Official figures have confirmed that a total of 53,475 teachers are now working in Scotland's schools. Although this is an increase on the figure from last year, it is significantly short of several distinct pledges from the SNP and Scottish Government.
Education writer and former teacher James McEnaney explores the origin on those pledges
Why is the Scottish Government under pressure over teacher numbers?
When the SNP first took office in 2007, there were just over 55,000 teachers in Scotland. The total has been lower in every single subsequent year.
Overall teacher numbers dipped below 51,000 in 2014, and though they have since by several thousand, they have never returned to pre-SNP levels.
This would have been a problem under normal circumstances, but teacher numbers plummeted just as Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) – a new approach that made greater demands on the profession than ever before – was being introduced, and while the much-discussed surge in pupils with additional support needs was already well established. Precisely when Scotland needed many more teachers, it lost thousands of them, and many of those were from the most experienced end of the profession.
In the run up to the 2021 Holyrood election, the SNP recognised this problem and made two explicit pledges related to the number of teachers working in Scotland’s schools: to reduce class contact time by ninety minutes per week for all teachers; and to employ an additional 3,500 teachers and classroom assistants.
Following their election victory and the formation of another SNP-led administration, the 2021 Programme for Government went even further, promising 3,500 teachers and a further 500 classroom assistants.
However, the 2024 statistics showed that teacher numbers had fallen for the third year in a row. The Scottish Government has sought to reverse this trend by putting up almost £150million in funding that it threatened to withhold if the figures continued to slide. This led to an acrimonious face off that was ultimately ended with an apparent commitment to “working together to restore teacher numbers to 2023 levels next year.”
The SNP has therefore made a number of distinct, measurable commitments around teacher numbers, all of which are to be assessed using the now published 2025 census data, as this is the final publication of the current parliament.
How many teachers did the government need to meet its various targets?
Return to 2023 levels
Official figures show that in 2023, there were a total of 54,033 teachers in Scotland’s schools. Last year, that figure had fallen by 620 to 53,412.
On the face of it this pledge is simple: in order to meet its target, the Scottish Government needed teacher overall numbers to return to 54,033 in 2025.
But it was never quite that simple. In the letter confirming the agreement between the Scottish Government and COSLA, a list of potential exemptions are provided that might excuse individual councils that failed to hire more teachers.
Earlier this year The Herald approached all 32 local authorities in Scotland, asking them to confirm if they planned to restore teacher numbers for their council to the number recorded in 2023: the responses were a long way from a ringing endorsement of government policy and suggested that a significant number might not adhere to the government’s position.
Reduce class contact time by 90 mins per week
In May 2024, The Scottish Government published an independent workforce modelling report that it had commissioned from London-based consultancy WPI Economics. It contains a range of data including estimates for the total number of teachers required to achieve particular outcomes.
The government’s own analysis – albeit using a number of “simplifications” – shows that teacher numbers for the coming year will have to reach 55,400 in order for this manifesto commitment to be delivered.
An additional option is also provided, with ministers advised that the target could be achieved with 53,900 teachers if it were delayed under 2028.
These assumptions, however, are based on an aggregated ‘pupil teacher ratio’ which does not differentiate between primary and secondary schools. The body representing Scotland’s councils says that this effectively treats the country as a single, theoretical unit – an approach that is entirely disconnected from the reality of staffing real-world schools across a geographically diverse country. COSLA argues that that actual costs of implementing this policy are much higher than the government suggests.
Achieve original manifesto and policy pledge
The 2024 WPI Economics report also provides a specific estimate of the numbers required to ensure that “teacher stocks rise in line with the [Scottish Government] commitment” – a reference to the pledge to add 3,500 teachers over the course of the current parliament.
This figure is given as 56,400.
However, when the SNP made its promise on teacher numbers in the 2021 election manifesto, the total stood at 53,400, meaning that 500 posts remain unaccounted for in the officially presented figures.
As a result, it appears that overall teacher numbers in the 2025 census actually had to reach 56,900 for the Scottish Government to have delivered on its commitment.
Read more
- Data shows SNP fails to deliver on teacher numbers promises
- Will the SNP really restore teacher numbers in 2025?
- How schools are helping pupils 'find their way in different ways'
Has the Scottish Government fulfilled its pledges around teacher numbers?
No.
According to the official data from the 2025 teacher census, the Scottish Government has failed to hit any of its pledges around teacher numbers.
The total for teachers across Scotland’s schools now stands at 53,475. This is small increase on the 2024 figure, but remains 558 short of the target to restore teaching posts to 2023 levels. Only one third of councils now report teacher numbers equal to or exceeding their figures from two years ago.
Official analysis suggests that the reduction in class contact time is now impossible as the teaching pool has not been increased to the required level. This issue is currently the subject of an industrial action ballot by Scotland’s teaching unions.
The overall total is also more than 2,500 teachers short of the commitments in the SNP manifesto and the 2021 Programme for Government.
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