« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
1 Introduction
1.1 This report contains the latest data on teachers and support staff in publicly funded schools in Scotland, mainly derived from the annual staff census which took place in September 2008.
1.2 Information from the census is used to inform policy making, particularly in modelling the teacher workforce to ensure adequate future supply of newly trained teachers, and for monitoring current policies and equality issues.
1.3 Unless clearly stated as headcount, figures are always full-time equivalent.
2 Totals
2.1 The total number of teachers based in pre-school, primary, secondary and special schools, or visiting specialists, was 53,597, which is 962 less than in 2007.
2.2 Falling pupil rolls meant that the pupil teacher ratio in schools remained the same as in 2007 at 13.1.
2.3 There were a further 22,589 school based staff and 2,936 centrally employed support staff identified in the staff census as providing support to the education system.
3 Main Points
3.1 The following numbers will be partly affected by local authorities changing whether they record visiting specialists as centrally employed or in the schools where they teach.
3.2 There were 23,171 teachers in primary schools (23,540 in 2007), giving a pupil teacher ratio of 16.0 (the same as in 2007). Ninety-two per cent of teachers were female, the same as in 2007.
3.3 There were 25,767 teachers in secondary schools (26,251 in 2007), giving a pupil teacher ratio of 11.8 (the same as in 2007). Sixty per cent of teachers were female, the same as in 2007.
3.4 There were 2,048 teachers in special schools (2,036 in 2007), giving a pupil teacher ratio of 3.3 (3.3 in 2007). Eighty-one per cent of teachers were female, the same as in 2007.
3.5 There were a further 939 teachers reported as centrally employed (1,061 in 2007). Some of this change may be due to changes in reporting practices.
3.6 There were 1,672 teachers in pre-school in the January 2008 census.
3.7 The average (mean) age of primary, secondary and special school teachers again fell slightly, from 43.4 to 43.2. There was an increase in the proportion of teachers aged under 40 (38 per cent compared to 37 per cent in 2007) and in those aged 55 or over (20 per cent compared to 19 per cent in 2007). The age profile shows a major peak at age 55, and increasing numbers in the late twenties.
3.8 The proportion of teachers who were male has again remained fairly stable at 24.2 per cent. The proportion amongst younger teachers has risen in recent years. In promoted posts the proportion who were male was 33 per cent (down from 34 per cent in 2007), with the figure being 28 per cent for head teachers and deputes (down from 29 per cent in 2007).
3.9 In primary schools there were 145 teachers whose main subject was physical education, 96 whose main subject was music and 79 whose main subject was art & design. There were 571 who reported learning support as their main subject, and 266 gave additional support needs related subjects.
3.10 In secondary schools, the largest numbers of teachers were in English (3,065) and maths (2,870). Technical education was the subject with the highest proportion of male teachers (86 per cent), with home economics being nearly all female teachers. Music and drama teachers had the youngest average age, with additional support needs teachers being on average the oldest.
3.11 Where ethnic background data was given (in 98 per cent of cases), 2.4 per cent of teachers were from non- UK, white backgrounds, and 1.5 per cent from other minority ethnic groups. In promoted posts the proportion was 1.4 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively, though the minority ethnic group teachers have not, on average, been in the workforce for as long as white- UK teachers.
3.12 There were 114 teachers currently teaching Gaelic language (up from 109 in 2007), 241 providing Gaelic medium education (244 in 2007), and 402 teachers who reported being able to teach through the medium of Gaelic (the same as in 2007).
3.13 There were 3,167 teachers in the probation induction scheme (3,558 in 2007), of which 1,822 were in primary schools and 1,345 were in secondary schools.
3.14 There were 3,100 students who graduated from initial teacher training in 2008, a 17 per cent decrease compared to 3,755 in 2007. In primary, the proportion graduating through PGCE/ PGDE increased from 31 per cent in 1998 to 71 per cent in 2007 and to 72 per cent in 2008.
« Previous | Contents | Next »