Data and methodology

Sources and timing

The GME in secondary schools data collection captures school-level information on what subject(s) are offered through the medium of Gaelic by each local authority GME secondary school within the academic year. It also captures how many pupils are currently being taught each of these subjects through the medium of Gaelic, broken down by pupil stage.

Only local authority secondary schools which offer GME are surveyed. So far the GME in secondary schools data collection has been completed three times, in March 2024 (2023/24), 2025 (2024/25) and 2026 (2025/26). Following the first collection in 2023/24, the main list of subjects offered was altered. This means that the 2023/24 data is not comparable to the 2024/25 and 2025/26 data so has not been included within this publication.

School-level aggregate data for applicable local authority secondary schools is collected via an electronic survey issued to local authorities to complete and return. A copy of the 2025/26 questionnaire is available in the supporting documents that go alongside this publication.

Submitted data is quality assured by Scottish Government analysts prior to publication.

The GME statistics presented here may differ to those presented within the pupil census supplementary statistics. The GME in secondary schools data collection covers the entire academic year whereas the GME data within the pupil census supplementary statistics is as at census day, 10th September 2025. For data on the total number of pupils receiving Gaelic Medium Education in Scotland, see the pupil census supplementary statistics.

Symbols

The following symbols are used throughout this publication and supporting documents:

- = subject not offered

0 = subject offered but no pupils took the subject

c = data has been suppressed due to low pupil numbers