Tories call for end to Curriculum for Excellence

A review of Curriculum for Excellence last year resulted in the scrapping of the Scottish Qualifications Authority.

The Scottish Conservatives have unveiled their education policy on the first day of the party’s conference in Aberdeen (Ben Birchall/PA) (PA Wire)

The Scottish Conservatives have pushed for the end of the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) on the first day of the party’s conference.

A report on the curriculum published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) last year resulted in the scrapping of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) and its replacement with a new body.

The report also said the focus on exam-based qualifications for older pupils “limits the wider scope and focus of CfE”.

Oliver Mundell will lead a debate on education at the Scottish Conservative Party conference (Fraser Bremner/Daily Mail/PA) (PA Archive)

Tory education spokesman Oliver Mundell – who will lead a debate at the party’s conference in Aberdeen – unveiled a 19-page policy paper on Friday, which called for a “national conversation” around the creation of a new curriculum.

The conversation, he said, will be led by “teaching professionals and independent education experts”, with a focus on “subject-specific knowledge”, better preparation for exams, and an emphasis on further and adult education along with apprenticeships.

The new approach, he said, should put digital skills at its “core”.

“Scotland’s education system used to rank among the best in the world before the SNP came to power,” Mr Mundell said.

“We should return to the strong, traditional, teacher-led approach that gave so many of us who went to our local school a decent start in life.

We want to start a national conversation with teachers and education experts to design a replacement that would restore world-class Scottish education

Oliver Mundell, Scottish Conservatives

“Quality, knowledge-rich, universal education is at the heart of being Scottish. We pride ourselves on being a nation of innovators, entrepreneurs, and thinkers.

“We are at risk of losing all that if we keep sticking with the same distinctly un-Scottish approach that has seen our schools plummet down international league tables.

“We should return to Scotland’s curriculum and ditch the SNP’s Curriculum for Excellence.”

He added: “We want to start a national conversation with teachers and education experts to design a replacement that would restore world-class Scottish education.”

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “The OECD’s independent report published last year described CfE as ‘a bold and widely supported initiative’.

“Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) is the right approach for Scotland and it is viewed internationally as an inspiring example of curriculum practice. Throughout the pandemic it delivered credible results for our children and young people in the face of exceptional circumstances.

“The breadth of learning delivered by CfE – which helps equip pupils with the knowledge, skills and attributes needed for life in the 21st century – was reflected in the most recent PISA global competence assessment, where only two countries achieved a higher average score than Scotland.”