The Scottish Government Education Directorates were a group of the

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

directorates in the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

. The Directorates were titled Children, Young People and Social Care; Schools; and Lifelong Learning. They were responsible for

education in Scotland Education in Scotland is provided in state schools, private school, private schools and by individuals through homeschooling. Mandatory education in Scotland begins for children in Primary 1 (P1) at primary school and ends in Fifth Year (S5) a ...

;

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

care for children and young people and

lifelong learning Lifelong learning is the "ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated" pursuit of learning for either personal or professional reasons. Lifelong learning is important for an individual's competitiveness and employability, but also enhances social in ...

. In December 2010 these functions were taken on by the Learning and Justice Directorates. The Directorates reported to the Director-General Leslie Evans. The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning is Mike Russell. and he was then supported by the Minister for Children and Early Years, Adam Ingram MSP and by the Minister for Skills and Lifelong Learning, Angela Constance MSP at that time.

History

The Scottish Education Department (SED) came into being as the body responsible for schooling in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

when it was formed from the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

's Board of Education for Scotland in 1872. The

Education (Scotland) Act 1872 The Education (Scotland) Act 1872 ( 35 & 36 Vict. c. 62) made elementary education for all children between the ages of 5 and 13 mandatory in Scotland. The Act achieved a more thorough transfer of existing schools to a public system than the E ...

continued to make education compulsory in Scotland and took over the running of schools from the Church of Scotland.

Burgh A burgh ( ) is an Autonomy, autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots language, Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when David I of Scotland, King David I created ...

as well as

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

schools now came under

School Boards A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...

run by local committees. It was originally called the Scotch Education Department (see Scotch), was a committee of

Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a privy council, formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are curre ...

, and had its offices in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. In 1885 the department became a responsibility of the new ministerial post of

Secretary for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland (; ), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Scotland Office. The incum ...

, under whom the

Scottish Office The Scottish Office was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1999, exercising a wide range of government functions in relation to Scotland under the control of the Secretary of State for Scotland. Following the es ...

was set up in Dover House,

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London, England. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It ...

, London. In 1918 the department was moved to

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

and the name was changed to the Scottish Education Department, in accordance with Scottish usage. The Secretary for Scotland became the

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland (; ), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Scotland Office. The incum ...

in 1926. The department was renamed the Scottish Office Education Department (SOED) in 1991, and the Scottish Office Education and Industry Department (SOEID) in 1995. With

devolution Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territori ...

in 1999, the new Scottish Executive set up the Scottish Executive Education Department (SEED) to oversee school education, whilst the Scottish Executive Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department – now Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department (ETLLD) – took over responsibility from the former SED for further and

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

, and also maintenance grants for Scottish university students, through the Student Awards Agency for Scotland, an

Executive Agency An executive agency is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate, to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government or No ...

of ETLLD. In May 2007, the new

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...

government abolished the departments within the Scottish Executive. The

is now structured around individual Directorates, grouped for some purposes under a Director-General.

Sponsorship of Agencies and Public Bodies

The Directorates sponsor the following executive agencies: * Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education * Social Work Inspection Agency * Student Awards Agency for Scotland They also provide funding for the following public bodies: *

General Teaching Council for Scotland The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTC Scotland) () is a fee based registered charity and the world's first independent registration and regulation body for teaching. The current Chief Executive and Registrar is Pauline Stephen. The GTC Sc ...

* Learning and Teaching Scotland * National Grid for Learning Scotland * Scottish Children's Reporter Administration *

Scottish Qualifications Authority The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA; Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic: ''Ùghdarras Theisteanas na h-Alba'') is the Scottish public bodies, executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government responsible for accrediting educationa ...

References

External links

{{Scottish Government Directorates Defunct departments of the Scottish Government Education in Scotland

History

Sponsorship of Agencies and Public Bodies

References

See also

External links