Care Experienced children and young people still face barriers from fully accessing their right to education.

Date: 25th June 2025
Category: General measures of implementation, Education, Leisure and Cultural Activities

Many Care Experienced children and young people in Scotland are not getting the help they need to succeed in school, according to a new report by Who Cares? Scotland, commissioned by the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland.

The report, titled ‘Exclusion labelled as Support’, looks at the real challenges Care Experienced pupils face in the education system. These children include those who have lived in foster care, residential care, with relatives, or under social work supervision.

The findings follow a previous report titled “This is our lives, it matters a lot.” Putting children's rights at the heart of education by Commissioner Nicola Killean, who warned that Scotland’s education system needs major changes to meet the needs of all children. The report is based on evidence gathered from 200 young people and other data collected through participation events, and through small bespoke group sessions, and 1:1s with members. It shows that education is one of the most common issues raised, with many young people speaking about a lack of proper support in school.

Children and young people highlighted problems such as stigma, poor mental health support, school exclusions (both formal and informal), academic struggles, and the negative effects of moving between different care settings. Despite the Scottish Government’s pledge to Keep The Promise, a national commitment to ensure Care Experienced children grow up loved and supported, the report shows:

Care Experienced children and young people are over-represented in rates of exclusions and are often subject to part-time timetables limiting their access to education;
support services for Care Experienced young people in education are not consistently available or meeting their needs, and;
the right to independent advocacy can help ‘Keep The Promise’.

The report calls for stronger, more consistent support so Care Experienced children can have the same chances to succeed as everyone else.

At the time of writing, Scottish Government launched the Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill.

The Bill proposes new rights and duties in areas including advocacy, aftercare, and service planning, and is seen as a key step towards keeping The Promise.

Announcing the Bill, Natalie Don-Innes MSP, Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise, said:

“This Bill puts the needs and rights of care-experienced children and young people at the heart of our care system. By aiming to provide a legal right to access advocacy and expanding aftercare support, we are responding directly to what people with care experience have told us they need. This legislation marks a crucial step forward in keeping The Promise by 2030. It will ensure children and young people receive the compassionate and considerate care they need throughout their care journey, so that they grow up loved, safe, and respected. I look forward to working closely with MSPs across parties in the months ahead to advance this Bill and ensure we meet our collective pledge to The Promise.”

Together welcomes the ambition to strengthen rights protections for care-experienced babies, children and young people – and to ensure these are legally enforceable in practice. The Bill will be especially significant in light of Scotland’s full incorporation of the UNCRC, which places duties on public authorities to respect, protect and fulfil children’s rights in law, policy and practice.

Members of Together are already considering what the proposals could mean in practice – and how they can be strengthened. For example, Children 1st have welcomed the Bill as “an opportunity to secure family group decision making in law”, calling for measures that ensure families are supported to stay together and prevent children being taken into care unnecessarily. You can read their full response here.

The Promise Scotland has also stressed that the Bill must go beyond structural or bureaucratic change. In their response to the Bill’s launch, they state:

“There is potential for this Bill to bring about the change that is needed… But change is not in legislation. Change is in what legislation makes happen.”

They call for sustained focus on what matters most to children and families – relationships, stability, compassion and rights – and for the Bill’s delivery to be fully resourced and shaped by those with care experience.

Together will continue to work with our members, children and young people, and wider civil society to consider the Bill in detail and support engagement with the parliamentary process. This includes exploring how the Bill can advance children’s rights under the newly incorporated UNCRC and help realise the vision of The Promise in law and in practice.

If your organisation is considering a response to the Bill, or wants to feed into Together’s work, please get in touch – we’d love to hear from you.

News

Care Experienced children and young people still face barriers from fully accessing their right to education.