Background notes

Sources and timing

The information in this publication is derived from a number of sources: the pupil census, the school staff census, The 2025 pupil and school staff censuses were carried out on 10 September 2025.

The supplementary statistics on the school staff census, the pupil census, and attendance will be published in March 2026.

The information for the pupil and staff censuses was collected electronically - through local authorities - from all publicly funded primary, secondary and special schools, as part of the ScotXed programme. The information collected is largely sourced from school management information systems, thus reducing the burden on data providers.

Teachers

The school staff census covers all publicly funded schools in Scotland (i.e. local authority and grant-aided schools).

Definitions and data quality

Teacher number and pupil teacher ratio statistics include only those teachers defined as ‘on roll’ (or ‘in complement’). This is based on the full-time equivalent (FTE) of teachers in post at the time of the census with one of the following status categories:

• Normal complement
• Long term sick absence replacement
• Secondment replacement
• Maternity leave replacement
• Other replacement (over two days)
• Supernumerary
• Long term training/staff development replacement
• Temporary contract covering a vacancy
• Teacher abroad on foreign exchange
• Other
• Short term supply teacher (two days or fewer) where they are part of the centrally employed supply pool

For the purposes of these statistics:

• An individual teacher cannot exceed one FTE
• Centrally employed teachers (including peripatetic/visiting specialists, hospital teaching service and home visiting tutors) who are teaching on census day will be assigned a status as above and are included in the total number of teachers in Scotland and the overall pupil/teacher ratio. Where they teach at a number of schools it is permissible to split their time across those schools
• Teachers recorded in roles such as quality improvement officer or educational advisor are classed as support staff, and are not included in these teacher statistics or PTR calculations
• Vacant posts are not included

If a normal complement teacher is unexpectedly absent during census week and requires cover, the replacement teacher covering this post can be recorded under a number of statuses, depending on the nature of the cover.

Some local authorities will only record the replacement teacher as having a qualifying status if the teacher they are replacing is absent ‘long term’ (there is no fixed definition of long term). In this circumstance, the absent teacher would be recorded under the appropriate status, such ‘long term absence’ to describe their reason for absence.

Other local authorities, however, may record the replacement teacher as ‘short term supply teacher (up to two days) covering a normal complement teacher’. If this teacher is not centrally employed, they would not be counted as on roll for the purposes of these statistics. The absent teacher will continue to be recorded as normal complement and as such will be included in calculations of the number of teachers.

Further information on teacher status categories see the staff census data specification/guidance.

Centrally Employed Teachers

There are some differences in the way in which authorities deal with centrally employed teachers. In some cases, these visiting specialists are considered as allocated to the schools where they teach and have been included, with relevant partial FTE, in the school-level data. In other cases, they are included as centrally employed staff. We are also aware that local authorities have changed procedures for reporting centrally employed teachers during recent years. Centrally employed teachers are a small proportion of the total FTE, only around 2%, so the effect of these different recording methods is small.

Special Schools

Statistics for the special school sector are compiled from schools formally designated as special schools in the Scottish Government’s School Establishment collection. There is not always a clear distinction between special schools and special units or classes within a mainstream school. This should be kept in mind when analysing the statistics.

Probationers

In these statistics a Teacher Induction Scheme probationer is defined as an individual in a post on the Teacher Induction Scheme and individuals on other probationer schemes providing that scheme only spans a single September. Other probationers, that enter teaching via a flexible or alternative route, will be recorded with a temporary post employment type.

In Figure 13 induction scheme teachers in 2018 onwards were defined as teachers in a post where the employment type was reported as induction scheme. Prior to 2018, induction scheme teachers were based on a list of registration identifiers provided by the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) on an annual basis. Post-induction scheme teachers are identified by matching this registration identifier with the identifier collected as part of the following year’s school staff census.

Headcount

Teacher headcount is defined as the unique combination of GTC number, date of birth and sex.

Grade

For the purposes of the school staff census, the teacher’s grade for each post is collected. In some cases, such as when a teacher is on a temporary promoted post, a teacher may have multiple posts, each at a different grade.

Mode of working (full-time/ part-time)

The mode of working statistics in Figure 12 define working pattern on the cumulative FTE for an individual within a single school type (primary, secondary, special or centrally employed) and specific grade. Therefore, teachers working across multiple sectors or at multiple grades will be counted as part time for each sector and grade combination, even if their total FTE sums to one. In 2025, there were 820 FTE teachers working for a total of one FTE but across more than one grade or sector so have therefore been recorded as part time in Figure 12.

Employment type

Employment type (permanent, temporary and Teacher Induction Scheme) relates to each post that a teacher holds, rather than their employment contract. This means that a teacher may have a permanent employment contract but be recorded with a temporary employment type for an individual post.

Where local authorities record posts under the SEEMiS categories ‘acting up’ or ‘seconded’ the employment type will be reported as permanent for the purposes of the school staff census. Local authorities may take different approaches to recording temporary promotions. For example, in the situation where a main-grade teacher is on temporary promotion to a principal teacher post they may be reported as having a temporary employment type and principal teacher grade. Alternatively, they may be recorded as ‘acting up’ in SEEMiS and so reported as permanent at their substantive grade (main-grade teacher) in these statistics. It is also possible that teachers in this situation are reported as permanent principal teachers or temporary main-grade teachers.

Ethnicity

The ethnicity groupings used in Figure 9 contain the following categories:

• White – other British includes White – Other British and White – Irish
• White – other includes White – Other, White – Gypsy/Traveller and White – Polish
• Ethnic minority group includes African – African / Scottish / British, Caribbean or Black – Caribbean / British / Scottish, Asian – Indian/British/Scottish, Asian – Pakistani / British / Scottish, Asian – Pakistani / British / Scottish, Asian – Chinese / British / Scottish, Mixed or multiple ethnic groups, Asian – Other, African – Other and Other – Arab

Prior to 2019, ‘not disclosed’ ethnic background included the categories ‘unknown’ and ‘not disclosed’. Since 2019 these categories have been presented separately.

Pupil teacher ratio (PTR)

Any commentary on changes to PTR over time, such as the commentary for Figure 4, is based on the difference after rounding the PTR to one decimal place.

Teachers funded through the Attainment Scotland Fund

The Attainment Scotland Fund (ASF) is a targeted initiative focused on closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children. It is delivered through two primary routes: the Scottish Attainment Challenge and the Pupil Equity Fund (PEF). One way in which this funding may be used is to recruit additional teaching capacity.

Since 2016, the total FTE of ASF funded teachers across Scotland has been published as part of the reporting on the school staff census. This information helps with the monitoring and development of ASF policy.

In 2018, a new field was added to the local authority management information system (SEEMiS) with the aim of recording the ‘funding source’ for each teaching post. Analysis of 2018 and 2019 data has revealed that the way in which teaching posts are funded has become increasingly complex.

As such, it is not always possible, or meaningful, to assign a single source of funding to a teaching post or teacher.

For example:

• Some posts may be funded jointly through core local authority budgets and ASF budgets. Where it is not possible to account for posts with a single source of funding then the source which funds the majority of the post should be returned in the school staff census.
• A specific example of this joint funding are cases where PEF has been used to fund the difference between a teacher’s substantive post and their promoted post (e.g. where a teacher has taken on additional responsibility for ASF related work).
• ASF funding may also be being used indirectly. For example, PEF may be used to allow a school to recruit additional probationer teachers which, in turn, enables existing staff (who are core funded) to undertake PEF related work.
• The innovative nature of ASF work means that it is challenging the commonly held definition of what a teaching post entails; and this may vary between local authorities.

In addition, there are other factors that may affect the reliability of the data on the funding source for teaching posts collected through the school staff census:

• Unlike the majority of school staff data which is also used operationally by schools and local authorities, data on the funding source for teaching posts is generally only recorded on SEEMiS for the purpose of the school staff census. Therefore, any anomalies with these figures would not necessarily be identified in the usual course of business, as would be the case for other aspects of the school staff census data.
• The increasingly diverse models of school education provision may also mean that schools and local authorities take different approaches to the recording of similar situations.

Therefore, all of these factors have implications for the interpretation and use of the information collected on the funding source of teaching posts. Even where it is appropriate to measure the teacher FTE funded through ASF, the factors described above may result in an over count in some circumstances and an undercount in others. Therefore, the number of FTE teachers funded through ASF is an estimate based on the data recorded and submitted by local authorities.

Taking all of this into account, using the information collected as part of the 2025 school staff census, it is estimated that 585 FTE teachers were funded through ASF, lower than 674 FTE in 2024 and 873 FTE in 2023.

Pupils and classes

Scope and timing

The pupil census covers all publicly funded schools in Scotland (local authority and grant-aided). Where a school has more than one department, for example a secondary school with a primary department, these are counted as separate schools.

As of September 2025, there was one grant-aided mainstream school, with primary and secondary departments, and six grant-aided special schools. These schools are included in national totals but are identified separately in the local authority level tables. In publications prior to 2003 they were included within the local authority of their location.

Pupils included in this census are those recorded by the school as being “on the roll of the school” (‘status 01’ in the pupil census data specification). Schools have only been included in school counts where they have at least one pupil on the school roll meeting this definition.

The data gathered in the pupil census is drawn from management information held by schools and local authorities for the purposes of administering education. The information published is therefore a reflection of the information provided by school staff and pupils’ parents/guardians.

Primary schools

Children in Scotland usually start school between 4 ½ and 5 ½ years old.

A class is a group of pupils normally supervised by one teacher. However, when a class is large and cannot be split, for instance an additional classroom is not available, team teaching may be used. Team teaching is when two (or more) teachers are present in the class at all times. When this occurs, the pupil teacher ratio will not exceed maximum class size regulations.

Maximum class sizes in primary schools are as follows:

• 25 for pupils in P1
• 30 for single stage class P2 or P3
• 33 for single stage class P4-P7
• 25 for composite stage class

A composite class is a class of pupils from two or more stages. Class sizes for P1, P2 and P3 are set out in the Education (Lower Primary Class Sizes) (Scotland) Regulations 1999 (as amended 2010).

Classes may exceed these maximums due to the presence of one or more ‘excepted pupils’. In class size legislation these are defined as:

• Children whose record of additional support needs (ASN) specifies that they should be educated at the school concerned, and who are placed in the school outside a normal placing round
• Children initially refused a place at a school, but subsequently on appeal offered a place outside a normal placing round or because the education authority recognise that an error was made in implementing their placing arrangements for the school
• Children who cannot gain a place at any other suitable school within a reasonable distance of their home because they moved into the area outside a normal placing round
• Children who are pupils at special schools, but who receive part of their education at a mainstream school
• Children with ASN who are normally educated in a special unit in a mainstream school, but who receive part of their lessons in a non-special class

Class size calculations

All class size calculations treat a two-teacher class as two classes with half the pupils in each. Total average class size is calculated by dividing the number of pupils by the number of classes. Average class size for pupils in a particular stage (or range of stages) uses the average class size experienced by pupils, which takes into account the number of pupils experiencing each class size.

Examples of how the class size figures in this bulletin were calculated are provided below:

P1-P3 average class sizes

The P1-P3 average class size statistics describe the size of classes that pupils experience. The methodology used is described below:

1. Effective class size - each class containing any P1, P2 or P3 pupils and two teachers present at all times is assigned an “effective class size” that is half the size of the actual class.
2. Weight each class by its size - for each class multiply the number of P1-P3 pupils in each class by the effective class size.
3. Total pupils and weighted classes - sum all P1, P2 and P3 pupils across all classes and sum weighted classes.
4. Average class size - divide the total weighted classes by total P1, P2 and P3 pupils.

 Example:

				Step 1:	Step 2:
Class	Count of P1-P3 pupils	Total pupils	Count of teachers	Effective class size	Weighted class
P1a	25	25	1	25	625
P1b	15	15	1	15	225
P3	30	30	2	15	450
P3/4	5	25	1	25	125
Step 3:	75				1,425
		Step 4:	Average class size		19

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This method produces a different value to the simple average of pupils per class (i.e. dividing the number of pupils by the number of classes). In the example above, not weighting the classes would give an average class size of 75 pupils ÷ 5 classes = 15.

Weighting the classes gives a better representation of the class sizes experienced by pupils as it shows the average class size per pupil. The simple average method shows the average number of pupils per class.

Percentage of P1-P3 pupils in classes of 18 or fewer

P1-P3 pupils in classes of 18 or fewer includes two teacher classes with 36 or fewer pupils and composite classes.

The percentage of all P1-P3 pupils in such classes is calculated as described below:

1. Effective class size - each class containing any P1, P2 or P3 pupils and two teachers present at all times is assigned an “effective class size” that is half the size of the actual class. This is the same as step 1 above.
2. Sum the total number of P1, P2 and P3 pupils in classes with an effective size of 18 or fewer, then divide this by the total number of P1, P2 and P3 pupils, then multiply by 100.

Using data from the table above: (15+30)/(25+15+30+5)*100 = 60%.

Secondary schools

Pupils in Scotland usually begin attending secondary school between 11½ and 12½ years old. These schools have six stages. However, pupils can leave school from the age of 16.

Class size data is not collected for secondary schools due to the model of delivery of secondary education and class sizes vary widely across subjects and between year groups.

Special schools

Most children with additional support needs are educated in mainstream schools but some with complex or specific needs are educated in special schools. These schools cover primary and secondary education. Some authorities do not have special schools and may fund places in neighbouring authorities for their pupils.

Statistics for the special school sector are compiled from schools formally designated as special schools in the Scottish Government’s School Establishment collection. There is not always a clear distinction between special schools and special units or classes within a mainstream school. This should be kept in mind when analysing the statistics.

Prior to 2018, special schools with no on roll pupils, or where only pupils from other schools attended, were included in school counts in this publication. From 2018, these schools have been excluded from the count of schools. Figures for years prior to 2018 have not been revised to exclude these schools. This methodological change accounts for the large decrease in the number of special schools between 2017 and 2018.

Pupils attending special schools are generally between the ages of two and 18 years old.

Pupils with additional support needs

The pupil census collects information on the number of pupils who require additional support to access education (and the reason they need this support), not the number of pupils who have been diagnosed with specific needs.

The Education (Additional Support for Learning) Scotland Act 2004 (as amended) states that a child or young person has an additional support need where they need additional support in order to overcome barriers and benefit from school education. The Act also states that education authorities must have arrangements in place to identify pupils with additional support needs (ASN) and from among them, those who may require a specific support plan. Education authorities must also be able to identify the reason(s) that additional support is needed.

In 2010, the way in which ASN information was collected changed and for the first-time information on reasons for support and nature of support was collected separately for each type of additional support need (CSP, IEP, disability, other). In previous years, while information on reasons and nature of support was collected, it was not linked to specific need types. Since 2012, six extra categories of reasons for support (communication support needs, young carer, bereavement, substance misuse, family issues and risk of exclusion) have been introduced.

The number of pupils identified with additional support needs (ASN) has increased markedly since 2009 and there continues to be year on year increases. The increase in pupil numbers is partly driven by increased awareness and identification of additional support needs, but also by a change in how ASN statistics were gathered in 2010, to ensure that these record any type of additional support provided to pupils. This should be borne in mind when using and interpreting these statistics.

The pupil census collects information on pupils who are assessed or declared disabled or have one of the following need types:

• Individualised Educational Programme (IEP) is a tailored, individualised plan or programme of support which is expected to last up to a year. Learning targets within the plan are usually of multiple months or termly duration and this plan is reviewed. This plan may also be known as an additional support plan, or other similar name. The statutory criteria and content for an IEP can be found in the Supporting Children's Learning Code of Practice.
• Co-ordinated Support Plans (CSPs) are statutory education plans prepared by local authorities to identify, and ensure provision of, services for children and young people with complex or multiple additional support needs. Targets should be limited in number and focus on key priorities of learning. They should be simple, clearly expressed and measurable. The statutory criteria and content for a CSP can be found in the Supporting Children's Learning Code of Practice.
• Child’s plans are single or multi agency plans based on an assessment guided by the Getting it Right for every Child National Practice Model.

This bulletin also includes information on ‘other’ types of support. ‘Other’ type refers to additional support needs which have been identified and are being supported but which do not fall within the subcategories of need collected in the pupil census. These may be needs which are of short-term duration, or which do not need significant differentiation of learning and teaching to overcome barriers to learning.

Pupil ethnicity and national identity

The categories used to collect ethnicity and national identity data changed in the 2011 pupil census to align with the categories used in the 2011 population census. This should be kept in mind when making comparisons with information collected in previous years.

Pupils and parents/guardians are given the option of not disclosing a pupil’s ethnicity and in such cases, pupils are recorded as ‘not disclosed’. Prior to 2019, figures in this bulletin combined the ‘not disclosed’ category with the ‘not known’ category. However, these are split out from 2019 onwards.

Information on country of birth and nationality are not collected.

English as an Additional Language

The pupil census collects information on a pupil’s level of English in addition to information on whether a pupil has ‘English as an Additional Language’ (EAL) as a reason for having an additional support need (ASN).

Reconciliation of these two sets of information has identified widespread discrepancies between them, including pupils reported with low levels of English but without EAL as a reason for ASN.

Looked after children

The definitive source for statistical information in relation to the number and characteristics of looked after children (LAC) is the Scottish Government 'Children Looked After Survey’ (CLAS). The information in the CLAS is provided by local authority social work services departments.

Up until 2016, statistics on children looked after by the local authority as reported by schools were published in the pupil census supplementary tables. These figures are no longer published due to concerns about the data quality.

Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation

Information on pupil deprivation status is obtained by linking the information gathered in the pupil census to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). This is done using pupils’ postcodes.

No SIMD data is available for a small proportion of pupils recorded in the census. This is usually because no postcode has been provided, or the provided postcode is invalid.

These statistics use the most recent SIMD version available at the time of the pupil census. Therefore, statistics from the 2022 pupil census onward use SIMD 2020.

Urban/rural classifications

The urban/rural classifications in pupil census supplementary statistics are based on the 2022 urban rural classification.

Denominational schools

For the purposes of the information in the pupil census supplementary statistics denominational schools have been restricted to those schools where a specific denomination is named. Multi- and inter-denominational schools have therefore been grouped with non-denominational schools.

Corrections

There are no scheduled revisions to these statistics. It is not always feasible to correct all instances of incorrect statistics across all historical publications and releases. However, all statistics shown in new publication bulletins will be correct at the time of release, including statistics for previous years. The statistics in the latest published edition of the bulletin therefore supersede all previous statistics.

Costs

Pupil census and school staff census

This information is collected from the management information systems of schools. The estimated cost to local authorities of extracting and validating this information is around £130,000 based on the 2015 collection.

Rounding and symbols

All full time equivalent (FTE) statistics in this publication have been rounded to the nearest whole number.

Differences and totals are calculated from unrounded data and therefore may not match the difference or total calculable from the rounded data shown. The exception to this is calculations on the difference in PTR over time, such as used in the commentary for Figure 4, which are based on the difference after rounding the PTR to one decimal place.

The following symbols are used:

x = not available

low = a figure close to, but not a real, zero

z = not applicable

c= value suppressed to protect against the risk of disclosure of personal information