The Minister for Higher and Further Education is a

Junior minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry (government department), ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is desi ...

ial post in the Education Department of the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

. As a result, the Minister does not attend the

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. The post was created in May 2007 after the appointment of the

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minority administration and the Minister reports to the

Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills (), commonly referred to as the Education Secretary (), is a position in the Scottish Government Cabinet responsible for all levels of education in Scotland. The incumbent is Jenny Gilruth, who assu ...

, who has overall responsibility for the portfolio, and is a member of cabinet. The Minister has specific responsibility for further education and colleges, higher education and universities, science and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics, student funding, youth work, and widening access to education. The post is one of two reporting to the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, alongside the Minister for Children and Young People.

Minister

History

The responsibilities of the junior ministerial reporting to the Education Secretary have changed considerably over time. The post was originally focused on schools: from 1999 to 2000, responsibility for schools rested with the Minister for Children and Education, which became the Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs in the McLeish Government of 2000 to 2001. From 2001 to 2007, the schools portfolio rested with the Minister for Education and Young People. The skills brief also rested with the Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning between 1999 and 2007. The Salmond government, elected following the

2007 Scottish Parliament election The 2007 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the third general election to the devolved Scottish Parliament since it was created in 1999. 2007 Scottish local elections, ...

, created the junior post of the Minister for Schools and Skills who assisted the

Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills (), commonly referred to as the Education Secretary (), is a position in the Scottish Government Cabinet responsible for all levels of education in Scotland. The incumbent is Jenny Gilruth, who ass ...

, in the

Scottish Executive Education Department The Scottish Government Education Directorates were a group of the civil service directorates in the Scottish Government. The Directorates were titled Children, Young People and Social Care; Schools; and Lifelong Learning. They were responsible f ...

. This was then retitled on 7 December 2011 following the creation of the Minister of Youth Employment post which took over the responsibility for skills and training. A further change occurred in May 2016, following Nicola Sturgeon's reshuffle. The post was rebranded as Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science. The post was vacant for a period over as the summer of 2018, as

First Minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of ' ...

Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon (born 19 July 1970) is a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2014 to 2023. She has served as a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) sin ...

's original choice,

Gillian Martin Gillian Anne Martin is a Scottish politician who has served as Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy since June 2025. She previously served as Minister for Climate Action between 2023 and 2025, and as Acting Cabinet Secretary for N ...

, was revealed to have posted comments of a

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nature in a

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in 2007. Ms Martin's name was omitted from the list of appointments to be approved by

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on 28 June 2018 following a

reshuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the head of state changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parliam ...

Richard Lochhead Richard Neilson Lochhead (born 24 May 1969) is a Scottish politician serving as the Minister for Business and Employment since 2023. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he served as the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and ...

was later appointed to the role. Following the formation of the

Third Sturgeon Government Nicola Sturgeon formed the third Sturgeon government following her Scottish National Party's victory in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election. Sturgeon was nominated by a vote of the 6th Scottish Parliament for appointment to the post of First ...

, the post was once more retitled to Minister for Higher Education and Further Education, Youth Employment and Training. In March 2023,

Humza Yousaf Humza Haroon Yousaf (; born 7 April 1985) is a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from March 2023 to May 2024. He served under his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon as Scottish ...

appointed

Graeme Dey Graeme James Dey (born 29 October 1962) is a Scottish politician currently serving as the Minister for Veterans and the Minister for Higher and Further Education since 2023. He served as Minister for Transport from 2021 to 2022, having previou ...

to take over the post of Minister for Higher and Further Education where he returned to government after having resigned on health grounds during the Third Sturgeon Government in January 2022.

References

External links

Cabinet and Ministers
on Scottish Government website
Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science
on Scottish Government website {{authority control Education in Scotland Further Education, Higher Education and Science Languages of Scotland Science and technology in Scotland Science ministers

Minister

History

See also

References

External links