13 March 2017
The Seat Belts on School Transport (Scotland) Bill was introduced in the Scottish Parliament by Gillian Martin MSP on 28 February 2017.
13 October 2016
This briefing offers information and reflection on the implications for higher education institutions in Scotland of the recent EU referendum and the resulting vote to leave the European Union.
05 September 2016
This briefing provides an overview of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Scotland. It includes discussion of student numbers, funding of HEIs and recent policy priorities.
19 August 2016
This briefing highlights five guiding principles and six key strategies, gathered from evidence-based educational research, that have been proved effective in closing the attainment gap.
08 August 2016
The Supreme Court has found that the information sharing provisions of the Named Person legislation are outwith the Scottish Parliament’s legislative competence.
02 June 2016
This briefing discusses the student support funding that is available to those on courses of non-advanced study (“further education”) at Scotland’s publicly-funded colleges.
2 March 2016
Stage 3 proceedings on the Higher Education Governance (Scotland) Bill are scheduled to take place on 8 March 2016.
20 January 2016
Stage 3 proceedings on the Education (Scotland) Bill (the Bill) will take place on 02 February.
The Higher Education Governance (Scotland) Bill (“the Bill”) is a government bill that was introduced in the Scottish Parliament on 16 June 2015 by Angela Constance, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning.
23 April 2015
The Education (Scotland) Bill was introduced in the Parliament on 23 March 2015. It covers a range of school policy issues, in particular school attainment and Gaelic-medium Education.
6 November 2014
This briefing reports on funding plans for higher education (HE) as presented in the Scottish Government’s Draft Budget for financial year 2015-16.
23 May 2014
This briefing provides information about EU law, as it is currently set out in EU Treaties, legislation and associated case law, regarding the treatment of higher education students when moving from one member state to an
2 April 2014
This briefing gives the legislative and policy context for the provision of childcare and pre-school education and considers the expansion of early learning and childcare as set out in the White Paper
21 February 2014
This briefing considers the Scottish Government’s 2014/15 draft budget for further education and the allocation of this funding to colleges across Scotland.
5 February 2014
Stage 3 proceedings on the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill (the Bill) will take place on 19 February.
21 November 2013
This briefing explores the current student loan scheme. It sets out information on the main sources of student support available to full-time undergraduate students in the four countries of the UK.
15 November 2013
The Scottish Government is proposing to use stage 2 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill to amend statutory provisions for consulting on school closures. This briefing gives background on school closure
7 November 2013
This briefing outlines recent changes in the organisation and governance of Scotland‟s colleges. Specific attention is given to the development of college regions and the legislative underpinning to the new governance
13 September 2013
This briefing summarises the main issues relating to the Financial Memorandum accompanying the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill.
19 June 2013
This paper considers the main provisions in the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill and provides brief policy and legislative context for some key areas.
11 June 2013
This briefing summarises the main legislative and non-legislative recommendations made by the Education and Culture Committee. It also summarises the key amendments passed at stage 2.
01 March 2013
New qualifications will be introduced in school year 2013/14. This paper provides an overview of the new curriculum and qualifications and outlines some of the debate surrounding these changes.
24 January 2013
This Bill briefing has been produced to provide the Education and Culture Committee with information on the provisions in the Post-16 Education (Scotland) Bill.
6 December 2012
This briefing gives an overview of developments relating to teacher education and career long learning stemming from the 2010 Donaldson review of teacher education.
19 October 2012
This briefing considers the Scottish Government‟s Draft Budget 2013/14 for the further education sector and looks at recent funding trends in the light of Government policy priorities.
19 October 2012
This briefing presents the Scottish Government’s Draft Budget 2013/14 for the higher education (HE) sector in both cash and real terms.
22 December 2011
This briefing provides information on the current and future arrangements for tuition fees in Scotland and the rest of the UK, as well as a discussion of the ‘funding gap’ debate.
26 October 2011
This briefing has been produced to support an inquiry by the Education and Culture Committee into the educational attainment of looked after children.
9 August 2011
This briefing provides an overview of Higher Education Institutions in Scotland. It provides key statistics and information on recent policy developments
4 August 2011
This briefing gives an overview of Scotland’s college sector and covers policy background, legislation and course provision. It focuses mainly on further education and updates SB 07/43
29 June 2011
This subject profile provides an introduction to services for pre-school children. It updates and expands SB 06/83 published in October 2006.
This briefing gives an overview of key facts relating to school buildings, based on enquiries frequently received in SPICe. This updates SPICe briefing 09/72.
Sets out developments in policy and regulations on class sizes and summarises progress towards the policy of reducing class size in lower primary. Gives a brief overview of the research evidence on the effect of class size reductions on pupil attainment.
This briefing summarises trends in teacher numbers, probationer employment and related policy regarding intake targets for student teachers.
This paper describes the recruitment and selection processes of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and explains what is meant by ‘contextualised admissions’.
The Public Services Reform (General Teaching Council for Scotland) Order 2011 will replace the existing legislation relating to the constitution and functions of the General Teaching Council Scotland (GTCS).
The Autism (Scotland) Bill would place a statutory duty on the Scottish Government to prepare and publish an ‘autism strategy’ to meet the needs of young people and adults with autistic spectrum conditions
Describes the various sources of income and expenditure for Higher Education Institutions and provides analysis of the latest data on income, expenditure and operating balances of Scottish and UK HEIs, and for individual Scottish institutions (2008-09).
This briefing provides an overview of the range of higher education qualifications on offer in Scotland, including a description of the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) and the European Qualifications Framework (EQF).
This briefing provides a summary of research on school autonomy and describes school structures in England, US, Finland, Netherland, New Zealand and Sweden. It also briefly considers the debate about the effect on attainment.
The decision to participate in higher education (HE) is generally considered to be one which is determined at an early age and which is influenced by a number of factors, including socio-economic background and prior educational attainment.
This briefing provides an analysis of statistics on students in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). It examines patterns of participation in higher education by factors such as: mode of study; level of study; institution type; age; country of domicile
This paper provides an overview of the literature on widening access to higher education, and outlines the various barriers faced by students wishing to participate in higher education courses.
The Curriculum for Excellence is due to be implemented from August 2010 with new qualifications starting in 2012/13 and 2013/14. This paper provides an overview of the new curriculum.
This briefing gives a short overview of key facts relating to school buildings, based on enquiries frequently received in SPICe.
The Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Bill was introduced in the Scottish Parliament on 2 March 2009.
This briefing summarises the reports of the Joint Future Thinking Task Force on Universities collectively titled “New Horizons”. The Task Force was chaired jointly by the Government and Universities Scotland and included the Scottish Funding Council and
This briefing summarises the legislative and non-legislative recommendations made by the Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee in its Stage 1 report and the response to it.
This briefing looks at the changes to additional support needs legislation proposed in the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Bill 2008 introduced to the Parliament on 6 October.
This briefing provides a short overview of the capital projects currently underway within the further education college sector and identifies Scottish Government and individual FE college capital investment and allocations.
This briefing gives an overview of the development of policy from special educational needs to additional support for learning. It briefly describes the new legal framework introduced in 2005 and considers some of the issues that have arisen from it.
This briefing provides an overview of the issues surrounding the management of the school estate.
This briefing provides an overview of the debate on class sizes. It considers the national policy framework, research on the subject and the financial considerations involved.
This briefing provides an overview of the school curriculum in Scotland and details of the on-going review of the curriculum. It updates the SPICe briefing 07/18 published in April 2007.
This briefing explains the provisions within the Graduate Endowment Abolition (Scotland) Bill and examines the policy and financial implications of abolishing the Graduate Endowment (GE) fee.
This briefing outlines the implementation of Better Behaviour Better Learning, considers statistics on school exclusions and highlights recommended approaches for improving school behaviour.
This briefing presents information on the funding of Scotland’s Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and the financial support available for higher education students. It also looks at recent developments and key issues facing the Higher Education sector.
This briefing presents key statistics, information on the funding of Scotland’s colleges and the financial support available for further education students. It also looks at recent developments and key issues facing the Further Education sector.
This briefing provides an overview of the school curriculum in Scotland and details of the on-going review of the curriculum.
SPICe Post-Brexit hub
New domestic constitutional arrangements will emerge in the UK after it has left the EU. SPICe’s post-Brexit hub will help you to identify and understand the changes which affect Scotland - SPICe Post-Brexit Hub (external site).
Briefings on digital hub
You'll find all SPICe Briefings published from April 2017 onwards on our digital hub.