LEGACY PROGRAMME

Excelerate

A 7-year investment by The Wood Foundation, supporting secondary schools in North East Scotland to connect learning more closely with the world young people are preparing to enter

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Excelerate

What was Excelerate?

Excelerate was a test of change designed to explore how long-term investment in educators could help secondary schools bring the ambitions of Scotland’s curriculum and youth employment strategy closer to everyday learning.

Developed, delivered and funded by The Wood Foundation, the investment worked with 19 secondary schools across Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Angus between 2019 and 2026.

Its purpose was to support schools to create learning experiences that felt more connected to young people’s futures, with stronger links between classrooms, communities and the world of work.

How did it work?

Excelerate gave schools access to a flexible package of professional learning and practical support.

Schools could engage with coaching, study visits, project-based learning, oracy training and dedicated Business and Community Support Officers, depending on their own context and improvement journey.

Rather than asking every school to follow the same route, Excelerate met schools where they were and helped them test what meaningful change could look like in their own setting.

IMPACT

Excelerate in numbers

Excelerate set out to understand what happens when schools are given sustained, high-quality support to rethink learning, strengthen partnerships and build confidence for change.

£5million

invested over seven years

900+

community and employer organisations partnered with schools

2,800

curriculum-linked experiences created for pupils

500+

teachers accessed project-based learning training

THE START OF THE EXCELERATE STORY

Why Excelerate was needed

Excelerate began with a disconnect.

Scotland’s education policies asked schools to prepare young people for life and work in a changing world, but many school leaders and teachers did not have the time, support or professional learning needed to turn that ambition into practice.

The Wood Foundation saw an opportunity to invest in educators first. By supporting the people closest to young people, Excelerate aimed to help schools move from policy intention to practical change.

Key pillars of the investment

Excelerate was built around a set of practical interventions designed to help schools move from ambition to action.

Strengthening professional learning

Excelerate gave school leaders and teachers access to sustained, high-quality professional learning that was different from the training many had experienced before.

Through coaching, study visits, project-based learning and oracy, educators were able to look outward, test new approaches and build confidence in changing practice.

Connecting schools with communities

The investment helped schools build stronger relationships with employers, local organisations and community partners.

Business and Community Support Officers played an important role in making those connections easier to manage, helping partners become part of learning rather than occasional visitors to school life.

Bringing learning closer to the real world

Excelerate supported schools to create learning experiences that felt more relevant to young people’s lives and futures.

By using approaches such as project-based learning, oracy and partner-led curriculum inputs, schools explored how pupils could develop skills, understand pathways and see the connection between what they learn and where it could take them.

How Excelerate created change

Excelerate gave schools permission to think differently about what learning could look like.

The change was not the same in every school. Some used the investment to redesign parts of the curriculum. Some focused on leadership, culture or pupil support. Others began with a smaller group of teachers who wanted to try new approaches in their classrooms.

That variation matters. Excelerate was never designed as a fixed programme to be rolled out in the same way everywhere. It was a test of change, shaped by each school’s context and by the people leading the work inside it.

New ways of teaching

Teachers used Excelerate to explore approaches that made learning more active, collaborative and connected to real contexts.

Stronger school identity

In some schools, the investment helped leaders clarify what they wanted young people to leave school with - not only in terms of qualifications, but confidence, skills and a sense of direction.

More meaningful partnerships

Schools developed relationships with partners who could contribute to learning in practical ways, helping pupils see more clearly how classroom experiences connect to life beyond school.

Voices from Excelerate

The impact of Excelerate is best understood through the people who experienced it in their schools.

“It was all about opportunity. It was an opportunity to challenge myself as a school leader. It was an opportunity to help and support staff to access high-quality professional learning. But mainly, it was an opportunity for the young people.”

Lizbeth Paul Pioneer Headteacher and Lead Coach

“Excelerate is seen as the single biggest driver of school improvement journey.”

Headteacher Aberdeenshire

“The ownership of learning amongst young people has improved - they are more involved in the planning of learning, they are developing their skills, they are talking for themselves.”

Senior Leadership Team member Angus

From test of change to lasting learning

Excelerate evolved over seven years, growing from a small pilot into a network of 19 schools across three local authorities.

2016 - 2019

Research begins

The Wood Foundation explores how schools are delivering Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) and where more support could help turn policy ambition into practice.
2019

Excelerate launches

The investment begins with four pioneer schools in Aberdeenshire - Alford, Banff, Kemnay and Portlethen - testing whether sustained professional learning and partnership support could help schools create meaningful change.
2021 - 2022

7 additional schools join the investment

Aboyne, Bucksburn, Harlaw, Mackie, Mintlaw, Oldmachar and St Machar academies join the network across Aberdeen city and Aberdeenshire, expanding the learning hub and bringing new perspectives into the test of change.
2022 - 2023

2 additional schools join the investment

Northfield and Turriff academies join the network, continuing the growth of Excelerate across the North-east.
2023 - 2024

4 additional schools join the investment

Arbroath, Dyce, Forfar and Peterhead academies join Excelerate due to its continued success in the region.
2023 - 2024

135+ educators visit schools internationally

School leaders and teachers take part in learning visits to schools in Nashville and Detroit, bringing new ideas back into their own contexts.
2024 - 2025

2 additional schools join the investment

Brechin and Carnoustie academies are the final schools to be part of Excelerate, taking us to a total of 19 schools supported across the region.
2025

Seven-year test of change concludes

Excelerate concludes after working with 19 schools across Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Angus.
2026

Impact report published

The final report brings together the learning, impact and challenges from the investment, offering a clear message for Scottish education.

Impact

Lasting legacy

Excelerate set out to understand what becomes possible when schools have the confidence and capacity to make learning feel more connected to life beyond the classroom.

By the end of the investment, the evidence showed a shift in how schools worked with partners, how teachers approached real-world learning and how young people understood their own skills.

95%

of surveyed business and community partners said Excelerate helped them build links with schools or give back to the community

76%

of teachers said they were in a better position to integrate real-world learning into their classrooms

25%

increase in young people’s reported confidence by the end of Excelerate

23%

increase in young people’s self-reported skill improvement

Read the Excelerate impact report

The full report brings together the story of Excelerate, what changed across the school network and what the investment can teach Scotland’s education system about supporting meaningful change.

Download report