Permanent exclusion in Scotland has been all but eradicated, with one young person permanently excluded in 2022/23, and the rate of temporary exclusion has been consistently decreasing since 2007. However, a wide range of exclusionary practices other than formal exclusion impact children and young people's access to and experiences of education.…

National policy requires private colleges in Oman to have an academic affiliation with a foreign university. How this policy is received and acted on was investigated through an interview-based study involving colleges with affiliates based in England, Scotland, India, Malaysia and Jordan. The study draws on social practice theory, Bourdieu's…

This paper examines and compares national policies on school exclusion, using a specific framework for public policy analysis developed by Carol Bacchi [(2009). Analysing policy: What's the problem represented to be? Frenchs Forest: Pearson]. This framework is known as 'What's the problem represented to be?' or 'WPR'. Bacchi's framework has been…

This study explores the perceptions of government officials, teachers, and parents in Scotland regarding the use of Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results to evaluate national education performance. International large-scale assessments (ILSAs) such as PISA have been increasingly influencing education policymaking worldwide,…

During the COVID-19 pandemic, students in higher education experienced mental health issues whereby National Unions Students & local unions, Higher Education Institutions, and governments played a role in addressing them. Mental health and wellbeing among students have been analysed by external actors as the topic has been talked about already…

The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) is an international initiative for the harmonisation of higher education (HE) systems in 49 countries. Literature about UK's participation in the EHEA is limited, and the role of EHEA's membership for the UK, particularly after the end of the Brexit transitional period, has not been researched. The…

This article examines how some schools with ethnically diverse student populations are teaching "about," "for," and "through" human rights. The author conducted a secondary analysis of qualitative data from a multi-site study, which included secondary schools serving students from immigrant backgrounds in four…

Aims: This position paper illustrates how Educational Psychological Services (EPSs) have been instrumental through ever more systemic and universal ways of working to identify links between the needs within Scottish schools and targeted and universal nurturing approaches. Method: This paper will initially demonstrate the appropriateness of a…

Paul Ryan has brought together the writings of the most prominent British research into vocational preparation in Britain in comparison to the other advanced economies, primarily within the EEC. The book, originally published in 1991, documents various aspects of inadequacy in British practice at the time, concentrating upon intermediate skills,…

Around the world, young people face considerable challenges. Even before the disruption of the Covid-19 crisis, policymakers were seeking to respond to rapid technological advances, climate change and -- in some countries -- an ageing population and workforce. While children and young people worldwide generally have high aspirations and ambitions…

This paper explains the emergence of an MA in Culture and Creative Enterprise at a Scottish University by locating it within a policy context characterised by the attempt of the Scottish Government to establish 'temporal sovereignty' through 'fast policy'. The argument of the paper is that the MA is an outcome of the Scottish Government's attempt…

This paper explores early childhood experience in Scotland in terms of how readily the aspirations of policy convert to day-to-day practices. Ambitions to improve the lives of children and families have been high on the political agenda. Policy may be understood as a tool that aims to influence childhood experience in positive ways. If this is to…

This article is a descriptive analysis of the local impact of a national school/university partnership programme in Scotland. Starting from a high-level report on improving teacher education, a series of recommendations was filtered through various stages and agencies until local providers (local authorities and higher education institutions) were…

European countries and their regions are trying to develop quality foreign language policies to help citizens become communicatively competent. The Spanish region of Andalusia has implemented Bilingual Education since 2005, whereas in the United Kingdom the take-up rates of languages in schools are low despite the linguistic demands that Brexit…

National governments use evidence selectively to argue that a successful policy intervention in one local area should be emulated in others ("evidence-based best practice"). However, the value of such evidence is always limited because there is: disagreement on the best way to gather evidence of policy success, uncertainty regarding the…