For a long time, exams have been treated as the only real route to a qualification. Forrester High School in Edinburgh has other ideas. And their pupils are better off for it.
A bit of background
Forrester is a comprehensive secondary school in the north-west of Edinburgh, serving around 850 pupils across six year groups. It’s non-denominational and has a Parent Council that’s actively invested in making school a fairer experience for everyone.
Their motto is Respect, Believe, Achieve – and it shows in everything they do.
Rethinking what ‘success’ looks like
For the last four years, Forrester has been taking a hard look at its senior phase curriculum. Rather than just sticking with the traditional National qualifications, they’ve been asking: what do our pupils actually need?
The answer involved a serious rethink. They brought in a wide range of qualifications from SCQF levels 4 to 7, partnered with local further education providers and used real labour market intelligence to shape their course offer. S4 pupils now take seven subjects, which creates a smoother path into SCQF level 6 study in S5.
The results speak for themselves – Forrester was recognised by The Times newspaper as the most improved secondary school in Scotland between 2016 and 2025, based on the percentage of leavers achieving five or more level 6 qualifications.
What’s the SCQF and why does it matter?
The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) is the way to recognise and easily compare a broad range of learning, not just traditional the National Qualifications leading to exams. Qualifications like National Progression Awards (NPAs), Foundation Apprenticeships, and Skills for Work courses. Nearly every department at Forrester now offers at least one NPA, and new courses like Creative Industries, Furniture Making and Technical Theatre have been added this year.
Introducing new qualifications was only half the job. Getting the school community to actually understand them was the other part. Pupil SCQF Ambassadors have been a huge part of that – turning up at parents’ evenings with display stands, QR codes, posters and leaflets and talking people through how it all works. They even created TikTok and Instagram accounts to get the message out to younger audiences.
What do the pupils actually think?
When pupils were asked why they chose an NPA, the answers were refreshingly honest:
“Less stressful because no final exam.”
“I still managed to get two Level 6 qualifications and the subject was actually fun.”
“Yes, if you want to go into a career in it – you don’t always get Nat 5s and Highers for careers you want to do like Music Business or Events.”
These aren’t pupils taking an easy way out, they’re making smart, informed choices about qualifications that actually suit them and their future careers.
A former pupil’s take
One former pupil, who took alternative courses at SCQF level 6 in S5 and went on to apply to college, put it brilliantly:
Traditional qualifications often rely on a final exam and don’t always show the work you’ve done all year. Qualifications like NPAs give you credit for the work you’ve done throughout the year, and when I applied to college, admissions staff really liked them because they showed skills development, a constant work ethic and an ability to meet deadlines.
What’s next?
Forrester isn’t stopping here. They’re aiming for their SCQF School Ambassador Gold Award, with plans to recruit ambassadors from across all year groups and expand their presence through assemblies and PSE lessons.
Forrester High School is proving that when you entrust young people with genuine choices, they rise to the occasion.
Useful links
Join the SCQF School Ambassador Programme
Visit the School Ambassador Padlet
The Times article – The secrets of Scotland’s most improved school
Education can change lives. It can help people build skills, gain qualifications and find new opportunities in work and further learning.
But for people growing up in poverty, getting access to these opportunities can be harder. Money worries and other pressures can make it more difficult to take part in education and training.
Challenge Poverty Week, which takes place across Scotland this week, is a chance to talk about poverty and the action being taken to build a fairer Scotland.
Education cannot solve poverty on its own. But learning can help people gain skills, get qualifications and take steps towards a better future.
At the SCQF Partnership, we want people to understand the learning and qualifications they already have. This can help them think about what they might want to do next.
Understanding your qualifications
People learn in many different ways.
You might have studied at school or college, completed an apprenticeship, gained a qualification at work or taken part in training.
But it is not always easy to understand what your qualifications mean or where they could take you.
The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) helps people understand the level of qualifications in Scotland.
The SCQF has 12 levels, with level 1 being the most basic, while 12 is the most challenging, such as a PhD. A Higher sits at SCQF level 6, while an Honours Degree is at SCQF level 10.
Qualifications at the same SCQF level can be very different, but they involve a similar level of learning.
This can help people understand what they have already achieved and think about their next steps.
For example, someone who has gained a qualification through work may not know where it sits within the wider education system. Knowing its SCQF level can help them understand their qualification and talk to colleges, universities, training providers or employers about what they could do next.
Your learning does not always come with a qualification
Qualifications are only one way of showing what you know and can do.
People learn throughout their lives. You can gain skills through work, volunteering, training and other experiences.
Sometimes this learning is not recognised with a formal qualification.
This is where Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) can help.
RPL is a process that helps people identify and show what they have already learned through their work, education and life experiences.
This can be useful if you are thinking about going back into education, changing career or gaining a new qualification.
For example, someone who has worked as a shop manager for 10 years may want to study for a degree in business management. Through RPL, they could show the knowledge and skills they have gained through their work. If a university decides that this learning matches parts of the course, the person may be able to again exemption from certain modules, or even start the course in year 2 or 3, rather than repeat learning they already have.
Planning your next steps
Understanding your qualifications and recognising your previous learning can help you see where you are now.
It can also help you think about where you want to go next.
The SCQF gives people a common language to talk about qualifications and learning. It can help people understand the level of their qualifications and have better conversations about their options.
For young people, this can help them understand the different routes they can take into further learning, training or work.
For adults, it can help them make sense of learning they have gained over many years and think about returning to education, changing career or developing new skills. For example, if you have Standard Grades at general level (grades 3 and 4), they are equivalent to a National 4 at SCQF level 4. You might then decide to go to college to complete the next level – a National 5 at SCQF level 5.
There is no single route to success. People learn in different ways and take different paths.
What matters is having the chance to learn, having your learning recognised and having the information you need to make good choices about your future.
Learning can open doors. Understanding what you have already learned can help you decide which door to open next.
Useful links
To learn about how your older qualifications, like Standard Grades and Intermediates, compare to today’s, check out our Old v New Guide.
Explore the support we offer to adults thinking of returning to education.
Find out how Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) could help you fast-track your learning.
Get to know the people behind the SCQF Partnership (SCQFP). In this new blog series, we shine a spotlight on our Board members and the valuable experience, perspectives and leadership they bring to the organisation. This week, it’s the turn of Claire McPherson.
Claire is Director of Universities Scotland and has spent much of her career working at the intersection of education, skills and public policy.
Having held senior roles across the Scottish Government, UK Government and the Scottish Funding Council, she brings extensive experience of the policies and partnerships that shape opportunities for learners across Scotland.
As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the SCQF, we caught up with Claire to learn more about her vision for the Framework’s future.
What’s been the most rewarding aspect of serving on the Board?
Although I am relatively new to the Board, one of the things that has struck me most is the breadth of organisations and perspectives that come together around a shared commitment to learners.
The SCQF is one of those rare pieces of national infrastructure that has relevance across schools, colleges, universities, employers and training providers.
Being part of conversations that bring those perspectives together, while keeping the learner at the centre, is both rewarding and important.
What do you see as the SCQF’s most important contribution to Scottish education and skills development in the past 25 years?
The Framework has helped Scotland create a more coherent and connected education and skills system.
It provides a common language that helps learners, educators and employers understand how different qualifications relate to one another and the opportunities that can follow from them.
Perhaps most importantly, it has helped to demonstrate that there are many different routes to success.
By recognising learning wherever it takes place and showing how qualifications connect, the SCQF has supported greater flexibility, mobility and opportunity for learners throughout their lives.
How do you see the SCQF evolving over the next 25 years?
The core purpose of the Framework remains as relevant as ever, but the environment around it is changing rapidly.
Learners are likely to experience more varied pathways, move between education and employment more frequently, and undertake learning throughout their careers.
The SCQF has an important role to play in helping people navigate that increasingly complex landscape.
I would like to see the Framework continue to support innovation in qualifications, strengthen understanding of different learning pathways, and become more visible to learners, employers and the public.
As Scotland’s skills needs continue to evolve, the Framework can provide the clarity and confidence people need to make informed choices.
Can you share an example of how you’ve seen the SCQF make a real difference to learners, training providers & employers?
One of the most powerful aspects of the SCQF is that it helps learners recognise that achievement is not always linear.
Many learners take non-traditional routes through education, whether that is progressing from college to university, returning to learning later in life, or combining work and study.
The Framework helps make those pathways visible. It allows learners to better understand where they are, what they have achieved, and the range of options available to them next. That transparency can make a real difference to confidence, aspiration and progression
Why should learners, training providers and employers care about the SCQF?
For learners, the SCQF helps make sense of a wide and sometimes complex qualifications landscape. It provides reassurance that different types of learning have value and that there are multiple routes towards a chosen goal.
For universities, the Framework supports fairness, transparency and progression.
It helps institutions recognise prior learning, supports articulation and access pathways, and enables clearer communication about entry routes and qualification levels.
It is an important part of ensuring that Scotland’s tertiary education system is connected and accessible.
What makes the Partnership model effective for Scotland’s qualifications landscape?
The Partnership model reflects a key strength of Scotland’s education and skills system: collaboration. No single organisation owns the learner journey. Schools, colleges, universities, employers, awarding bodies and government all have a role to play.
The SCQF Partnership provides a space where those different perspectives can come together in pursuit of a shared goal.
By working collectively, we can develop solutions that are more coherent, more practical and ultimately more beneficial for learners.
What’s one thing you would like more people to understand about the SCQF?
I would like more people to understand that the SCQF is not simply a framework for qualifications. At its heart, it is a framework for opportunity.
It helps people see how learning connects, how different pathways relate to one another, and how progress can be achieved in many ways.
In a rapidly changing world, that ability to recognise and value diverse forms of learning will only become more important.
The SCQF helps ensure that learners can navigate their own journey with confidence, whatever route they choose to take.
At Inverclyde Academy, the question is not simply what qualification will you take? It is where could your learning take you?
That change in conversation has been at the heart of the school’s SCQF journey.
The Greenock school has around 760 young people. Around 62% of pupils live within SIMD 1–3 areas, including just over 48% within SIMD 1.
It also has a significant number of learners with additional support needs and a growing number of families who are new to Scotland.
The school values of Respect, Responsibility, Equality and Wellbeing underpin its approach to ensuring that every young person has access to a pathway that suits their interests, abilities and ambitions.
Their SCQF journey began in 2018/19, with the school having recently taken delivery of a Gold SCQF Ambassador plaque.
Today, the Framework is part of everyday conversations around learning, achievement and future destinations.
Putting young people at the centre
The school’s SCQF Ambassadors play a leading role in raising awareness of the Framework.
They support subject-choice events, Parents’ Evenings and Careers Fairs, create displays and promotional materials, talk to younger pupils about their options and share their own experiences of different pathways.
One particularly successful initiative has seen senior SCQF Ambassadors hold individual options interviews with younger learners. Around 30 S3 pupils and 15 S4 pupils who needed additional support with their choices met with ambassadors to discuss qualifications and pathways.
The experience is also helping the ambassadors develop their own skills and confidence.
Dylan, an SCQF Ambassador, said:
It’s given me lots of confidence. I used to be nervous about talking to adults, and was a bit worried about approaching people. Now I find it easier.
Alex said:
I have done lots that I didn’t think I could before. I’ve talked at other schools and discussed music with parents and teachers confidently.
Helping everyone understand the options
The school has worked hard to make the SCQF visible across school, with a senior phase options booklet, assemblies, website content and social media.
Displays throughout the school identify SCQF levels, show progression pathways and highlight the relationship between qualifications, skills and destinations.
Some departments have displayed pupil work using its SCQF level rather than simply the traditional qualification title, reinforcing the idea that learning at the same SCQF level can take many different forms.
Parents and carers are also included, with ambassadors attending Parents’ Evenings, Options Evenings and Careers Fairs to talk about qualification types, SCQF levels, vocational opportunities and wider achievement.
Recognising different kinds of achievement
The SCQF journey has supported a broader approach to the curriculum.
Learners are encouraged to consider academic, vocational and work-based pathways, with the SCQF providing a common language for understanding the different types of learning.
The school has expanded wider-achievement opportunities and is developing systems to help learners recognise the skills, awards and qualifications they gain both inside and beyond the classroom.
This has helped shift the conversation from:
“Which traditional qualification will a pupil take?”
to:
“Which pathway is right for this individual young person?”
Former pupil Cowal is one example. Alongside National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher courses, Cowal gained Young Enterprise, Young STEM Leaders and Saltire awards while also serving as a Science Subject Ambassador.
He said:
I learned a lot about the benefits of SCQF from being a Subject Ambassador in Science and added wider qualifications such as Young Enterprise, Young STEM Leaders and Saltire to my certification which all supported me on my application for university.
Cowal is now studying Physics at his first-choice university.
Continuing the SCQF journey
Achieving Gold is not viewed as the end of the school’s SCQF journey. Its focus is now on ensuring that the structures developed through the programme are sustainable and continue to evolve.
The school has introduced a standardised Ambassador Remit and Agreement, structured recruitment and selection procedures, defined faculty responsibilities and a calendar of core ambassador activities. This means that the programme can be replicated and developed with future cohorts, rather than depending on individual members of staff or pupils.
The next priorities include widening participation in the Ambassador programme, involving younger learners more extensively, targeting opportunities towards groups who may benefit particularly from leadership experiences, strengthening parental engagement, improving evaluation of impact and continuing to develop recognition of wider achievement. These priorities are now linked to the continuing whole-school improvement work.
Most importantly, it is helping to create a shared understanding that achievement look different for every pupil.
By putting pupils at the heart of the work, Inverclyde Academy is helping young people understand what they have achieved, the skills they have developed and where their learning could take them next.
Useful links
Join the SCQF School Ambassador Programme
At Hawick High School, the message is clear: there is no single pathway for every learner.
With around 835 young people, the school community is diverse, with learners who have a wide range of needs, interests and ambitions. Around 52% of learners have an identified additional support need, while more than 60% live within high levels of deprivation.
For Hawick High, this makes it particularly important that young people can see the full range of opportunities available to them – whether that is through academic study, vocational learning or wider achievement.
This commitment has been central to the school’s journey towards SCQF Silver recognition through the School Ambassador Programme.
Making the SCQF part of everyday school life
Over recent years, Hawick High has continued to expand its range of vocational and accredited learning opportunities.
As this offer has grown, the school has also focused on helping young people understand what they are achieving, what level they are working at and where their learning could take them next.
The SCQF plays an important role in this.
By providing a common way to describe the level of learning, the Framework helps young people understand their achievements and see how different qualifications and learning experiences can support progression into further education, training, apprenticeships and employment.
The school has taken a number of steps to make the SCQF more visible and easier to understand.
A dedicated SCQF display has been created in the main entrance, where it can be seen by pupils, parents and carers, employers and other visitors. It explains the different SCQF levels and highlights the range of learning opportunities available at Hawick High.
SCQF levels have also been built into the school’s course-choice information, while an interactive resource on the school website links subjects and pathways to their relevant SCQF levels.
The aim is to make the SCQF something that pupils encounter and understand, rather than something they only hear about when they are choosing a course or qualification.
Giving young people a voice
The school’s SCQF Ambassadors are playing an important role in raising awareness of the Framework.
The ambassadors have received training and are developing a programme of activities to help pupils, families and the wider school community learn more about SCQF.
One of their plans is to run an SCQF information stall at parents’ evenings, course-choice information evenings and careers fairs. This will give pupils, parents and carers the chance to ask questions and hear about the framework directly from young people.
The ambassadors have also suggested introducing an SCQF pop quiz for pupils. As well as making learning about the Framework more engaging, the quiz will help the school understand what pupils already know and identify areas where further information may be needed.
One of the school’s SCQF Ambassadors said:
We are excited to learn more about the role but also have our voices, and the voices of the other young people, heard and to help shape our learning at the school. The role seems fun and you’re learning at the same time.
Expanding learning opportunities
The school’s work around SCQF has developed alongside a wider expansion of its curriculum.
Hawick High now offers a growing range of vocational and accredited learning alongside more traditional qualifications. These opportunities reflect the different interests, strengths and future plans of its learners.
Current opportunities include Employability, Early Learning and Childcare, Barista Skills, Communications, Exercise and Fitness, Forensic Science, Esports, Leadership, Sports Coaching and Volunteering.
The school also works with partners to provide industry-focused opportunities, including CSCS card training and a textile training programme.
For pupils, these experiences can provide a chance to develop practical skills, gain recognised learning and explore careers before leaving school.
From school learning to a Modern Apprenticeship
The impact of this approach can be seen in the experience of one former Hawick High pupil.
While at school, the pupil completed an SCQF Level 5 Early Learning and Childcare course, alongside work experience.
The combination of classroom learning and practical experience helped them understand more about the sector and make an informed decision about their next steps.
After leaving Hawick High in June 2026, they successfully secured a Modern Apprenticeship in Early Learning and Childcare.
They said:
Taking part in the SCQF Level 5 Early Learning and Childcare course and completing work experience has helped give me the skills and knowledge I needed to make a decision about my next steps and successfully getting a Modern Apprenticeship in Early Learning and Childcare. This gave me a better understanding of what working in Early Learning and Childcare would involve. This also made me feel much more confident going into my interview because I understood the role and knew what I wanted to say.
Looking towards Gold
Achieving SCQF Silver is an important milestone for Hawick High, but the school is already looking ahead.
The school is exploring what it needs to do to progress towards Gold recognition and continue building on the work it has already undertaken.
For Hawick High, the ambition is to make the SCQF visible, understood and relevant across the whole school community.
By helping young people recognise the value of their learning and understand where different pathways can lead, the school is helping its pupils see that there is more than one route to achieving their ambitions.
Useful links
Join the SCQF School Ambassador Programme
As SCQF Week 2026 draws to a close, James Withers looks ahead to the next 25 years of the SCQF. Reflecting on his independent review of Scotland’s skills system, he considers how the Framework could help transform how Scotland thinks and talks about learning.
I have a confession to make. When I started my independent review of Scotland’s skills system in 2022, I had heard of the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework. But I didn’t know it.
By the time I finished, that had changed completely. It has left one of the most indelible marks on my thinking about the future of our education and skills system.
My review argued that Scotland needs a revolution in how we think about learning. A few years on, I believe that more strongly than ever (and sit increasingly concerned that the system is far more adept at thwarting reform than driving it).
I am equally convinced that one of the most powerful tools for delivering that revolution has been sitting in front of us all along: the SCQF.
Parity of esteem
We talk endlessly about “parity of esteem”. We tell young people there is “no wrong path”. These are comforting phrases. But they don’t describe the reality of life for many learners.
Of course there has been progress. Yet, we still instinctively talk about academic and vocational routes as though they are different species.
Society continues to attach different status to different institutions and qualifications.
We celebrate one young person heading to university while too often treating every other route to learning as a consolation prize. It is a toxic trait in our system.
And, in a country with a shrinking working age population, it risks half of our young people leaving school believing they have failed before their lives have even begun. Can you imagine something more damaging to the future of a country?
Where the SCQF matters
Different pathways should be understood as exactly that: different. Not better. Not worse. Just different.
That requires more than another campaign about parity of esteem. It requires radical cultural change. And this is where the SCQF matters.
At its simplest, the Framework gives us a common language for learning. It allows us to understand and compare learning wherever it happens – at school, college, university, in the workplace, in this country or elsewhere.
That sounds technical. It is actually radical. Because once you look at learning through that lens, the myriad of labels we have accumulated over decades for different qualifications start to look archaic, odd and – at worst – highly damaging.
Higher. National Certificate. National Progression Award. Skills for Work. Foundation Apprenticeship. Modern Apprenticeship. We have built a thicket of names which learners, parents and employers are expected to navigate – and then we wonder why different routes acquire different status.
What if, instead, we started with the level of learning?
The SCQF as the ‘organising spine’
In my review, I called for Scotland to comprehensively embrace the SCQF and adapt our language to describe qualifications according to their place on the Framework. I argued that doing so would help learners, parents, employers and providers better understand the value of different qualifications and the journeys they open up.
I would go further now. I want the SCQF to become the organising spine of how Scotland thinks and talks about learning.
Imagine a system where a young person talks about achieving Level 6 English, Level 6 Software Development or Level 6 Construction, rather than one being a “Higher”, the other “Foundation” and another just an “Award”. They are all the same level of learning complexity achieved. They may involve different types of learning and assessment. Good. They should. But different is not inferior.
Twenty-five years after its creation, the SCQF should not simply be celebrated for what it has achieved. It should be unleashed for what comes next.
Scotland does not need another slogan telling learners there is no wrong path.
We need to build a system and language that proves it. The SCQF is the foundation stone.
James Withers is an independent consultant and former Chief Executive of Scotland Food & Drink and NFU Scotland. In 2022, James was appointed Independent Advisor to the Scottish Government’s Review of the Skills Delivery Landscape. His 2023 report, Fit for the Future, set out recommendations for transforming Scotland’s post-school education and skills system.
Scotland’s qualifications framework has a pivotal role to play in preparing people for a rapidly changing world of work, Minister Alyn Smith said as the SCQF marked its 25th anniversary at a special conference in Glasgow.
The SCQF@25 Conference, held at the Glasgow Science Centre on 22 September, brought together 130 guests from across education, skills, industry and government to celebrate 25 years of the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) and consider its role in Scotland’s future learning and skills landscape.
The Framework was established to help learners, employers and educators understand and compare qualifications and learning achievements.
Minister calls for ‘much more flexible opportunities’
Speaking at the conference, Mr Smith highlighted the pace of change in the world of work and the need for more flexible opportunities for people to learn, retrain and develop their skills throughout their lives.
Mr Smith, who is Minister for Innovation, Technology and Tertiary Education, told the audience: “The SCQF is going to be pivotal to what I’m pushing going forward. We need to get right back to what we’re all for, and that’s for training people to be fit for the world of work of the future.
“The world of work is changing at a pace that hasn’t happened since the Industrial Revolution, and we need to be ready for it.
“We need to make sure that everybody has a lifelong learning journey, with much more flexible opportunities for people to retrain, reskill, augment their skills and reorientate what they’re doing.”
Coming together to celebrate SCQF@25
Hosted by Stuart McKenna, Chief Executive of the Scottish Training Federation, the conference brought together representatives from schools, colleges, universities, employers, professional bodies, training providers and government organisations.
The event featured keynote contributions from The Real David Cameron and Dr Lee Coutts, Head Teacher of Ullapool High School, whose own learning journey demonstrates the transformative power of lifelong learning.
Delegates also took part in interactive workshops exploring key issues facing Scotland’s education and skills system, including tackling the attainment gap, addressing skills gaps through apprenticeships, Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), and third-party credit rating.
The conference concluded with a panel discussion bringing together perspectives from education, skills and industry to explore the future of qualifications, learning and workforce development in Scotland.
‘A significant milestone’
Marissa Lippiatt, interim Chief Executive of the SCQF Partnership, said: “SCQF@25 has been a fantastic opportunity to celebrate 25 years of the SCQF and the difference it has made to the way learning and qualifications are understood across Scotland.
“We were delighted to welcome 130 guests from such a broad range of organisations and backgrounds. The discussions throughout the day showed just how important it is to bring people together to share ideas and consider how we can support learning throughout people’s lives.
“While 25 years is a significant milestone, it is also a chance to look forward. The education, skills and employment landscape is changing rapidly, and the SCQF has an important role to play in helping people understand, recognise and value learning in all its forms.”
‘The value of collaboration’
John Evans, Chair of the SCQF Partnership Board, said: “Twenty-five years of the SCQF is a significant achievement and one that deserves to be celebrated.
“The Framework has become an important part of Scotland’s learning landscape, helping people make sense of different qualifications and learning achievements and supporting progression between different stages of learning.
“Today has provided a valuable opportunity to reflect on that journey, but also to look ahead. The conversations we have had at SCQF@25 demonstrate the value of collaboration across education, skills and industry as we consider what learning in Scotland needs to look like over the next 25 years.”
Sponsors
The SCQF Partnership would like to thank its SCQF@25 sponsors – Qualifications Scotland, Tigers Group, YouthLink Scotland and the Awards Network – for their support in making the conference possible.
View the presentations
Recognition of Prior Learning workshop
Third Party Credit Rating workshop
Bridging the Attainment Gap workshop (Dr Lee Coutts)
Bridging the Attainment Gap workshop (Springburn Academy)
As we celebrate 25 years of the SCQF during SCQF Week 2026, we’re sharing stories that show how learning can shape lives and careers in unexpected ways.
Anna Devitt’s journey is a powerful example. Twenty-five years ago, she left school aged 13 and believed her ambitions were out of reach. Now, she creates and delivers her own qualifications. Anna’s story demonstrates the importance of finding a learning route that works for you.
Twenty-five years ago, I was 13 and had just left mainstream education. At that point, I had absolutely no idea what my journey would look like, but I did have big aspirations. I wanted to be either a lawyer or a teacher.
The problem was that I already knew I wasn’t going to get the grades traditionally needed to follow either of those paths, so I assumed those careers were simply out of reach for me.
Looking back, I think that was the beginning of a theme that has followed me throughout my life: if the traditional route doesn’t work, find another way.
I had to find my own pathway into education, learning and ultimately my career. And I think that experience has shaped everything I’ve done since.
What changed?
I was honoured to be selected as the first ever Young Company Participant at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow and the then Community Director Neil Packham, once said to me “Don’t tell me – show me” and that stuck with me for life, don’t tell people what you are going to do – SHOW THEM.
I’ve had so many incredible people come into my life, and my family have been hugely important in supporting me. I’ve also been incredibly lucky to meet people throughout my career who have opened doors, challenged my thinking and given me opportunities. There are far too many people to name them all.
But ultimately, I think the biggest impact came from making a decision to look at education differently.
I started talking to people who delivered education, training and learning in different ways. I sought out people who had built careers that didn’t necessarily follow the traditional tick-box route. I became fascinated by the idea that there isn’t just one way to learn, succeed or build a career. That willingness to ask questions, speak to people and find another route has stayed with me throughout my journey.
Education has come full circle
Education and learning have shaped my career massively. In many ways, education is my life.
I started by undertaking what was called alternative education while working in a law firm, because I wanted to improve my grades and create opportunities that I hadn’t thought were available to me. From there, I went to college and continued learning.
I’m now studying for my degree, with ambitions to hopefully go on to do a PhD but the really exciting part is that education has now come full circle for me. I don’t just participate in education – I create it.
I have devised, developed and now deliver my own qualifications, built around the SCQF, and I’m currently developing four more qualifications.
So the young girl who thought education wasn’t accessible to her is now someone who is actively contributing to the education system.
Twists and challenges
There have been so many unexpected twists and challenges along the way!
But if I’ve learned one thing, it’s to trust myself and never stop learning.
Sometimes that learning has come from books, qualifications and academia. But, just as often, it has come from life – from talking to people who know more than I do, listening to different perspectives, making mistakes and being willing to admit that I don’t have all the answers.
I’ve learned that you don’t always need to have the whole plan worked out.
Sometimes you just need to take the next step, ask the next question and be prepared to change direction.
And I’ve learned that challenges don’t necessarily have to be things that stop you. They can become the things that shape you.
Achievements along the way
I’ve been incredibly fortunate to receive awards and recognition for the work I’ve done, and I’m very proud of those achievements. But, honestly, the thing that makes me proudest is much more personal.
It’s when somebody who has completed one of my programmes comes back to me and tells me that it made a difference to their life. That’s the bit that matters.
Knowing that something I created has helped somebody feel more confident, understand themselves differently, believe in themselves or take their next step is incredibly rewarding.
I was also incredibly honoured this year to be invited to the King’s Buckingham Palace Garden Party, which was genuinely a breathtaking moment and something I never could have imagined when I was 13 and had just left mainstream education.
Standing there and thinking about the journey that had brought me to that moment was quite extraordinary.
Anna’s advice
If I could give one piece of advice it’s ‘be you’.
I think we get lost so often in life worrying about what we should do, how things should be done and what other people think we should become. I’d tell my younger self to trust herself a little bit more. You don’t have to follow somebody else’s path just because it’s the path everyone else is taking. Your way might look different. It might take longer. It might have a few more twists and turns. That’s okay.
You are allowed to create your own route.
Learning that’s right for you
I’m not sure whether my story will inspire everybody, but if there’s one thing I’d like people to take from it, it’s this:
We’re all on one journey – the journey called life.
Your understanding of yourself, your learning and the world around you is constantly changing. You meet people who challenge your thinking. You learn things you didn’t know. You see situations from different perspectives. You discover that something you once believed isn’t necessarily true. And that’s a wonderful thing. So, keep learning in whatever way feels right for you – there are loads of courses on the SCQF that are flexible and fun – try one!
Have you been inspired by Anna’s learning journey? Visit our support page for adults returning to education.