The Scottish and Welsh Governments last met in June 2023 to discuss opportunities for collaboration and sharing best practice across areas of mutual interest. This includes educational mobility and exchange programmes.

As outlined in the answer to question S6W-18598 on 15 June 2023, the 2023-24 budget for skills and employability programmes has been confirmed.

The Scottish Government continues to offer free and impartial advice to all employers and individuals affected by redundancy through Partnership Action for Continuing Employment, PACE, which has local teams ready to respond quickly when situations arise and assist businesses to try and minimise the risk of redundancy before it happens.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

Scotland participates in the Programme for International Student Assessments (PISA), which is an assessment of 15 year olds' skills in maths, science and reading. It is carried out under the auspices of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and includes over 80 countries. The assessments take place every three years across all OECD members and variety of partner countries. Scotland has participated in all eight surveys since the first wave of testing in 2000.

The most recent PISA assessments took place in Scotland in October and November 2022, with over 3,000 15 year olds and nearly 120 schools participating. Scotland's results will be published alongside the international results in December 2023. The Scottish Government will publish a statistical report looking specifically at Scotland's results, with comparisons to OECD and UK countries, as well as time series results. The data will include internationally comparable data on maths, science and reading performance, alongside results of a background questionnaire answered by learners and headteachers.

The Scottish Government indicated in the Equality, Opportunity, Community: New leadership – a Fresh Start publication on 18 April 2023 that Scotland would seek to re-join the Trends in International Mathematics and Science (TIMSS) and Progress in International Reading Literacy (PIRLS) studies. The next PIRLS assessments will take place in 2026, with data published in 2027; with TIMSS assessments taking place in 2027 and published in 2028.

The Scottish Government also provides data on the education system in Scotland for the OECDs annual Education at a Glance publication, which is the authoritative source of data on the state of education around the world. The publication provides information on the structure, finances and performance of education systems across OECD countries and partner economies. This includes internationally comparable data on financial resources in education, teacher pay, working hours, professional development and organisation of schools.

The Scottish Government has had a number of recent meetings with a range of representatives from across the lifelong learning and educations sectors to discuss areas of mutual interest, including the Scottish Education Exchange Programme. We will continue to engage with organisations on this important programme in the coming months.

Teacher views are clearly important, and I have met with the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA) to discuss the findings from their survey, as has the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) which has statutory responsibility for all operational decisions relating to national qualifications.

While I understand concerns raised by teachers around pupil readiness and workload associated with the reintroduction of coursework, SQA has advised that their decision to return to full assessment for most National Qualifications courses for the 2023-2024 session was carefully balanced and taken in the best interests of young people.

SQA evidence and advice suggested that, if retained for longer than necessary these course assessment modifications could have a detrimental impact on consolidation of learning, and progression to the next stage of education, employment or training.

I have also discussed these matters directly with the Chief Examiner, including the feedback from the SSTA, and received assurance that the impact of the removal of modifications will be carefully considered in the grading process in 2024.

We support our local authority partners with £16 million in funding to ensure that every secondary school has access to counselling services.

Local authorities provide six monthly reports to the Scottish Government on the impact and effectiveness of school counsellors. A summary of the reports is published on the Scottish Government website . The overall picture on improving children and young people’s outcomes is positive.

Officials are also working closely with the Counsellors Co-ordinators Network to ensure ongoing engagement with education authorities on the provision of school counsellors.

School counselling is just one of a range of services that schools may have in place to support the health, emotional and social needs of children and young people.

The employability delivery landscape in Scotland remains diverse with complexity and duplication being addressed through No One Left Behind and its aim to simplify the system. We must ensure that funding is prioritised to remain focused on the needs of individuals first and foremost.

The Scottish Government funding for employability continues to support a mixed economy of provision from across the public, private and third sector and offers localised solutions to better meet the needs of people of all ages looking for support.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18598 on 15 June 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18598 on 15 June 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The 2023-24 budgets for employability programmes, including No One Left Behind and Fair Start Scotland were confirmed by the Deputy First Minister on 25 May, with Grant Offer Letters issued to local authorities on 30 May for No One Left Behind. The budget for Individual Training Accounts has now been confirmed and the scheme will re-open during the week commencing 19th June 2023.

We are currently considering the budget for the Flexible Workforce Development Fund in 2023-24 through colleges and the Open University in Scotland and will provide a further update once budget discussions have concluded.