Every child deserves an education; it shouldn't be only if you can afford it.
Young person, St Joseph's Primary School, Argyll and Bute
These are the calls that young people want all parties to commit to in their manifestos for the 2026 Scottish elections, and the next government to take action on:
1. End child poverty. Make sure our families have what they need so we can come to school ready to learn.
2. Fund every school to fully remove cost pressures from our families and help us overcome poverty-related barriers to learning.
3. Help us with the basics we need to learn, take part and feel included at school – free school meals, uniform support, devices and resources for all and continued funding for curriculum costs
4. Opportunities for all. Help all of us benefit from life changing school trips and from activities in our communities
5. Involve us! We can help make our schools and Scotland better
Read more about what children and young people said about each call in the manifesto.
To make a difference for all pupils we need to make sure that lots of people get to see this manifesto, especially politicians.
In the run up to the Scottish Parliament election in May, we want young people to share this information as widely as possible. You can get involved by reaching out to your MSP, and the people standing for election in your area, to tell them what young people want to see happen. You can also speak to pupils in your school and other schools in your area, and encourage them to get involved too.
To make this as easy as possible, young people from the Voice network Manifesto Action Group, have created some templates that you can choose to use, adapt or you can write your own completely using the ones below as inspiration!
Use this template to send a letter or email to politicians - you'll find contact details here.
Here are some ideas and images to help you get started.
It could be of one of the manifesto calls or maybe show what your school would be like if change happened. Here’s a template letter/email to send along with your creations, and some examples to take a look at.
Why not run a competition at your school to draw pictures or design posters inspired by the calls in the manifesto? You could suggest that people taking part focus on the call that they feel most strongly about.
The Cost of the School Day team would love to see what you do too - once you've sent them to a politician, send us photos or copies of your drawings and posters and we will award the best one with a voucher for your group or school! Entries welcome until the end of April 2026 and we will announce the winner in May.
Send your entries to: [email protected]
Here’s a template invitation and you can get in touch with the Cost of the School Day team if you'd like help to plan your meeting - [email protected]
Get in touch with a neighbouring school telling them about the manifesto and how to get involved. Here’s a sample letter/email, and the slides that you could use or adapt if you can arrange to visit the school. The slides are in pdf form here, get in touch with us if you would like a power point version - [email protected]
Young people at the Cost of the School Day young people summit helping to build the manifesto
If your school isn't already part of the Cost of the School Day Voice network you can join here to have your voices heard and take action on poverty.
