CfE Management Board – 13 June 2012 – Paper 6.1
MANAGEMENT BOARD SUB GROUP ON THE LEARNER JOURNEY
Background
The governance arrangements for the CfE Management Board provide for the Board
to delegate its governance functions for specific work streams to a sub-group – to be
chaired, where practical, by a member of Management Board.
At its meeting on 29th March 2012, members agreed to the establishment of such a
sub-group, to be called the CfE Learner Journey Group, to consider action to ensure
a coherent journey from the CfE senior phase into higher education. Members
requested a paper setting out proposed remit, roles and responsibilities for this group
for further consideration.
Scottish Government Learning Directorate is taking forward a specific project to raise
attainment and ambition in S6 (further details provided in the Annex to this paper).
There is a very clear crossover between this work and that of the proposed sub
group, particularly in relation to the significant proportion of S6 learners who
progress to higher education. In considering the learner journey to HE it is also
necessary to consider how schools are planning a coherent senior phase with a
range of pathways to meet the needs of different learners. This paper therefore
proposes a remit for the sub-group which encompasses both of these areas.
Proposed remit and core functions
To agree action to ensure a coherent learner journey from the CfE senior phase into
Higher Education, Further Education, training and employment. In particular to
advise on actions to:

support universities in considering and taking forward the recommendations of
the Universities Scotland Beyond the Senior Phase report;

achieve the objectives of the S6 project and monitor progress towards
achievement of the project objectives. (See Annex A)
The continued need for the group, and its remit, will be kept under regular review.
Proposed membership
Terry Lanagan, ADES (Chair)
SQA
Education Scotland
Headteacher
Scotland’s Colleges
Universities Scotland
University Principal
Community Learning and Development
Scottish Government (Policy - CfE)
Scottish Government (Policy - Post-16 Education Reform)
1
CfE Management Board – 13 June 2012 – Paper 6.1
Support functions:
Scottish Government (CfE Programme Management)
Scottish Government (Secretariat)
It is proposed that other partners (e.g. employers) are invited to attend relevant
meetings.
Meeting frequency and life of the Group
It is proposed that the group will meet quarterly. It may be possible to undertake
some business by correspondence. The Group is likely to meet for the first time in
August/September 2012 and should complete it’s work before the first CfE cohort
enter university in 2015. The remit for the group will be kept under review.
Roles of Members
Members will have joint responsibility for ensuring the core functions are delivered.
Certain individuals will have specific responsibilities and these are described below.
General Responsibilities
It will be assumed that, in the same way as they operate at CfE Management Board,
all members will have the following general responsibilities in fulfilling the core
functions of the group:




To represent their organisation in ensuring that the group is up to date with
progress, issues and risks in relation to the implementation of CfE in the Senior
Phase and in particular in relation to S6;
To communicate with their respective organisations to ensure that there is a
current and consistent understanding of the implications of CfE in the Senior
Phase and in particular in relation to S6; ;
To take decisions on behalf of their respective organisations in the course of the
Group discussions and to ensure that these are communicated appropriately to
there respective organisations;
To identify any organisational specific risks and issues that will impact on the
delivery of the group’s objectives and to propose actions for mitigating and
resolving these.
Specific Responsibilities
Chair
The Chair will be responsible for ensuring that the CfE Management Board is kept up
to date with recommendations, progress, issues arising and escalating risks from the
group. (The Chair will be supported in their role by Scottish Government CfE
Programme Management, as described below).
Higher Education Members
2
CfE Management Board – 13 June 2012 – Paper 6.1
Higher Education members will have the lead role in assisting the group identify
actions to support universities take forward the recommendations of the Universities
Scotland Beyond the Senior Phase report. These members will ensure that any
issues or concerns raised through Universities Scotland’s Principals Group and
Learning and Teaching Committee are raised with the Group. Equally, Higher
Education members will ensure that Universities Scotland’s Principals Group and
Learning and Teaching Committee is fully informed of progress and any issues or
concerns emanating from the Group or the CfE Management Board.
Scottish Government Members – Policy
Scottish Government policy members will ensure that:

the various policy interests across the CfE and Post-16 Education Reform
programmes within the Scottish Government are fully informed of progress of
the learner journey work.

the Group is up to date with other policy developments across SG which have
an impact on the learner journey work.
CfE Programme Management
The CfE Programme Manager will attend meetings and will:

support members in developing a set of activities that will form the project
plan to deliver the Group’s agreed way forward, for inclusion in the CfE
Programme plan and ongoing programme management arrangements;

ensure that group is informed of critical dependencies and progress (or
otherwise) towards achievement of the planned outputs.

provide regular updates on the risk management activities, indicating where
risks are increasing and where significant issues are arising that require
Management Board attention.
Scottish Government
May 2012
3
CfE Management Board – 13 June 2012 – Paper 6.1
ANNEX – S6 ATTAINMENT AND AMBITION PROJECT
Background
In September last year, the Scottish Government published proposals for wideranging reform of Government-funded post-16 education in Scotland. While these
reforms do not extend to schools, the proposals note the need to improve the
alignment of pre-and post-16 provision and improve learner outcomes through a
more integrated and sharply focused approach.
Some young people disengage from learning during S6. This can happen for a
range of reasons: for some, the opportunities on offer do not meet their needs,
learning style or aspirations, for others who are progressing to Higher Education it
may be because they have an offer of a university place based on their S5
achievement. More young people are now staying on to S6 and schools are
planning a coherent 3 year Senior Phase under Curriculum for Excellence in which
S6 is a key part. While much work is already underway, Scottish Government
Learning Directorate is taking forward a specific project focused on maximising the
value of the S6 experience.
Project objectives
The two key objectives of the project are to:

strengthen the offer in S6 and consider how this will affect transition into post16 education, training and employment. In doing so, raise the ambition of
schools, local authorities, their partners and young people to the potential of
S6 to deliver greater attainment and achievement;

consider the role of a range of partners (including employers, colleges,
Community Learning and Development and the voluntary sector) in delivering
opportunities for wider achievement and skills development for a larger and
more diverse cohort.
Scottish Government
May 2012
4