Standards & Quality Report

What is a Standards and Quality Report?

Under the Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc. Act 2000, section 6, schools must provide an annual Standards and Quality Report, as a record of progress with their annual Improvement Plan. This was further revised by the Education (Scotland) Act, 2016, Part 1, Section 3.

In 2016, Education Scotland provided additional advice to establishments, stating that the annual Standards and Quality Report should ensure that:

• progress towards NIF drivers and local priorities is communicated clearly and briefly;
• evaluation of the impact of the school’s actions to improve excellence and equity, and achieve positive outcomes for all children and young people is clear;
• strategies which have been successful in engaging children and young people, staff, parents and the wider community are highlighted;
• evaluations for the following QIs are provided:
  • 1.3 Leadership of Change;
  • 2.3 Learning, teaching and assessment;
  • 3.1 Ensuring wellbeing, equity and inclusion,
  • 3.2 Raising attainment and achievement;
  • any other relevant QIs linked to improvement work; and
• an overall evaluation of the school’s capacity for continuous improvement is stated.

The annual report should be shared in an accessible way with all stakeholders to support a clearer understanding of the key factors giving rise to inequalities, what is working and what needs to improve. It is a public document which should be available to anyone who requests it. The local authority should use the information contained in each school’s annual report to collate and share self-evaluation evidence in relation to the NIF with the Scottish Government.

The Standards and Quality report template can be accessed here.

It covers:

• Context of the Establishment
• Progress and Impact of Establishment Priorities
• Capacity for Continuous Improvement
  • Evaluation of Quality Indicators
• Next Steps