Scottish education guidelines for teachers behind schedule

Education secretary John Swinney had said the new guidelines would be published in time for the new school session

New curriculum guidelines have not been produced in time for Scottish teachers preparing for the 2016/17 school session.

Education secretary John Swinney had said the new framework would be published "in time for the new school session in August".

However, a Scottish government statement confirmed that the guidelines would be released on 29 August.

The statement said the new plans would provide the "clarity teachers need".

In June, John Swinney said: "I have instructed Education Scotland to prepare and publish a clear and concise statement of the basic framework within which teachers teach. This will be published in time for the new school session in August."

Mr Swinney added that "also by August" Education Scotland would provide "clear, practical advice on assessing achievement in literacy and numeracy".

A Scottish government spokesperson has said that in order to deliver the new plans they had been "consulting widely across the teaching profession", including the Scottish government's teachers' panel, the Assessment and National engagement with the Scottish government's teachers' panel, the Assessment and National Qualifications Working group and the Curriculum for Excellence management board.

Many schools across Scotland are returning from their summer holidays this week, nearly a fortnight before the framework will be available.

Scottish Labour education spokesman Iain Gray said teachers were promised guidelines that would "de-clutter the curriculum and clarify what is expected of them", but that the new plans would come "long after schools have come back and when teachers will be well on with lesson planning".