Section 3: School suitability

School suitability is a measure of whether a school is fit for delivering the education curriculum. It considers whether the design and layout support the school's function, whether there is sufficient space to accommodate pre-school, school, and after-school activities and services, and whether the building is inclusive and accessible. It also assesses the school's capacity to be adapted to changing needs, including changes in pupil numbers and patterns of use, advances in technology, changes in how education is delivered, and the impacts of climate change.

The following ratings are used to measure school suitability:

1. Good – Performing well and operating effectively
2. Satisfactory – Performing well but with minor problems
3. Poor – Showing major problems and/or not operating optimally
4. Bad – Does not support the delivery of services to children and communities

A suitability rating may not be reported for special schools where attendance is solely by pupils who are enrolled at a different school which has been separately reported in the survey. Ratings may also not be available for newly built schools or schools based in buildings outwith the school estate such as hospitals. From 2024 schools where no condition or suitability rating would be expected have been excluded from the survey.

Further details on school suitability ratings are available in the Background Notes while the full set of statistics from 2010 are available in the supplementary tables

Figure 4: Number of schools with poor or bad suitability ratings has increased slightly since last year

The number of schools by suitability rating from 2010 to 2026.

The number of schools with poor or bad suitability ratings increased by 26 between 2025 to 2026. However, the longer-term trend remains positive, with the number of schools with poor or bad suitability ratings more than halving from 651 (24.8%) in 2010 to 289 (11.9%) in 2026, a reduction of 12.9 percentage points.

Similarly, while the number of schools with good or satisfactory suitability ratings decreased by 35 between 2025 and 2026, the overall trend since 2010 has been one of improvement, with the number in this category increasing from 1,974 (75.2%) in 2010 to 2,148 (88.1%) in 2026, an increase of 12.9 percentage points.

The number of schools with good suitability ratings increased from 992 in 2025 to 1,013 in 2026, which continues the long-term trend observed since 2010.

Figure 5: Number of pupils in schools with a poor or bad suitability rating has risen slightly since last year

The number of pupils on roll by school suitability rating from 2010 to 2026.

The number of pupils in schools with poor or bad suitability ratings increased by 5,712 between 2025 and 2026. However, the longer-term trend remains positive, with the number of pupils in schools with poor or bad suitability ratings more than halving from 154,783 (23.4%) in 2010 to 76,943 (11.1%) in 2026, a reduction of 12.3 percentage points.

Similarly, while the number of pupils in schools with good or satisfactory suitability ratings decreased by 12,142 between 2025 and 2026, the overall trend since 2010 has been one of improvement, with the number in this category increasing from 506,189 (76.6%) in 2010 to 617,557 (88.9%) in 2026, an increase of 12.3 percentage points.