Many secondary schools’ have merely “rebranded” their old exam-focused practices as Curriculum for Excellence, the Scottish Parent Teacher Council has said. Responding to the government’s school governance review, it said that “many schools have not adopted CfE at all but simply tinkered with the old system, therefore letting down young people and compromising the CfE approach”. Meanwhile, the National Parent Forum of Scotland has warned that changes to governance must not add “another layer of bureaucracy”.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority should be subject to greater independent scrutiny, according to the Royal Society of Edinburgh. New qualifications have led to “excessively time-consuming” assessment arrangements for teachers, the RSE said in a response to the governance review. It added: “While the SQA has undertaken its own evaluation and review activities, greater external and independent input could help provide reassurance and confidence in its performance.”

There is “overwhelming support” for the introduction of a young carers’ allowance that could benefit thousands of secondary pupils, according to a poll. The Scottish Green Party, which carried out the survey, said that there were up to 100,000 carers aged under 18. The Greens’ Alison Johnstone said teenagers’ education maintenance allowance could be cut if they missed school because of caring responsibilities.

The Scottish skills training system must respond rapidly to the likelihood that many complex jobs could soon be done by robots, according to a report by the thinktank IPPR Scotland. The study highlights one expert prediction that up to half the jobs in developed economies are under threat from at least some automation. The report states: “The next wave of automation is likely to alter Scottish employment profoundly through digital technology, robotics, artificial intelligence and big data analytics.”

@Henry_Hepburn