A SHORTAGE of special psychologists in schools is threatening the education of pupils with conditions such as autism, campaigners have said.

The warning comes after figures showed the number of educational psychologists has dropped by 11 per cent since 2009 from 443 full time equivalent posts to 394, with a quarter of the profession set to retire in the next four years.

Meanwhile, the number of children identified as having additional support needs has increased significantly from 69,587 in 2012 to 140,542 in 2014.

Critics say the shortage has been exacerbated by a Scottish Government decision in 2012 to remove bursary support for trainee educational psychologists which means students have to find around £50,000 for two years of fees, travel and living expenses leading to a 70 per cent drop in applicants.

Sophie Pilgrim, a spokeswoman for the Scottish Children's Services Coalition (SCSC), said unless urgent action was taken the service was heading for a crisis.

She said: "Due to the shortage, many of those who require the services of educational psychologists the most are subject to a postcode lottery, with services inconsistent and varied across Scotland.

"Increased demand for psychological services, with a dramatic escalation in those identified with additional support needs, exists at a time when the ratio of educational psychologists to the population is worse than it has been for more than a decade.

"We are sitting on a ticking time bomb of increased demand and we cannot allow those who require vital psychology services to be left confined to the fringes simply due to a lack of personnel to address this need."

The SCSC called on the Scottish Government to intervene to give councils clear guidance on how many educational psychologists were required per head of population. They also want greater financial support for those looking to enter the profession.

The call has been backed by Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Jim Hume who also urged ministers to act to address the shortage.

Mr Hume said: "We know the number of children with additional support needs has doubled to over 140,000 since 2010, but, despite this, the educational psychologist workforce has not increased in tandem.

"We want to build a fairer society which creates opportunity for all and I am concerned the SNP has taken its eye off the ball in removing the bursary paid to each trainee, whilst the loan facility available to them remains limited. SNP ministers must set out what they are going to do to address this shortage."

Jenny Marra, Labour MSP for North East Scotland added: "The government has been in place for eight years, but it has let the workforce age to the point at which we are about to lose most of our qualified educational psychologists, which is extremely worrying."

However, Dr Alasdair Allan, the Learning Minister, said that although there had been a reduction in the number of people applying for educational psychology courses there had not been a reduction in the number of people being trained.

He added: "It remains, rightly, for local authorities to decide on the number of educational psychologists they employ and on the prioritisation and delivery of educational psychologist's services.

"The decision to reduce funding of students on educational psychology courses was made as part of the 2011 spending review to bring it in to line with standard postgraduate support."