Scottish Labour wants to create closer links between employers and schools so that students can more easily see where their subject choices will lead after school, the party’s education spokesperson said today.
Pam Duncan-Glancy was addressing her party’s conference in Glasgow, where she suggested that schools and industry were too detached from each other.
“We will work with education providers and industry to create and deliver Scottish industry standards that link young people’s school studies to the jobs of the future,” she said.
‘Clear line’ between school subjects and jobs
These industry standards would give school students “a clear line of sight between the subjects they pick in school and the job opportunities that could be open to them in the growing sectors of Scotland’s economy”.
Ms Duncan-Glancy said Labour aimed to create a “digital skills passport so that [students] can demonstrate to the world what they’ve achieved”.
She also stressed that “exams will remain a key part of assessment”. The 2023 Hayward review of qualifications and assessment had proposed an end to external exams in S4, although this was one key recommendation ultimately rejected by the Scottish government.
Ms Duncan-Glancy also addressed concerns that plans later this year for the Scottish Qualifications Authority to be replaced by a new body called Qualifications Scotland will not go far enough.
“We will actually abolish the SQA,” she said, whereas the SNP government was merely “rebranding rather than reforming” the organisation.
Ms Duncan-Glancy also said that if Labour is elected in the May 2026 Scottish parliamentary election, it will breathe new life into the Pupil Equity Fund (PEF).
For nearly a decade, almost all schools in Scotland have been receiving various levels of PEF funding to support innovative work in closing the attainment gap between rich and poor.
However, education secretary Jenny Gilruth has acknowledged that PEF is often not used for the intended purpose and instead goes towards counteracting local budget cuts and filling staffing gaps.
While Ms Gilruth has committed to the continuation of PEF after the next election, she has insisted that the status quo cannot go on; this month, she said that the impact of PEF on Scottish schools would be revealed by detailed analysis to be published in the spring.
‘Empowering schools’ with PEF assurances
Today, Ms Duncan-Glancy said that PEF had been used to “plug holes and fill gaps” and often went towards staffing rather than innovation.
Scottish Labour intended to “make PEF funding permanent to empower schools” as part of plans to help them “properly plan and offer staff permanent and long-term contracts”.
The party also wants to “ensure places on undergraduate teacher training are aligned to workforce planning”.
Meanwhile, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar promised to “ban” mobile phones in schools.
He said that teachers were “working in fear and anxiety as physical attacks on staff have skyrocketed”, while “staff are noticing the attention spans of our pupils shortening”.
Mr Sarwar added: “More and more pupils are feeling unsafe in our classrooms. The mental health of our young people is being undermined - with catastrophic results. This has to end.
“That’s why, as first minister, I will ban mobile phones in classrooms and make schools safe, calm places for learning again.”
It has been reported that a ban would take the form of guidance issued to schools, rather than new legislation.
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