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Minister for Higher and Further Education
Minister for Higher and Further Education
Scottish Gaelic: Ministear airson Foghlam Àrd-ìre agus Adhartach
	Incumbent; Graeme Dey; since 29 March 2023
Member of	Scottish Parliament; Scottish Government;
Reports to	Scottish Parliament
Seat	Edinburgh
Appointer	First Minister
Inaugural holder	Maureen Watt ; Minister for Schools and Skills
Formation	17 May 2007
Salary	£106,185 per annum (2024); (including £72,196 MSP salary)
Website	www.gov.scot

The Minister for Higher and Further Education is a Junior ministerial post in the Education Department of the Scottish Government. As a result, the Minister does not attend^[2] the Scottish Cabinet. The post was created in May 2007 after the appointment of the Scottish National Party minority administration and the Minister reports to the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, 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.^[3]

The post is one of two reporting to the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, alongside the Minister for Children and Young People.

Minister

Name		Entered Office	Left Office	Party	First Minister
Minister for Schools and Skills
	Maureen Watt	17 May 2007	10 February 2009	Scottish National Party	Alex Salmond
	Keith Brown	12 February 2009	18 January 2010	Scottish National Party	Alex Salmond
Minister for Skills and Lifelong Learning
	Keith Brown	18 January 2010	12 December 2010	Scottish National Party	Alex Salmond
	Angela Constance	12 December 2010	20 May 2011	Scottish National Party	Alex Salmond
Minister for Learning and Skills
	Alasdair Allan	20 May 2011	7 December 2011	Scottish National Party	Alex Salmond
Minister for Learning, Science and Scotland's Languages
	Alasdair Allan	7 December 2011	18 May 2016	Scottish National Party	Alex Salmond
	Alasdair Allan	20 November 2014	18 May 2016	Scottish National Party	Nicola Sturgeon
Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science
	Shirley-Anne Somerville	18 May 2016	27 June 2018	Scottish National Party	Nicola Sturgeon
	Richard Lochhead	4 September 2018	20 May 2021	Scottish National Party	Nicola Sturgeon
Minister for Higher Education and Further Education, Youth Employment and Training
	Jamie Hepburn	20 May 2021	29 March 2023	Scottish National Party	Nicola Sturgeon
Minister for Higher Education and Further Education
	Graeme Dey	29 March 2023	Incumbent	Scottish National Party	Humza Yousaf

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, created the junior post of the Minister for Schools and Skills who assisted the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, in the Scottish Executive Education Department. 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 Nicola Sturgeon's original choice, Gillian Martin, was revealed to have posted comments of a transphobic nature in a blog in 2007. Ms Martin's name was omitted from the list of appointments to be approved by Parliament on 28 June 2018 following a reshuffle.^[4] Richard Lochhead was later appointed to the role. Following the formation of the Third Sturgeon Government, the post was once more retitled to Minister for Higher Education and Further Education, Youth Employment and Training. In March 2023, Humza Yousaf appointed Graeme Dey 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

^ "MSP salaries". parliament.scot. The Scottish Parliament. 10 May 2024.
^ Scotland Act (1998), Only those appointed under Section 47 of the Scotland Act "attend" Cabinet. Junior ministers are appointed under Section 49 and may be "present".
^ "Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science". Scottish Government. 27 June 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
^ "SNP Minister Gillian Martin axed from education role". The Scotsman. 28 June 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2018.