Response to the Oversight Board’s latest report: making trusted adult relationships a national priority
23 October 2026
In marking Care Experienced Week, and its theme of ‘Forward to the Future’, MCR Pathways welcomes the Oversight Board’s latest report and its clear emphasis on translating Scotland’s Promise into meaningful, lasting change for Care Experienced children and young people.
The report reinforces a fundamental principle: relationships matter. Every young person deserves to feel seen, heard and supported by adults who believe in their potential. For young people navigating unique challenges or significant transitions, a consistent, trusted adult volunteer mentor can make a profound difference to their confidence, aspirations and ability to access opportunities.
We particularly welcome the report’s recommendation that Care Experienced children and young people should be proactively offered a trusted adult volunteer mentor or equivalent support where an appropriate relationship does not already exist. This is an important recognition that access to trusted relationships must not be left to chance, determined by postcode, or dependent on whether a young person knows how to navigate the system.
A national commitment: the Trusted Adult Guarantee
At MCR Pathways, we believe Scotland has an opportunity to build on this principle through a Trusted Adult Guarantee: a national commitment that every young person who could benefit from an additional trusted adult volunteer mentor is proactively offered one.
The Guarantee would establish a clear national expectation while building on the strengths of existing provision across education, mentoring, youth work, advocacy, health, social care and community organisations. It would not require a single national mentoring service or impose one model on every community. Instead, it would bring partners together around a shared ambition, strengthening relationships already in place and helping to break down barriers where additional support is needed.
Crucially, this must be a young-person-led approach, guided by the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The right relationship is one that a young person values, feels comfortable with, and that helps to amplify their voice. Where additional support is required, it should be offered in a way that reflects their individual circumstances, needs and aspirations, with appropriate safeguards to ensure relationships can endure.
Answering the call for demonstrable impact
The Oversight Board’s report rightly highlights the urgent need for robust accountability, transparent outcomes and demonstrable proof of what works. We share this commitment to evidence-based practice. Where the sector has historically faced challenges in evidencing long-term outcomes, an independent evaluation of MCR Pathways found significant positive impacts on almost all the education and post-school outcomes it measured, and concluded that the programme represents good value for money.
The evaluation was carried out by Ipsos Scotland for the Scottish Government and published in March 2026. It found that MCR Pathways has had a considerable positive impact on Care Experienced pupils, including:
| Key impact area | What the evaluation found |
|---|---|
| Economic and societal return | For every £1 spent on MCR Pathways for Care Experienced pupils, an estimated £2.30–£2.80 is returned in societal and economic benefits. |
| School exclusions | A 7 to 9 percentage-point fall in the share of Care Experienced pupils ever excluded from secondary school, closing around a third of the gap with their peers. |
| Staying on at school | An 8 to 13 percentage-point increase in Care Experienced pupils staying on into S5, and an estimated 5 to 14 percentage-point increase in staying on into S6. |
| Academic attainment | Improvements across all 7 SCQF attainment measures, including a 6 to 7 percentage-point rise in pupils achieving 3 or more National 5s (SCQF Level 5). |
| Positive post-school destinations | A 7 to 8 percentage-point increase in young people reaching a positive destination 3 months after leaving school, still 5 to 7 points higher at 9 months, alongside a 5 percentage-point reduction in unemployment at 9 months. |
The evaluation also found some evidence of better attendance in S5: an estimated 28,850 more days in school across eight year groups, about 8 days per pupil, though not a clear effect on attendance overall.
Read the evaluation: Scottish Mentoring and Leadership Programme: impact and value for money evaluation (Scottish Government, March 2026). Find out more about our evidence: hi.mcrpathways.org/evidence.
Sustainable investment for long-term continuity
These findings show that structured, volunteer-led mentoring is not merely a social good; it is an evidenced policy solution that delivers a tangible, long-term return to society.
However, achieving these results requires sustainable infrastructure. A national commitment to trusted relationships must be supported by multi-year investment to recruit, train and support volunteer mentors, uphold safeguarding standards, and maintain the relational continuity young people need. Short-term, fragmented funding cannot provide the stability that meaningful human relationships require.
Turning ambition into action
MCR Pathways brings years of experience delivering this award-winning, relationship-first mentoring model across schools, further education settings and communities. At its heart is a simple, powerful commitment: a trained volunteer mentor giving a young person one hour a week of dedicated time, encouragement and belief.
We look forward to contributing this evidence base and delivery experience to a wider national approach, working side by side with young people, the Scottish Government, local authorities, education partners and the third sector. No single organisation can deliver this vision alone; its strength lies in connecting the expertise, resources and relationships that already exist across Scotland.
As Scotland works towards fulfilling the Promise by 2030, the priority must be turning shared ambition into practical, evidenced action. The Trusted Adult Guarantee offers an immediate opportunity to make access to a consistent, trusted mentor a deliberate, dependable and proven part of how Scotland supports its young people.
Until everyone has someone.
Help turn the Promise from ambition into reality
Collaboration is essential to keeping the Promise. Here’s how you can support MCR Pathways to make the all-important difference.
Become a volunteer mentor
Stand in the corner of a local young person by becoming a volunteer mentor in your community. All it takes is one hour a week, consistency, listening and encouragement.
Make the Trusted Adult Guarantee a reality
Whether you work in national, regional or local policymaking, you have a role to play in working with us to support young people across Scotland and to bridge the gap between potential, opportunity and access to sustainable, positive futures.
Our policy and influencing work
Partner with MCR Pathways
From businesses, local authorities and charities to community spaces and schools, you have a role to play in realising our vision of ensuring every young person has someone to help them find their path.
