Schools in Scotland - summary statistics: 2020

Headline statistics from the annual pupil and school staff censuses and early learning and childcare provision.


Chapter 2: Overview

90,126 registrations in 2,587 early learning & childcare centres (ELC)

702,197 pupils in 2,476 schools

53,400 teachers (full-time equivalent, including ELC)

13.3 pupil teacher ratio in schools

The overall number of pupils and teachers both increased in 2020. The pupil teacher ratio (PTR) in schools, which gives a measure of the size of the teaching workforce relative to the pupil population, decreased to 13.3.

Table 2.1: Schools, pupils, teachers and PTR
2014 2015(1) 2016 2017 2018(6) 2019 2020
Schools
ELC(2) 2,449 2,492 2,514 2,532 2,544 2,576 2,587
Primary 2,048 2,039 2,031 2,019 2,012 2,004 2,005
Secondary 362 361 359 360 357 358 357
Special 145 144 141 135 114 114 114
Pupils
ELC(2) 101,463 97,262 96,961 95,893 96,549 96,375 90,126
Primary 385,212 391,148 396,697 400,312 400,276 398,794 393,957
Secondary 284,762 281,939 280,983 281,993 286,152 292,063 300,954
Special(3) 6,940 6,871 6,668 6,654 6,823 7,132 7,286
Total (excluding ELC)(3) 676,914 679,958 684,348 688,959 693,251 697,989 702,197
Teachers
ELC(2) 1,200 1,038 985 921 821 798 729
School based 48,335 48,395 48,746 49,463 50,099 50,477 51,663
Primary 22,960 23,425 23,920 24,477 24,899 25,027 25,651
Secondary 23,401 23,059 22,957 23,150 23,317 23,522 24,077
Special 1,974 1,911 1,869 1,836 1,883 1,927 1,934
Centrally employed (school) 1,186 1,283 1,239 1,129 1,039 972 1,009
Total school (excluding ELC) 49,521 49,679 49,985 50,592 51,138 51,449 52,672
Total (including ELC) 50,720 50,717 50,970 51,513 51,959 52,247 53,400
Pupil Teacher Ratios
Publicly funded schools(4) 13.7 13.7 13.7 13.6 13.6 13.6 13.3
Total based in schools(5) 14.0 14.0 14.0 13.9 13.8 13.8 13.6
Primary 16.8 16.7 16.6 16.4 16.1 15.9 15.4
Secondary 12.2 12.2 12.2 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5
Special 3.5 3.6 3.6 3.6 3.6 3.7 3.8

(1) The pupil teacher ratio for Total based in schools in 2015 was amended in October 2017. See background notes for details.

(2) ELC centre count includes local authority and partnership centres, and ELC teacher figures include ELC home visiting.

(3) Special and total pupil count were updated for 2011-2016 in October 2017. See background notes for details.

(4) Includes all school based and centrally employed teachers. Includes grant-aided pupils and teachers.

(5) Excludes centrally employed teachers.

(6) Prior to 2018, special schools with no pupils or where no pupils were on roll but pupils from other schools attended were included in school counts in this table. From 2018, they have been excluded.

The numbers of teachers increased across all sectors except early learning & childcare. The decrease in primary pupils combined with the increase in primary teachers meant there were fewer pupils per teacher and consequently the primary PTR decreased to 15.4. This is the lowest ever PTR for primary schools. In secondary schools the number of pupils grew at a faster rate than the number of teachers meaning there were more pupils per teacher, so the secondary PTR increased to 12.5. This is the highest PTR in secondary schools since 2004, when the PTR was 12.7. (Statistics pre-2014 are available from the supplementary statistics and historical time series).

52,672 teachers in schools compared to 51,449 in 2019 (excludes ELC)

13.3 pupil teacher ratio in local authority schools

85% of teachers on the 2019/20 Teacher Induction Scheme were in employment the following school year

Contact

Email: school.stats@gov.scot

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