Seven years ago we published the first edition of Informed Scotland.
Remember 2012, when
the talk was of Scotland’s 23.1% youth unemployment, the merger of 37 further
education colleges, and Curriculum for Excellence and the move from Standard
Grades to new Nationals? Now youth unemployment is down to 6.6%, there are 26
colleges… and, okay, we’re still talking about Curriculum for Excellence and
qualifications!
Today’s hot topics include challenging issues not regularly discussed back then, like mental health & wellbeing, or non-existent, like Brexit.
On mental health there were signs of things to come, with Education Scotland’s Communities Team publishing Learning is good for your health in May 2012, and a new national strategy for health & wellbeing in schools under development.
There was no hint of Brexit in issue 1 however. The main item on the EU was a Scottish Government announcement of £25m of European Structural Funding for projects to support getting young people into work. Perhaps had we lauded, rather than taken for granted, this type of regular, significant intervention, we would have avoided the major challenges created by Brexit today.
Back to the present, and May 2019 was the month for a plethora of must-read reports, including:
This is the tip of the information iceberg: become an Informed Scotland subscriber so you can
keep on top of all the developments. Email info@ajenterprises.co.uk to request a
sample copy.
The annual exam season began for schools, colleges and universities. A Reform Scotland report focused on the number of National Qualifications a student can take at S4. And SCQF Partnership encouraged employers to become ‘inclusive recruiters’ by using SCQF levels instead of specific qualifications in their recruitment processes.
Other items to highlight include:
Scottish Funding Council’s first statistical report on the articulation of HNC/HND students from colleges to universities
Finally, a quick mention with thanks to Edinburgh graphic designers, Mamook, who created the original Informed Scotland design and template – as you may have noticed they’ve provided a few new snazzy cover designs over the last year, and this issue features the final one. We hope you like them as much as we do!
This really is just a taste of all that happened last month! To keep on top of developments you need to become an Informed Scotland subscriber. Email info@ajenterprises.co.uk to request a sample copy.
As well as the
annual round-up of statistics, including on college staffing and higher
education students, qualifiers and retention rates, interesting items to highlight
include:
This really is just a taste of all that happened last month! To keep on top of developments you need to become an Informed Scotland subscriber. Email info@ajenterprises.co.uk to request a sample copy.
There was no shortage of learning and skills activity in blink-and-you-missed-it February. A range of hot topics, familiar and new, presented themselves across the landscape.
Inclusion was referenced in all sectors:
There is a new SCQF Inclusive Recruiter campaign; a new Creative Scotland Create:Inclusion Fund; a new HUB for SUCCESS offering support to care experienced young people in Edinburgh; and a new Prince’s Trust project to develop digital skills for unemployed and underemployed 16–30 year-olds across the UK backed by Google.org.
And look out for affordable coworking spaces opening up in libraries across the country, thanks to SLIC’s imaginative new Scottish Coworking Network. Take it from one who knows: coworking is to be recommended for micro-businesses, freelancers or start-ups – it absolutely creates opportunities for cross-fertilisation of learning and ideas!
Brexit made its way onto the cover of Informed Scotland for only the second time. There is much evidence of its increasing influence on the economy, business, employment and skills, with words and phrases like ‘gloomy’, ‘uncertainty and confusion’ and ‘threat’ littering forecasts.
The further and higher education sector is raising alarms and preparing for Brexit’s potential impact. The Scottish Funding Council published EU Exit and Scottish colleges and universities and added an EU Exit section to its website, while university bodies including Universities UK and the Russell Group, which is Chaired by the Principal & Vice-Chancellor of University of Glasgow, wrote a strongly worded open letter to MPs.
But there was plenty more learning & skills activity to fill this bumper double issue!
As well as the usual numerous statistical reports and annual reviews, other items to highlight include:
The sixth annual Informed Scotland Learning & Skills Hottest Topics list, plus a round-up of last year’s activity, is in an Annex to the digest. There’s also a link to an interview for Radio EDUtalk in January, when Angela Gardner and David Noble explored the stories behind the list, and looked at what’s on the horizon for 2019 (highlights here).
“Informed Scotland has become a well-established element of our monitoring role for education and skills policy across the UK. It is one of the few publications that manages to combine a high quality overview of the education, skills, business and labour market information for a nation. There is an understanding of the relationships between these factors that is rarely recognised or captured in such a succinct way. A vital read for all who operate or who aspire to operate in this sector.”
– Patrick Craven, Director of Quality, Policy & Stakeholder Engagement, City & Guilds
“This is such a great publication – one to which every organisation and public body in Scotland should subscribe. It provides such a helpful summary of all the 'goings on' across Scotland.”
“Excellent publication which enables us to keep well briefed and informed on all important education, business and skills updates! I can’t recommend it enough!”
– Natalie Phillips, Education, Business & Community Growth Project Manager, Clyde Gateway
“Informed Scotland allows us to keep up to date with the issues and developments that matter to us as a small educational charity; it saves us time and keeps us all informed.”
