Pupil projections and implications for teacher resourcing needs: education workforce modelling and research

3. International comparison

This section provides a comparative analysis of two key metrics of the education system: PTRs and class contact time, comparing Scotland with the rest of the UK and international counterparts. This evidence review provides helpful context for the scenario analysis, which follows later in this report.

Pupil-teacher ratios: Scotland in perspective

Scotland has consistently had a significantly lower overall PTR than the rest of the UK over the last eight years. The overall PTR in Scotland is currently 13.2, the lowest it has been since 2009. This is also the lowest in the UK, compared with PTRs of 18 in England, 18.4 in Wales and 17.4 in Northern Ireland.^[5]

Throughout the period, Scotland's PTR has always been at least 3.6 pupils per teacher lower than that of the other nations.

Source: Pupil-teacher ratios (PTRs), Education and training statistics for the UK

It is worth noting that the PTR is typically higher for primary than for secondary, which is the case for all nations. Across all school types, Scotland has the lowest PTR. The PTR for primary schools in Scotland is 15.3 in 2022^[6], compared with between 20.7 and 21 for other nations, while the PTR for secondary schools is 12.4 for Scotland, compared with a range of 15.4 to 16.8 for its UK counterparts.

Source: Pupil-teacher ratios (PTRs), Education and training statistics for the UK

In an international context, the latest OECD data^[7] used to compare PTRs internationally includes teachers who were directly involved in teaching students only. Therefore, to enable the cross-country comparisons that follow, we have adjusted Scotland's 2021/22 PTRs to exclude the number of FTE headteachers not teaching in class. We have not been able to source data on the teaching hours of headteachers in Scotland. However, a report published by the Department for Education^[8] suggests that in 2010 primary headteachers in England spent 7.3% of their time teaching, compared with 1.9% for secondary headteachers. Assuming these figures are relevant for Scotland, after adjustment, Scotland's primary school PTR of 16.2 in 2021 is slightly higher than the OECD average of 14.6, and higher than all G7 countries except France (17.9) and Canada (16.2). On the other hand, Scotland's adjusted secondary school PTR of 12.5 is lower than the OECD average of 13.3 but roughly middle of the pack of the G7 countries.

Source: Ratio of students to teaching staff by type of institutions, Public educational institutions, OECD

Source: Ratio of students to teaching staff by type of institutions, Public educational institutions, OECD

Class contact time: Scotland in perspective

Very recent information about teacher class contact times is not available for the UK nations other than Scotland. The 2019 Teacher Workload Survey^[9] indicated that within England, teachers and middle leaders (salaried staff members who take on extra responsibilities) spent an average of 21.3 hours teaching per week in 2019, slightly lower than 21.6 hours in 2016. For primary teachers and middle leaders, average weekly hours were 22.9, whilst secondary average hours were 19.9.

The 2021 National Education Workforce Survey in Wales^[10] suggests full-time school teachers (covering all stages) on average were teaching for 23.3 hours. Meanwhile, albeit not directly comparable, in Northern Ireland, the maximum statutory teaching time is 25 hours for primary and 23.5 hours for post-primary (as of 2021).^[11]

According to the OECD data for 2020^[12], the statutory net teaching hours per year in Scotland were 855, regardless of whether primary or secondary levels are considered, whereas the typical OECD pattern is for higher statutory teaching times in primary school compared to secondary levels.

Scotland’s statutory teaching times are higher than the OECD averages for upper secondary (684 hours) and lower secondary (711 hours) and slightly higher than the average for primary education (784 hours). They are also higher than the G7 countries except for the US and primary schools in France.

Source: Statutory net teaching time per school year, in hours (teachers), OECD

However, data on the actual average teaching hours per school year in Scotland have not been collected, and are likely to differ from the statutory levels. Comparing the actual teaching time in 2020 in the OECD database – albeit not comparing like with like – Scotland’s maximum statutory teaching time of 855 hours is somewhat lower than the 939 hours actually undertaken in England at primary level, but higher than the 794 hours actually undertaken at secondary level.

Source: Actual average teaching hours per school year (teachers in public institutions), OECD