Scottish Ministers have made the Education (Scotland) Act 2025 (Commencement No. 3) Regulations 2026 (SSI 2026/83), bringing further provisions of the Act into effect. The instrument was made on 12 February 2026, laid before the Scottish Parliament on 16 February 2026, and comes into force on 26 February 2026.
Regulation 2 appoints 26 February 2026 as the day on which the provisions listed in the schedule commence. Where a purpose is specified in the schedule, those provisions commence only for that purpose. The accompanying note states that this order activates provisions of the 2025 Act not already commenced by earlier regulations.
For context, the Education (Scotland) Act 2025 establishes Qualifications Scotland, replacing the Scottish Qualifications Authority, and creates a new office of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education in Scotland. The Bill was passed on 25 June 2025 and received Royal Assent on 6 August 2025. (parliament.scot)
Earlier commencement regulations have already started key elements. Commencement No. 2 (SSI 2026/2) appointed 27 January 2026 for section 9 on the Strategic Advisory Council and 1 February 2026 for core functions of Qualifications Scotland, including awarding, quality assurance, accreditation and advisory duties. It also introduced transitional provisions so that initial planning and reporting duties bite from April 2026, with further appointed days stretching to 31 August 2026. (vlex.co.uk)
Consequential modifications outside devolved competence have been handled by a UK Order under section 104 of the Scotland Act 1998. The Education (Scotland) Act 2025 (Consequential Provisions and Modifications) Order 2025 was laid at Westminster on 28 October 2025 to align UK‑wide legislation with the new Scottish framework as commencement proceeds. (statutoryinstruments.parliament.uk)
For delivery bodies, this third commencement order is the final alignment step ahead of the 2026 assessment and inspection cycle. Local authorities, schools, colleges and awarding centres should map the schedule against statutory duties, confirm when any remaining inspection or accreditation powers take effect, and update internal timetables so that corporate planning, quality assurance and annual reporting pick up from 1 April 2026 in line with transitional provisions already in force. (vlex.co.uk)
Scottish Government programme updates in late 2025 indicated the new organisations were moving towards operational readiness, including board appointments and recruitment for the Chief Inspectorate. Stakeholders should monitor any guidance issued under section 8 following establishment of the Strategic Advisory Council, alongside routine committee scrutiny updates. (gov.scot)