Summary statistics for schools in Scotland no. 8: 2017 edition

Results of the annual pupil census, annual teacher census, and data on early learning and childcare, school estates, attendance, absence and exclusions.

This document is part of 2 collections


Chapter 3: School Teachers

  • 50,592 teachers in publicly funded schools compared to 49;985 in 2016
  • 13.6 pupil teacher ratio in local authority schools – a decrease (improvement) of 0.1 from 2016
  • 88% of teachers on the 2016/17 probationer

Table 3.1: Teachers (Full Time Equivalents)

Full Time Equivalents (FTE)

Local Authority Primary School Secondary School Special School Centrally employed Total
Aberdeen City 829 714 48 32 1,624
Aberdeenshire 1,383 1,199 52 41 2,675
Angus 565 547 0 21 1,133
Argyll & Bute 408 401 8 9 825
Clackmannanshire 269 218 22 3 513
Dumfries & Galloway 690 688 8 84 1,470
Dundee City 637 608 56 29 1,330
East Ayrshire 554 546 62 26 1,189
East Dunbartonshire 533 625 52 35 1,245
East Lothian 454 456 0 25 935
East Renfrewshire 578 653 32 3 1,265
Edinburgh City 1,600 1,437 163 81 3,281
Na h-Eileanan Siar 164 156 0 8 327
Falkirk 754 788 64 14 1,620
Fife 1,761 1,586 83 68 3,498
Glasgow City 2,480 2,083 312 146 5,020
Highland 1,090 1,155 41 79 2,365
Inverclyde 341 355 41 1 738
Midlothian 433 398 32 30 892
Moray 415 399 0 42 856
North Ayrshire 680 626 38 52 1,396
North Lanarkshire 1,652 1,579 213 59 3,502
Orkney Islands 119 126 0 8 253
Perth & Kinross 675 622 19 14 1,329
Renfrewshire 784 764 85 23 1,656
Scottish Borders 473 474 0 108 1,055
Shetland Islands 160 154 0 9 323
South Ayrshire 507 495 25 30 1,056
South Lanarkshire 1,611 1,512 147 12 3,282
Stirling 430 459 20 17 925
West Dunbartonshire 455 438 48 21 961
West Lothian 972 841 111 0 1,924
All local authorities 24,455 23,099 1,781 1,128 50,464
Grant aided 21 51 55 0 127
Total 24,477 23,150 1,836 1,128 50,592

Table 3.2 shows that total teacher numbers (including primary, secondary, special and centrally employed teachers) across all publicly funded schools in Scotland decreased between 2011 and 2014, before rising year on year between 2014 and 2017. Although the total FTE for 2017 has increased since 2016, this is not the case for each local authority. In 27 local authorities the number of teachers has either been maintained or increased, with the largest increase being four per cent in West Dunbartonshire. Five local authorities saw a decrease this year, with the largest decrease being three per cent in Clackmannanshire.

Table 3.2: Teachers in schools (all sectors excluding ELC)(1)

Full Time Equivalents (FTE)

Local Authority 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Aberdeen City 1,594 1,592 1,606 1,623 1,632 1,603 1,624
Aberdeenshire 2,538 2,546 2,594 2,593 2,650 2,655 2,675
Angus 1,154 1,145 1,153 1,140 1,136 1,125 1,133
Argyll & Bute 858 863 859 866 844 841 825
Clackmannanshire 483 483 493 495 490 528 513
Dumfries & Galloway 1,524 1,532 1,488 1,481 1,479 1,466 1,470
Dundee City 1,431 1,414 1,393 1,372 1,375 1,367 1,330
East Ayrshire 1,176 1,149 1,139 1,139 1,151 1,149 1,189
East Dunbartonshire 1,168 1,159 1,184 1,191 1,204 1,217 1,245
East Lothian 923 909 903 902 920 913 935
East Renfrewshire 1,185 1,193 1,207 1,201 1,213 1,227 1,265
Edinburgh City 3,116 3,171 3,213 3,159 3,193 3,213 3,281
Na h-Eileanan Siar 362 344 340 323 324 321 327
Falkirk 1,546 1,564 1,568 1,578 1,581 1,605 1,620
Fife 3,493 3,491 3,507 3,469 3,476 3,494 3,498
Glasgow City 4,950 4,959 4,813 4,803 4,779 4,869 5,020
Highland 2,361 2,351 2,340 2,331 2,357 2,355 2,365
Inverclyde 751 747 733 725 734 735 738
Midlothian 810 812 832 847 866 873 892
Moray 884 893 877 881 874 848 856
North Ayrshire 1,347 1,312 1,333 1,325 1,332 1,371 1,396
North Lanarkshire 3,538 3,525 3,503 3,452 3,406 3,474 3,502
Orkney Islands 242 243 250 254 255 260 253
Perth & Kinross 1,351 1,337 1,339 1,337 1,337 1,329 1,329
Renfrewshire 1,576 1,600 1,582 1,576 1,596 1,633 1,656
Scottish Borders 1,122 1,118 1,098 1,063 1,049 1,052 1,055
Shetland Islands 356 341 332 322 323 318 323
South Ayrshire 1,083 1,096 1,082 1,062 1,063 1,043 1,056
South Lanarkshire 3,145 3,149 3,174 3,147 3,176 3,202 3,282
Stirling 944 924 934 932 921 942 925
West Dunbartonshire 904 898 909 911 921 928 961
West Lothian 1,837 1,856 1,868 1,868 1,880 1,899 1,924
All local authorities 49,751 49,713 49,645 49,368 49,538 49,858 50,464
Grant aided 156 153 145 153 141 127 127
Total 49,907 49,867 49,790 49,521 49,679 49,985 50,592

(1) Includes teachers based in schools and centrally employed teachers.

Table 3.3 shows pupil teacher ratios (PTRs) in publicly funded schools, giving a measure of the size of the workforce compared with the pupil population. The national PTR worsened between 2011 and 2014 from 13.4 pupils per teacher to 13.7. It was then stable between 2014 and 2016 before improving in 2017 to 13.6.

The Attainment Scotland Fund is an initiative to tackle the poverty related attainment gap. At the time of the census in September 2017, 666 FTE teachers were funded through this initiative compared to 160 FTE in September 2016. The all local authority PTR excluding these teachers was 13.8, a rise of 0.1 on the equivalent ratio from the previous year.

Table 3.3: Pupil teacher ratios (PTRs) in schools (all sectors excluding ELC)(1)

Pupils per teacher

Local Authority 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Aberdeen City 13.4 13.5 13.5 13.6 13.6 14.0 14.0
Aberdeenshire 13.4 13.4 13.3 13.5 13.3 13.4 13.3
Angus 13.2 13.2 13.1 13.3 13.2 13.3 13.3
Argyll & Bute 12.9 12.5 12.4 12.2 12.4 12.3 12.5
Clackmannanshire 13.6 13.7 13.5 13.3 13.4 12.5 12.9
Dumfries & Galloway 12.7 12.5 12.7 12.7 12.7 12.7 12.8
Dundee City 12.1 12.3 12.6 12.9 13.0 13.2 13.7
East Ayrshire 13.7 14.0 14.0 14.0 13.9 13.9 13.3
East Dunbartonshire 13.6 13.7 13.6 13.6 13.6 13.5 13.4
East Lothian 14.4 14.8 15.1 15.2 15.1 15.4 15.2
East Renfrewshire 13.7 13.5 13.4 13.7 13.7 13.7 13.5
Edinburgh City 14.3 14.2 14.3 14.9 14.9 15.1 15.1
Na h-Eileanan Siar 9.8 10.2 10.1 10.4 10.3 10.5 10.3
Falkirk 13.4 13.4 13.4 13.5 13.5 13.5 13.5
Fife 13.7 13.7 13.7 14.0 14.0 14.1 14.1
Glasgow City 13.1 13.1 13.6 13.6 13.8 13.8 13.5
Highland 13.2 13.2 13.2 13.2 13.1 13.1 13.0
Inverclyde 13.8 13.6 13.8 13.8 13.5 13.5 13.4
Midlothian 14.4 14.6 14.2 14.2 14.2 14.2 14.2
Moray 13.5 13.4 13.7 13.7 13.7 14.1 13.9
North Ayrshire 13.7 14.0 13.7 13.7 13.6 13.3 13.1
North Lanarkshire 13.8 13.9 13.9 14.2 14.4 14.1 14.0
Orkney Islands 11.0 11.0 10.6 10.5 10.5 10.4 10.8
Perth & Kinross 12.9 13.1 13.1 13.3 13.3 13.6 13.5
Renfrewshire 14.9 14.6 14.8 14.7 14.6 14.3 14.2
Scottish Borders 13.2 13.2 13.3 13.7 13.8 13.8 13.8
Shetland Islands 9.2 9.5 9.7 10.0 10.0 10.2 10.0
South Ayrshire 13.2 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.2 13.4 13.3
South Lanarkshire 13.7 13.7 13.6 13.7 13.7 13.7 13.4
Stirling 13.2 13.4 13.1 13.2 13.4 13.2 13.5
West Dunbartonshire 13.6 13.7 13.6 13.6 13.5 13.4 13.1
West Lothian 14.0 14.1 14.0 14.1 14.1 14.1 14.0
All local authorities 13.5 13.5 13.5 13.7 13.7 13.7 13.6
Grant aided(2) 8.3 8.4 8.7 8.1 8.6 9.2 9.3
All publicly funded 13.4 13.5 13.5 13.7 13.7 13.7 13.6

(1) Includes teachers based in schools and centrally employed teachers.

(2) The pupil teacher ratio for grant aided schools in 2011-2016 was amended in October 2017. See background notes for details.

One of the most important uses of the data collected in the teacher census is in modelling future changes in the workforce in order to provide guidance on the number of new teachers to train. Chart 1 shows the age profile of school teachers and the change since 2004. The age profile for 2004 shows a peak around age 50. However, in 2017 the age profile is relatively flat between age 23 (when most teachers qualify) and late fifties (when most teachers retire).

Chart 1: Age profile of school based teachers

Chart 1: Age profile of school based teachers

Table 3.4 shows that in both primary and secondary sectors the proportion of teachers who are female falls at each level of seniority. In primary schools, 90% of all teachers are female compared to 86% of headteachers . In secondary schools 63% of teachers are female compared to only 41% of headteachers . The average (mean) age of primary, secondary and special school teachers was 41, compared to 44 in 2004, so teachers were, on average, younger in 2017 than in 2004.

The proportion of teachers who had temporary contracts (including probationers) was 16.7 per cent (compared with 16.3 per cent last year). 16.3 per cent of teachers were working part-time, with the rate higher amongst females (19.0 per cent) than males (7.3 per cent).

Table 3.4: Teacher characteristics

Percentage of Full Time Equivalents (FTE)

School
Local Authority Primary Secondary Special Centrally Employed(1) Total
Gender
Female 90 63 76 84 77
Male 10 37 24 16 23
Unknown 0 0 0 0 0
Age (years)
Under 25 8 5 1 1 6
25 to 34 31 28 19 9 29
35 to 44 25 26 27 22 26
45 to 54 23 24 29 37 24
55 or over 12 17 23 32 15
Unknown 0 0 0 0 0
Average Age 40 42 45 41 41
Ethnicity
White – Scottish 67 60 64 51 63
White – Other British 25 29 24 30 27
White – Other 2 4 5 4 3
Minority Ethnic Group 1 2 1 5 1
Not Disclosed 5 6 5 11 5
Employment type
Permanent 81 85 88 83 83
Temporary (non-induction) 12 10 12 16 11
Probationer induction scheme 7 5 0 0 6
Grade
Head teacher 7 1 6 3 4
Percentage female 86 41 84 82 79
Depute head teacher 5 5 7 2 5
Percentage female 88 56 70 91 73
Principal teacher 7 23 11 10 15
Percentage female 89 62 73 79 69
Teacher 80 70 76 84 76
Percentage female 90 65 76 85 79
All - Percentage female 90 63 76 84 77
Mode of working
Full-time 81 87 83 66 84
Percentage female 89 61 74 82 75
Part-time(2) 19 13 17 34 16
Percentage female 95 82 85 90 90

(1) Excludes mainstream supply [These teachers are included in the appropriate school sector statistics].

Table 3.5 shows the percentage of post-probationers from recent induction cohorts who were in publicly funded permanent or temporary posts at the time of the following year's teacher census. The proportion increased from 87 per cent in 2016 to 88 per cent in 2017.

Table 3.5: Post-probationers in permanent or temporary employment in the following year's teacher census

Percentage Headcount

  Probationer cohort
2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17
Full-time permanent 16 28 35 39 45 55 57
Full-time temporary 35 35 35 33 35 27 28
Part-time permanent 1 3 2 2 2 2 1
Part-time temporary 14 8 6 6 4 2 2
Other(1) 34 25 21 20 14 13 12
Number of teachers in cohort 2,857 1,944 2,044 2,215 2,448 2,524 2,630

(1) The "Other" category includes those teaching elsewhere, including in the independent sector, those who have found supply work, and those who are unemployed or who have left teaching, although this detail is not included in the census data.

Table 3.6 shows that some of these teachers secure posts as they become available later in the year or in subsequent years. For example while 66 per cent of the 2010/11 cohort were present in the 2011 census, in the following censuses the percentage increased to 70 per cent in 2012 and 2013, 71 per cent in 2014 onwards.

Table 3.6: Post-probationers in permanent or temporary employment

Percentage Headcount

  Sep-11 Sep-12 Sep-13 Sep-14 Sep-15 Sep-16 Sep-17
2010/11 cohort 66 70 70 71 71 71 71
2011/12 cohort   75 77 79 77 78 77
2012/13 cohort   79 77 77 77 76
2013/14 cohort   80 81 79 78
2014/15 cohort   86 83 82
2015/16 cohort   87 84
2016/17 cohort   88

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