4.The purpose of the Act is to reform and simplify the framework for the funding of post-school education and skills training in Scotland. The Act does so primarily by making provision for the Council to take full responsibility for securing the delivery of national training programmes (NTPs) and apprenticeships, a role previously carried out by Skills Development Scotland. The Council already funds the provision of further and higher education through arrangements established under the 2005 Act. The Act also changes some of the Council’s governance rules.
5.The Act is in six Parts:
	Part 1 makes provision for a national funding strategy for tertiary education, skills and apprenticeships;
	Part 2 confers new functions on the Council relating to securing and funding the delivery of NTPs, apprenticeships and work-based learning, and also amends and augments several of the Council’s supporting functions in Part 1 of the 2005 Act;
	Part 3 makes reforms to the governance arrangements of the Council in schedule 1 of the 2005 Act;
	Part 4 makes provision relating to financial support for students at private providers of further and higher education, extending existing powers under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, and creating a new power for the Scottish Ministers to designate private providers for the purposes of student financial support;
	Part 5 makes provision for review of the Act;
	Part 6 contains the final and general provisions for the Act.
Overview of the Act