Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland 2022

This release provides the latest information on pupils, teachers and the early learning and childcare (ELC) sector.

The 2022 edition of Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland shows that teacher numbers decreased by 92 full-time equivalents (FTE) to 54,193 FTE, compared to the previous year. Pupil numbers during this time increased by 1,151. However, these changes were relatively small so the pupil teacher ratio (PTR), which gives a measure of the size of the teaching workforce relative to the pupil population, remained at 13.2.

Teacher numbers increased in most sectors (secondary, special schools, centrally employed and ELC) but the decrease in the primary sector was large enough to result in a reduction in teacher FTE overall. This represents the first decrease in overall teacher numbers after rises in each year from 2016 to 2021.

The proportion of Teacher Induction Scheme probationers that secured a (permanent or temporary) teaching post in a Scottish school in the year following their probation was 70%, a decrease of 10 percentage points from 2021 (80%).

The overall average class size in primary schools was 23.3, up from 23.2 in 2021.

The number of teachers, graduate staff and staff working towards graduate level qualifications in funded ELC reached 5,676 FTE in 2022 – the highest figure since the Scottish Government started collecting graduate data in the ELC census in 2017 – and an increase of 289 FTE from 2021.

Child registrations for funded early learning and childcare increased this year to reach 92,615, up from 91,603 in 2021. The estimated uptake rate for ages three and four increased from 97% in 2021 to 99% in 2022. The proportion of two year-olds registered for funded ELC also increased, reaching 14% in 2022. The percentage of those eligible to defer who did so also increased, from 24% in 2021 to 27% in 2022.

Background

Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland brings together a wide range of information on school education and early learning and childcare provision in Scotland and covers: pupils, teachers and early learning and childcare.

Supplementary tables from the school staff census and the pupil census will be published in March 2023.

Additional Early Learning and Childcare Tables were published today.

A dashboard with further breakdowns of post-probationer teacher statistics was published today.

Further information on school statistics within Scotland is available online.

Official statistics are produced in accordance with professional standards.