The agency formed from the merger of HMIE and Learning and Teaching Scotland will be a one-stop shop for supporting the quality and delivery of Scottish education - but no final decision has been made on its name.

Given a working title of the Scottish Education Quality Improvement Agency - or Seqia - concerns have been raised that the acronym sounds like a tree and fails to describe its purpose.

Education Secretary Michael Russell this week spelled out the new body’s remit and purpose: “It will provide a single point of contact and deliver a wide range of practical support as well as helping to improve capacity for evaluation at all levels in the system.”

It would be characterised by “an ethos of trust, partnership openness, excellence and accountability” and, at the same time, be capable of providing “consistent, flexible and proportionate support”.

As well as inheriting the functions undertaken by HMIE and LTS, it will assume responsibility from the Scottish Government’s Learning Directorate for support at national level of continuing professional development.