Michael Russell, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, announced on 14 October 2010 that HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) and Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS) would be brought together into a new executive agency.

As a key national body, it will support quality and improvement in Scottish education by:

  1. leading and supporting the implementation of Curriculum for Excellence
  2. increasing the capacity for self-evaluation and self-improvement amongst education providers and practitioners
  3. promoting high quality professional learning and leadership
  4. identifying and stimulating innovation, sharing successful approaches widely with others
  5. providing independent external evaluations of the quality of educational provision at individual provider, local authority and partners, and national levels
  6. supporting the development and implementation of policy at National Level

In February 2011, the Cabinet Secretary agreed the remit and purpose statement.

The remit and purpose statement will help to shape the more detailed work to be carried out between now and 1 July 2011, when the new agency will be operational.

You may also be interested to read the answer to a recent parliamentary question raised on the new agency.