Summary statistics for schools in Scotland no. 9: 2018 edition

Chapter 3: School Teachers

51,138 teachers in publicly funded schools compared to 50,592 in 2017

13.6 pupil teacher ratio in local authority schools

87% of teachers on the 2017/18 probationer induction scheme were in employment in September 2018

Table 3.1: Teachers (Full Time Equivalents)

Table 3.2 shows that total teacher numbers (including primary, secondary, special and centrally employed teachers) across all publicly funded schools in Scotland has risen consistently from 2014 to 2018. Although the total FTE for 2018 has increased since 2017, this is not the case for each local authority. In twenty-two local authorities the number of teachers has either been maintained or increased, with the largest increase being 5 per cent in Glasgow City. Ten local authorities saw a decrease this year, with the largest decrease being 2 per cent in Dumfries & Galloway.

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

(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 2012 and 2014 from 13.5 pupils per teacher to 13.7. It was then stable between 2014 and 2016 and has improved in the last two years, falling to 13.6 pupils per teacher.

The Attainment Scotland Fund is an initiative to tackle the poverty related attainment gap. At the time of the census in September 2018, 962 FTE teachers were funded through this initiative compared to 666 FTE in September 2017. The PTR for all local authorities excluding these teachers is 13.8 , the same as September 2017.

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

(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 2018 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

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 85% of headteachers. In secondary schools 64% of teachers are female compared to only 43% of headteachers. However the number does increase in special schools, where 76% of all teachers are female compared to 81% 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 2018 than in 2004.

The proportion of teachers who had temporary contracts (including probationers) was 16.4 per cent (compared with 16.7 per cent last year). 17.1 per cent of teachers were working part-time, with the rate higher amongst females (19.6 per cent) than males (9.3 per cent).

Table 3.4: Teacher characteristics

(1) Figures for percentage of full time equivalents (FTE) in primary schools and total figures for teacher with employment type as temporary (non-induction) and probationer induction scheme were amended in January 2019. See background notes changes to teacher data for more details.

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 has increased from 75 per cent in 2012 but has decreased from 88 per cent in 2017 to 87 per cent in 2018.

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

(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 the percentage of probationers in publicly funded permanent or temporary posts in each year following their probation year. It shows that whilst these percentages have increased for the first year following probation, more recent cohorts have subsequently seen a reduction in those in permanent or temporary publicly funded posts. For example, the 2011/12 cohort had 75 cent of the cohort present in the September 2012 census but 2 years later this had risen to 79 per cent by September.  The 2015/16 cohort had 87% of the cohort present in the September 2016 census but this has reduced to 83% by 2018.

Table 3.6: Post-probationers in employment in a publicly funded school in Scotland