Meeting of the Parliament 25 October 2018
I may not have made this expressly clear, but the review will not be carried out by Education Scotland; it will be carried out independently of Government and Education Scotland. I will take advice from the chief inspector of education about who should conduct the review but, as I indicated in my statement, I am very much open to discussing those questions with other parties in the Parliament in order to secure broad agreement on how we might take these issues forward. Mr Greer has suggested elements of the remit that could be enhanced, and I welcome that. I welcome input from other members of the Parliament as to how we might take the approach forward so that we can command the broadest possible support and proceed on the basis of evidence to ensure that we come to the correct conclusions.
The second point that Mr Scott raised related to the involvement of P1 pupils in the assessments in this school year. I believe that there is justification for maintaining that position. That will give us further evidence to consider as part of the evidence review, and it acknowledges the fact that the assessments have been going on in Scottish schools in 27 out of 32 local authority areas for many years. It helps to structure the assessment of young people’s performance and enhance the learning that they undertake. That is the whole purpose of assessment for learning, which is exactly what the approach that I am setting out is designed to address.