School Partnership Team

We are a team of experienced educators working inside Qualifications Scotland. We connect schools with the people who develop qualifications and assessment - so that what we do reflects what happens in classrooms across Scotland.

Our team is led by Sarah Brown, a secondary headteacher with 15 years of senior leadership experience, working alongside Qualifications Engagement Practitioners seconded from schools who support our engagement on qualifications reform. Our Liaison Managers work geographically to support your Qualifications Scotland Co-ordinators with a range of issues and feed that information back into the organisation. Finally, we have a dedicated team who run the Understanding Standards programme that supports teachers, lecturers and assessors by strengthening their understanding of the standards required for assessment in qualifications.

What we do

We work directly with teachers and school communities to make sure their knowledge and experience shape how qualifications and assessment work. We do this through:

• professional learning events and conversations about assessment
• working with schools to understand how qualifications fit day-to-day school life
• creating opportunities for teachers to feed into our internal decision-making processes, including around qualifications reform
• keeping learners at the centre of every decision we make

Find out more about our strategic priorities

Be part of the conversation

You know your school. You know your learners. And that knowledge matters to us.

We want to hear about your experiences - what's working, what's not, and what would make a real difference. The conversations we have with teachers directly inform how we develop qualifications and assessment. It's how we make sure our work reflects what's happening in classrooms across Scotland.

We support schools by delivering workshops, information sessions or informal discussion. You can invite us into your school during the day, after teaching has ended, or even as part of an in-service day. These can be delivered to any audience that you wish, whether that may be small group of subject teachers, department heads, or a group of learners. We are currently running visits and events on a range of topics - including rebalancing assessment and modularisation, HNVQ policy, and digital assessment  - which will feed into our evidence for qualification and assessment reform over the next few years.

We hold regular events - online and in person - where you can share your views, ask questions and help shape what we do, too. Whether you want to find out more, share your experience or take part in shaping qualifications, we'd love to hear from you. Get in touch directly: school.partnership.team@qualifications.gov.scot

To find our larger national and local events, please visit our central events booking system. For subject-specific support, we publish our annual Understanding Standards programme on a dedicated events page.

You said, we did

Communication and engagement

You said: You would like more in-person engagement, particularly within school hours to ensure that classroom teachers are involved, not just coordinators.

We did: We’ve employed Qualification Engagement Practitioners (QEPs) who are seconded from schools and support our existing Liaison Team. Together, our team has expanded our offering to schools and local authorities – which now includes: bespoke visits, webinars and national events which focus on a range of topics including qualification reform.

Organisational change

You said: In the past, concerns have been raised to us that has resulted in little change.

We did: Internally, we have already launched our Voices from the Classroom programme, which brings teacher voices into the organisation – allowing our staff to hear the day-to-day challenges that classroom teachers experience.   We are developing an organisation-wide Annual Engagement Planner and School Dashboard. Together, these tools will help us to coordinate engagement with schools and ensure that we take account of what they are telling us. More widely, our new interest committees met for the first time in June 2026 – through each committee, learners and practitioner voices will be used to shape our decision-making.

Professional learning

You said: Understanding Standards is valuable, but the range of subject support is sometimes inconsistent.

We did: We are reviewing the materials on our website to ensure that they are current and are considering how we can standardise our processes across subject areas. Over the next year, we also aim to review our course reports and marking instructions. Finally, we are exploring the possibility of expanding a programme to increase assessment literacy among those attending teacher training institutions.