As the election campaign heats up, this is an interesting read from the Mercat Group for our #DevolvingScotland forum on the level of voter apathy in Scotland. Read the full article here: www.enlighten.scot/devolvingsco...

Still time to sign up for this week's online events Today at 1.30pm - Ahead of the elections a look at the education debate in Scotland & Wales in partnership with @policywise.bsky.social Thursday at 1pm - the rise of political misinformation All info below or www.enlighten.scot/events/

Join us on 20 April at 1.30pm for an online discussion looking at school education in Wales & Scotland ahead of the election. This is a joint discussion with @policywise.bsky.social. Full details and to sign up: www.enlighten.scot/event/online...

Bill Howat and Keith Yates write for Devolving Scotland, marking 30 years since local government reform in Scotland. Read the article in full here: www.enlighten.scot/devolvingsco...

"Despite decades of stated commitment to prevention, early intervention and person-centred care, outcomes have not kept pace with ambition" @timjackson.org.uk @cusp.ac.uk for #NHS2048. Read the policy summary: www.enlighten.scot/nhs2048/pros... And the full working paper cusp.ac.uk/themes/healt...

Our Digital Lead Morgan Higgins has written for the Enlighten blog on mobile phones and social media - and why the conversation shouldn’t just stop at young people. www.enlighten.scot/phones-socia...

ONLINE EVENT: The Dangerous Rise of Political Misinformation 1pm Thurs 23 April Director @chrisdeerin.bsky.social will be in conversation with @markfrankel29.bsky.social of @fullfact.org. For more information and to register: www.enlighten.scot/event/the-da...

"At no point has the NHS in Scotland employed the number of nursing staff it says it needs" Eileen McKenna from RCN Scotland writes for #NHS2048. Read her full article here: www.enlighten.scot/nhs2048/safe...

Mary Porter of KPE4 writes for the blog on the potential of the "braided career", enabling participants to split their time between the classroom and industry to help address shortages of computing teachers. Read her full article here: www.enlighten.scot/braided-care...

Join us for an online event on 1 April where we discuss what the NHS can learn from the third sector. Our panel includes: Jane-Claire Judson @chsscotland.bsky.social @tejeshm.bsky.social @vhscotland.bsky.social Rami Okasha CHAS Chaired by @chrisdeerin.bsky.social www.enlighten.scot/event/online...

Catch up on our latest Meet the Leader series of events in partnership with Charlotte Street Partners. On Thursday 12 March @chrisdeerin.bsky.social was in conversation with Malcolm Offord . Watch back the discussion here: www.enlighten.scot/event/meet-t...

"NHS staff are often told they must change their ways of working to improve quality of service. The same is now true of our politicians." Prof Mark Strachan from @rcpedin.bsky.social writes for our #NHS2048 forum. Read his full article here: www.enlighten.scot/nhs2048/the-...

Keir Bloomer, chair of our Commission on School Reform, gave evidence this morning to @parliament.scot's Education, Children & Young People Committee on reform of curriculum and assessment. The Commission on School Reform's recent manifesto can be read in full here www.enlighten.scot/publication/...

Research director @alipayne.bsky.social has contributed to @hepi-news.bsky.social's Scottish week reflecting that without an education system firing on all cylinders, the many other problems facing Scotland cannot be fixed

“Pupils are now performing more poorly in physics, and the STEM subjects more broadly, compared to other subjects than historically was the case" Read the full blog from @stuartphysics.bsky.social www.enlighten.scot/lessons-lear...

A blog post for @enlightenscot.bsky.social about the physics curriculum and its assessment. @drewburrett.bsky.social @physicsdrew.bsky.social @andrewkbailey13.bsky.social @colinmcgill.bsky.social @mrdissent.bsky.social @mrdegsy.bsky.social @brucenextlevel.bsky.social @lynnej0nes.bsky.social

This afternoon at #FMQs @stephenkerr.bsky.social has a question on Curriculum for Excellence and highlights the Commission on School Reform's recent manifesto. Read the manifesto in full here: www.enlighten.scot/publication/...

“when clinicians are empowered to redesign care pathways, streamline processes & adopt evidence-based efficiencies, more patients can be treated without compromising quality” Nigel Kirkpatrick from Newmedica writes for #NHS2048 www.enlighten.scot/nhs2048/effi...

Tomorrow @parliament.scot will debate the Scottish Government's record on school education. Many of the problems, as well as policy recommendations, were outlined in the Commission on School Reform's manifesto published yesterday. Read it in full here: www.enlighten.scot/publication/...

The Commission on School Reform has published its 2026 manifesto. It calls for a return to a knowledge-based curriculum & offers proposals to strengthen academic standards, close the attainment gap & improve support for pupils with additional needs www.enlighten.scot/publication/...

New article: Paul Argyle McDonald warns that maths curriculum is suffering from a "structural collapse" due to "an educational roadmap that prioritises doing and calculating while largely omitting the why". Read his full article here: www.enlighten.scot/the-architec...

Paul McGinness of @stormid.com writes for the blog on the potential of AI to reduce administrative burden in the public sector & increase productivity. Read the full article here: www.enlighten.scot/automate-tas...

Join us on Mon 26 Feb for an online discussion on exclusive new polling in Scotland & Wales & what it might mean. @profnicolamcewen.bsky.social Charlie Buckley @moreincommonuk.bsky.social Dewi Knight @policywise.bsky.social @chrisdeerin.bsky.social www.enlighten.scot/event/online...

"Walking is one of the most inclusive and accessible forms of physical activity" Ian McCall of @walkingscotland.bsky.social writes for #NHS2048 on the positive impact walking and wheeling can have as part of a greater focus on preventing illness www.enlighten.scot/nhs2048/walk...

Katherine Crawford of Age Scotland writes for #NHS2048 on the urgent need to address the problems facing social care. She highlights that while "many, if not most, of us will need social care at some point in our lives"..."it is not a political priority." www.enlighten.scot/nhs2048/scot...

Penny Halliday writes for the Blog about A Listening Ear's call to follow Manchester City Council's lead and remove council tax for those in their last year of life. Read her full article here: www.enlighten.scot/the-bucket-l...

"rarely even mentioned in this debate are the potentially harmful implications of shorter degrees for schools & for school leavers" Prof Lindsay Paterson on the impact for schools from cutting degrees from 4 years to 3. www.enlighten.scot/three-year-d...

"If we want to improve attainment, close equity gaps & develop confident, capable mathematicians the work must begin in our primary classrooms" Primary school teachers Holly Drummond & Kirsten Fenton write for the blog on improving maths teaching. www.enlighten.scot/maths-journa...

A powerful read from Sean Duffy @thewisegroup.bsky.social on the need from real and implemented public service reform in Scotland. www.enlighten.scot/scotlands-pu...

The Scottish Government's consultation on the future of Council tax closes this week. Read our submission here: www.enlighten.scot/devolvingsco...

In a thought-provoking and timely article, Stewart McDonald argues that for too long "defence and security have been kept at arm’s length in Scotland’s devolved politics". Read the full article here: www.enlighten.scot/its-time-for...

"why don’t we do more? Is it because dementia & caring affect women more than men? Or because women’s unpaid labour has long been treated as an inexhaustible resource-natural, expected, & therefore invisible" Greg Stevenson's powerful piece for #NHS2048 www.enlighten.scot/nhs2048/the-...

Research director @alipayne.bsky.social writes for @thescottishsun.co.uk on why the current HE funding system is unsustainable, and why we need a graduate payment. Up-front fees can be avoided & tuition free-at-the-point-of-use maintained if we act asap. www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/1582007...

An anonymous secondary teacher writes for our blog on the problems facing school education in Scotland. Read their full article here: www.enlighten.scot/thoughts-of-...

Online Event: Monday 26th Jan at 1pm Join us with for a discussion looking at the future of colleges in Scotland with Gavin Donoghue from Colleges Scotland and Angela Cox from Ayrshire College in conversation with @chrisdeerin.bsky.social www.enlighten.scot/event/a-disc...

Catch up on our fascinating & informative discussion about Scottish & Welsh devolution in partnership with @policywise.bsky.social. Our panel included Adam Price MS, @kezdugdale.bsky.social, Lee Waters MS, and Paul McLennan MSP. Chaired by @chrisdeerin.bsky.social www.enlighten.scot/event/online...

Frank Gunn-Moore FRSB FRSE of @uniofstandrews.bsky.social writes for our #NHS2048 forum of the challenges and opportunities for Scotland in dementia research. Read his full article here: www.enlighten.scot/nhs2048/grow...

We have a couple of great online events coming up this week - still time to sign up to attend. For more info www.enlighten.scot/events/ or email [email protected] @chrisdeerin.bsky.social @policywise.bsky.social @graemeroy.bsky.social @kezdugdale.bsky.social @paulmclennanmsp.bsky.social

well worth reading on Scottish further and higher education. There are systemic problems, identified here, which the Scottish government review is explicitly not even going to go near.

We've published a new report today from Huw Morris and Des Mcnulty which calls for a radical rethink of the purpose and functioning of Scotland’s tertiary education sector. Read the full report here: enlighten.scot/publication/where-next-for-scotlands-universities-and-colleges/

Ross Martin writes for the blog on the importance of regional economies. Read his full article here: www.enlighten.scot/scotlands-re...

New on the blog: “As the Scottish political parties pull together their policy agendas and manifestos for the next Holyrood election they must put ending the nightmare of retail crime at the top of their priorities” Ewan MacDonald-Russell on the worrying increase in retail crime.

Front page coverage today of the Commission on School Reform's worrying new report which highlights that only 39.5% of the S4 cohort achieved an A-C pass in Nat 5 maths. The report, including data tables, can be read here: www.enlighten.scot/publication/...

News that Scot Gov is to carry out a review of university funding is to be welcomed, though long overdue. We can create a fairer, more sustainable arrangement which provides a better balance between taxpayers & graduates, but also maintains tuition free at point of use.

New on the blog: Jonathan Clark writes on the need for a renaissance in Scotland’s skills system. Read his full article here: www.enlighten.scot/towards-a-sk...

Front page coverage in @scotsman.com today of Lindsay Paterson's warnings that education statistics in Scotland are "deeply flawed": www.scotsman.com/education/le... Read his full article on the issue for Enlighten here: www.enlighten.scot/misleading-e...

"Scotland’s Parliament is not strong. In fact, we would go so far to say that it is institutionally hamstrung through structural design & cultural attitudes" @stephenkerr.bsky.social & James Bundy write for the blog on why reform of Holyrood hasn't been delivered. www.enlighten.scot/everyone-agr...

New ACEL data, which reports teachers’ judgements of literacy and numeracy across Scottish schools, has been published. Professor Lindsay Paterson of the Commission on School Reform warns it can misrepresent what’s really happening in education. Read here: www.enlighten.scot/misleading-e...

New ACEL data has today been published, but Prof Lindsay Paterson of the Commission on School Reform warns it can be misleading. In his new article, he explains how official statistics often obscure the real challenges facing Scottish education. Read here: enlighten.scot/misleading-e...

"All of these three measurement failings – the wrong doors, the wrong time zone, the wrong connotations – conspire to prevent the rigorous examination of cause-&-effect relationships in the health & care system that’s needed" @kurtstat.bsky.social for #NHS2048 www.enlighten.scot/nhs2048/thre...