vulnerable young people is failed.’

Below is a summary of aspects of the Scottish Government’s plans that are most relevant to families:

Supporting families

• Help write off school meal debt for families by making up to £2.8 million available to local authorities
• Further expand free school meals in primary school
• Support young people to engage in the labour market by: improving pathways from education into training and employment through partnerships, expanding work-based learning opportunities, transition support, and employability services
• Publish and consult on a blueprint for a new childcare offer focused on what matters most to families
• Deliver a national breakfast club offer, with provision for all primary schools from August 2027, backed by £44 million each year
• Fund a range of targeted childcare support for low-income families, including the Extra Time programme with the Scottish Football Association, and childcare Early Adopter Communities
• Support early learning and childcare (ELC), investing £13.4 million to enable up to 13,000 childcare professionals who deliver funded ELC in the private and third sectors to continue to be paid at least the real Living Wage

Learning in schools

• Empower school leaders and ensure they have the tools and support they need as the professional leaders of learning. Engage with Parent Councils to ensure the aspirations of local communities can be achieved
• Create a more stable teaching workforce and address teacher recruitment challenges by supporting more primary teachers to retrain into employment in secondary schools and addressing challenges in recruitment in rural and island communities
• Expand the early literacy Bookbug programme to reach an additional 20,000 families and, in the new Parliament, partner with the Dollywood Foundation to deliver a nationwide Imagination Library programme, ensuring that every child can foster a love for reading.
• Support further expansion of dedicated Gaelic Medium schools and units, including Gaelic Medium Education (GME) teacher supply and support, alongside implementation of the Scottish Languages Act and GME out-of-school activity
• Begin a review of the provision of modern languages in schools and look to expand the opportunities for young people to learn a new language, including Gaelic and Scots
• Continue to support online learning provision through e-Sgoil to reduce barriers to learning
• Reduce absence and improve attendance, through increased understanding of the underlying issues, improved data, professional learning and bespoke support
• Implement the Joint Action Plan on relationships and behaviour. This will provide clarity on recording and monitoring of incidents and the use of exclusion and will respond to the independent review of actions taken to tackle gender-based violence. Further evidence on the experience of pupil behaviour in schools will be gathered through independent research
• Implement updates to Scotland’s curriculum and qualifications within a decade, building on the recommendations of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development  (OECD) and the Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment – strengthening the place of knowledge, clarifying progression through curriculum levels and refreshing the qualifications offered

Additional support needs

• Begin implementing the route map for a new National Staged Intervention Model for children with additional support needs and progress implementation of the wider McManus Review recommendations
• Ensure that every child with additional support needs has access to appropriate support, including specialist support where required, regardless of where they attend school in Scotland
• Engage with the education profession and schools on the provision of British Sign Language (BSL) training for teachers and specialist deafblind teachers to support those children who are blind, partially sighted, deaf or deafblind
• Progress a new dyslexia passport that school leavers can use to access support in their post-school destination

Online safety and technology

• Consult on legislation to ensure that there are national restrictions on mobile phone use in Scotland’s classrooms, with a Scottish Parliamentary Bill expected to be introduced to the Scottish Parliament as soon as possible thereafter
• Build on investment in the Digital Discourse Initiative and work with local authorities to ensure the programme is rolled out to every school, so that all young people have the opportunity to learn about the risks of online harm, including violent, misogynistic and hateful content
• Take a public health approach to online safety – supporting children, parents, and schools to be better equipped to deal with online safety challenges including through an online safety and wellbeing marketing campaign
• Continue to push UK Ministers to take stronger action on online harm, including measures such as a Social Media Levy to be reinvested into programmes for young people and tougher punishments via Ofcom for social media platforms that fail to keep children safe

Equality and wellbeing

• Education programmes on the danger and the unacceptability of carrying a knife and taking part in violence by supporting organisations and initiatives such as No Knives, Better Lives, the Youth Navigators project, and Mentors in Violence Prevention programme.
• Adopt the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ four-tiered national pathway for neurodevelopmental conditions for adults and continue to implement the Children & Young People’s National Neurodevelopmental Specification, to ensure anyone with or without a formal neurodevelopmental diagnosis can access the support they need when and where they need it
• Roll out the phased introduction of free school swimming lessons in partnership with sportscotland, Scottish Swimming and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA)
• Work with stakeholders on the development of a new Sports Taster Fund, to tackle barriers to participation and encourage more children and young people to try new sports and activities
• Continue the national approach to LGBTQI+ Inclusive Education across all primary and secondary schools, ensuring age-appropriate integration within the curriculum
• Continue the work of the Gender Equality Taskforce in Education and Learning and build on the range of work currently available in schools to tackle misogyny through the Gender Based Violence framework. This will include further investment in Equally Safe at School and Mentors in Violence Prevention Programme

Whole family support

• As part of the work on Whole Family Support, ensure that learning about the value of intensive family support is appropriately embedded as part of ongoing work to keep The Promise.
• Support babies, children, and families in the foundational early years of their life, ensuring Whole Family Support includes sufficient focus on the pre-birth to 3 period, so families feel supported, prepared, and confident to provide the care their children need from before birth.

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