Education (Scotland) Act 1980

1 Duty of education authorities to secure provision of education. S

(1) Subject to [F1 subsections (2) and (2A)]below, it shall be the duty of every education authority to secure that there is made for their area adequate and efficient provision of school education and further education.

(2) The duty imposed on an education authority by subsection (1) above shall not include the provision of school education in nursery schools and nursery classes, but an education authority shall have power to provide for their area school education in nursery schools and nursery classes.

[F2 (2A) The duty imposed on an education authority by subsection (1) above shall not include the provision of further education within the meaning of Part I of the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992, but an education authority shall have power to provide such further education for their area.]

(3) Every education authority [F3 shall for the purposes of their duty under subsection (1) above—

(a)] have power to secure for their area, and

(b) F4 . . . be under a duty to secure for pupils in attendance at schools in their area,

the provision of adequate facilities for social, cultural and recreative activities and for physical education and training.

(4) The facilities for further education that may be provided by an education authority shall include facilities for vocational and industrial training.

(5) In this Act—

(a) “school education” means progressive education appropriate to the requirements of pupils in attendance at schools, regard being had to the age, ability and aptitude of such pupils, and includes—

(i) activities in schools and classes (hereinafter in this Act called “nursery schools” and “nursery classes”), being activities of a kind suitable in the ordinary case for pupils who are under school age;

[F5 (ii) provision for special educational needs;]

(iii) the teaching of Gaelic in Gaelic-speaking areas;

(b) further education includes—

(i) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F6

(ii) voluntary part-time and full-time courses of instruction for persons over school age;

(iii) social, cultural and recreative activities and physical education and training, either as [F7 voluntary organised activities designed to promote the educational development of persons taking part therein or as] part of a course of instruction F4 . . .;

(iv) the teaching of Gaelic in Gaelic-speaking areas;

[F8 (c) “provision for special educational needs”, in relation to a child [F9 who has attained school age] or to a young person receiving school education, means educational provision which is additional to, or otherwise different from, the educational provision made generally for children or, as the case may be, young persons of his age in schools under the management of the education authority for the area to which he belongs in accordance with section 23(3) of this Act [F10 and in relation to any other child means such educational provision as is appropriate to those needs];

(d) “special educational needs”, in relation to a child or young person, are needs caused by a learning difficulty which he has which calls for provision for special educational needs to be made for him, and a child or young person has a learning difficulty for the purposes of this paragraph if—

(i) he has significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children or, as the case may be, young persons of his age; or

(ii) he suffers from a disability which either prevents or hinders him from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for children or, as the case may be, young persons of his age in schools under the management of the education authority for the area to which he belongs in accordance with section 23(3) of this Act; or

(iii) he is under the age of five years and is, or would be if provision for special educational needs were not made for him, likely to fall within sub-paragraph (i) or (ii) above when over that age,

but a child or young person is not to be taken as having a learning difficulty solely because the language in which he is or will be taught (the “teaching language”) is different from a language, or from a form of the teaching language, which has at any time been spoken in his home.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in s. 1(1) substituted (1.4.1993) by Further and Higher Education Act (Scotland) Act 1992 (c. 37), s. 2(a) (with s. 30(2)); S.I. 1992/817, art. 3(2), Sch. 4

F2 S. 1(2A) inserted (1.4.1993) by Further and Higher Education Act (Scotland) Act 1992 (c. 37), s. 2(b) (with s. 30(2)); S.I. 1992/817, art. 3(2), Sch.4

F3 Words in s. 1(3) substituted (1.4.1983) by Local Government and Planning (Scotland) Act 1982 (c. 43), s. 69(2), Sch. 3 para. 37(a)(i) and S.I. 1982/1397, Sch. 2

F4 Words repealed (1.4.1983) by Local Government and Planning (Scotland) Act 1982 (c. 43), s. 69(2), Sch. 4 Pt. I and S.I. 1982/1397, Sch. 2

F5 S. 1(5)(a)(ii) substituted by Education (Scotland) Act 1981 (c. 58), s. 3(1)(a), Sch. 8

F6 S. 1(5)(b)(i) repealed by Self-Governing Schools etc. (Scotland) Act 1989 (c. 39, SIF 41:2), s. 82(2), Sch. 11

F7 Words inserted (1.4.1983) by Local Government and Planning (Scotland) Act 1982 (c. 43), s. 69(2), Sch. 3 para. 37(b)(i) and S.I. 1982/1397, Sch.2

F8 S. 1(5)(c)(d) substituted for s. 1(5)(c) by Education (Scotland) Act 1981 (c. 58), s. 3(1)(b), Sch. 8

F9 Words inserted by Self-Governing Schools etc. (Scotland) Act 1989 (c. 39, SIF 41:2), s. 82(1), Sch. 10 para. 8(2)(a)

F10 Words inserted by Self-Governing Schools etc. (Scotland) Act 1989 (c. 39, SIF 41:2), s. 82(1), Sch. 10 para. 8(2)(b)