Commission on School Reform manifesto 2026

• Commission on School Reform manifesto calls for a knowledge-based curriculum
• Group of experts also provides recommendations on assessment, ASN, behaviour, pastoral care, governance and data
• Education Scotland should be abolished, Commission says

The Commission on School Reform, the education arm of the independent, non-party think tank Enlighten, has today released its manifesto ahead of the Scottish Parliament election, calling for the return of a knowledge-based curriculum, which they say has been “devalued”.

In the manifesto, the Commission calls for:

• Curriculum policy to be strategic and limited in extent
• Education Scotland to be abolished, with the Scottish Government responsible to the Scottish Parliament without the shelter currently offered by the quango
• Schools to enjoy increased autonomy within clear national guidance to implement a knowledge-based curriculum
• The traditional breadth of the S4 curriculum to be restored

Commenting, Commission Chair Keir Bloomer, a former Director of Education who was involved in the creation, but not the implementation of Curriculum for Excellence (CFE), said:

“Curriculum for Excellence was sound in theory, but it has been poor in implementation and practice and is now harming the long-term prospects of a generation of children. 

“There are two large problems with CfE. Firstly, the place of knowledge in the curriculum has been devalued. Increasing research evidence about how learning takes place and the importance of knowledge and long-term memory has been neglected. A focus on ill-defined “twenty-first century skills”, now often described as “meta-skills”, has left pupils ill-equipped for further learning.

“Secondly, there is no adequate specification of curriculum content. The Experiences and Outcomes which seek to fulfil this purpose are vague and difficult for teachers to interpret and put into practice. As a result there is little consistency of approach from school to school, and secondary schools lack certainty about the prior educational experience of those coming from primary.

“We must be big enough and bold enough to admit when we have made a strategic mistake, and reverse it before any more damage is done.”

Elsewhere in the manifesto, the Commission recommends that:

• Objective assessment under examination conditions should remain the main component in assessment for qualifications from Qualifications Scotland
• The current ASN arrangements are unsustainable and a commitment should be made to implementing the outcomes of the recommended review of pastoral care and ASN
• We must assert the right of every young person to an education which is not disrupted by others, that dealing effectively and quickly with poor behaviour requires sanctions, and that parents are obliged to support schools in seeking to ensure acceptable behaviour by their children.
• School autonomy should be increased, particularly in relation to curriculum delivery, behaviour management, deployment of staff and use of resources.
• An improved data framework should be developed under the leadership of a new Office for Scottish Education Data.

The full manifesto can be read here.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. The full manifesto can be read here.
2. The Commission on School Reform is the education arm of the independent think tank Enlighten. Enlighten is a non-partisan public policy institute which works to promote increased economic prosperity, more effective public services and expanded opportunities for all Scots. Enlighten is independent of political parties and any other organisations. It is funded by donations from private individuals, charitable trusts and corporate organisations. The Director and Research Director work closely with the Advisory Board, chaired by Lord McConnell, which meets regularly to review the research and policy programme.
3. For Enlighten media contact Andy Maciver, [email protected], 07855 261 244