Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills

The position was created in 1999 as the Minister for Children and Education; it was renamed as the Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs in 2000 and given more responsibilities; those were taken away from the post in 2001 and it was renamed again as the Minister for Education and Young People. The current position of Cabinet Secretary was created following the 2007 election.

The responsibilities of the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills include:

• childcare and wraparound care
• school standards, quality and improvement
• school infrastructure and staffing
• closing the attainment gap
• Curriculum for Excellence development
• National Improvement Framework
• teaching profession
• removing barriers to education and supporting digital inclusion
• Education Maintenance Allowance
• behaviour and measures to combat bullying
• Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG)
• Education Scotland (ES)
• school learning and support
• education analytical services
• education strategy and performance
• additional support needs, and support for learning
• inclusive education
• lifelong learning
• cross-government support for learning disabilities, autism and neurodiversity
• National Digital Academy
• positive destinations and school leavers' toolkit

The following public bodies report to the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills:

• Care Inspectorate
• Children's Hearings Scotland
• Education Scotland
• Scottish Children's Reporter Administration
• Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council
• Scottish Qualifications Authority
• Scottish Social Services Council
• Student Awards Agency for Scotland

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|colspan="7"|

|-

!colspan="2"|Name

! width=75|Portrait

!Entered Office

!Left Office

!Party

!First Minister

|-

| {{party color cell|Scottish Labour Party}}

|Sam Galbraith

|

|19 May 1999

|28 November 2001

|Labour Party

|Donald Dewar

|-

|colspan="7"|

|-

| {{party color cell|Scottish Labour Party}}

|Jack McConnell

| 75px

|28 November 2001

|22 November 2002

|Labour Party

|Henry McLeish

|-

|colspan="7"|

|-

| {{party color cell|Scottish Labour Party}}

|Cathy Jamieson

| 75px

|22 November 2002

|20 May 2003

| rowspan="3" |Labour Party

|rowspan="3"| Jack McConnell

|-

| {{party color cell|Scottish Labour Party}}

|Peter Peacock

| 75px

|20 May 2003

|14 November 2006

|-

| {{party color cell|Scottish Labour Party}}

|Hugh Henry

| 75px

|14 November 2006

|17 May 2007

|-

|colspan="7"|

|-

| {{party color cell|Scottish National Party}}

|Fiona Hyslop

| 75px

|17 May 2007

|1 December 2009

| rowspan="3" |Scottish National Party

|rowspan="2"| Alex Salmond

|-

| {{party color cell|Scottish National Party}}

|Michael Russell

| 110x110px

|1 December 2009

|21 November 2014

|-

| {{party color cell|Scottish National Party}}

|Angela Constance

| 75px

|21 November 2014

|18 May 2016

|Nicola Sturgeon

|-

|colspan="7"|

|-

| {{party color cell|Scottish National Party}}

|John Swinney

| 105x105px

|18 May 2016

|20 May 2021

| rowspan="3" |Scottish National Party

| rowspan="2" |Nicola Sturgeon

|-

| {{party color cell|Scottish National Party}}

|Shirley-Anne Somerville

| 100x100px

|20 May 2021

|29 March 2023

|-

| {{party color cell|Scottish National Party}}

|Jenny Gilruth

| 100x100px

|29 March 2023

|Incumbent

|Humza Yousaf
John Swinney

|}

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{{Scottish Cabinet}}

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Category:Education in Scotland

Education

Category:Higher education in Scotland

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