Pupils meet FM to discuss cost of school day

Pupils from Irvine Royal Academy continued their campaign to reduce child poverty through minimising the cost of the school day.

Jacob Anderson and Evie Alexander-Reid joined a small number of colleagues from the Cost of the School Day Voice network to meet with the First Minister, John Swinney, and the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, Jenny Gilruth.

They met at the First Minister's official residence, Bute House in Edinburgh, to share ideas about how the government can help further reduce the impact of poverty in Scotland’s schools.

Representing the views of thousands of young people across Scotland, Voice network members raised their concerns about child poverty, funding for schools, free school meals and equal access to resources, trips and opportunities.

Jacob and Evie are part of Irvine Royal Academy’s Cost of the School Day (COSD) group and during the day urged the First Minister to view this as a priority for his government, saying: “This is not just for you to fix Mr Swinney, your whole Cabinet needs to be thinking about this alongside our local councils – will you be looking and discussing this further with colleagues?

Lots of the topics addressed in the conversation at Bute House will be covered in School Shouldn’t Cost which will be published on 8 December. This manifesto outlines what thousands of young people across Scotland want the next government to do to reduce the impact of poverty on education.

Speaking after the event, Mr Swinney praised the work of Voice;

Published: 09 December 2025