Summary statistics for schools in Scotland no. 10: 2019 edition

Chapter 3: School teachers

51,449 teachers in schools compared to 51,138 in 2018 (excludes ELC)

13.6 pupil teacher ratio in local authority schools

84% of teachers on the 2018/19 Teacher Induction Scheme were in employment the following school year (September 2019)

Table 3.1: Teachers

Full Time Equivalents (FTE)

Local Authority	Primary School	Secondary School	Special School	Centrally employed	Total
Aberdeen City	870	722	35	48	1,675
Aberdeenshire	1,405	1,212	43	36	2,696
Angus	586	560	#	26	1,172
Argyll and Bute	417	402	8	7	834
City of Edinburgh	1,674	1,535	163	80	3,452
Clackmannanshire	272	221	24	3	520
Dumfries and Galloway	667	679	17	73	1,436
Dundee City	633	590	59	34	1,316
East Ayrshire	574	541	70	21	1,205
East Dunbartonshire	549	632	51	38	1,269
East Lothian	475	471	#	27	973
East Renfrewshire	597	677	29	3	1,306
Falkirk	776	775	72	6	1,629
Fife	1,785	1,574	85	86	3,530
Glasgow City	2,667	2,231	323	132	5,352
Highland	1,067	1,138	44	51	2,300
Inverclyde	331	358	40	1	730
Midlothian	467	416	29	29	941
Moray	431	405	#	30	866
Na h-Eileanan Siar	153	151	#	9	313
North Ayrshire	666	625	40	45	1,376
North Lanarkshire	1,714	1,597	227	52	3,590
Orkney Islands	118	125	#	8	251
Perth and Kinross	674	621	18	16	1,329
Renfrewshire	791	768	91	23	1,674
Scottish Borders	491	491	45	12	1,038
Shetland Islands	158	153	#	10	320
South Ayrshire	512	492	27	34	1,065
South Lanarkshire	1,628	1,562	149	2	3,341
Stirling	434	464	21	20	938
West Dunbartonshire	468	450	49	13	980
West Lothian	955	837	116	0	1,909
All local authorities	25,006	23,474	1,875	972	51,327
Grant aided	22	48	52	#	122
Scotland	25,027	23,522	1,927	972	51,449

Table 3.2 shows that total teacher numbers (including primary, secondary, special and centrally employed teachers) across all schools has risen consistently from 2014 to 2019. Although the total FTE for 2019 has increased since 2018, this was not the case for each local authority. In 19 local authorities the number of teachers has either been maintained or increased, with the largest increases of 3% in Edinburgh and West Dunbartonshire. Thirteen local authorities saw a decrease this year, with the largest decreases being 4% in Highland and Na h-Eileanan Siar.

Table 3.2: Teachers (all sectors excluding ELC)⁽¹⁾

Full Time Equivalents (FTE)

Local Authority	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Aberdeen City	1,606	1,623	1,632	1,603	1,624	1,636	1,675
Aberdeenshire	2,594	2,593	2,650	2,655	2,675	2,650	2,696
Angus	1,153	1,140	1,136	1,125	1,133	1,160	1,172
Argyll and Bute	859	866	844	841	825	861	834
City of Edinburgh	3,213	3,159	3,193	3,213	3,281	3,346	3,452
Clackmannanshire	493	495	490	528	513	512	520
Dumfries and Galloway	1,488	1,481	1,479	1,466	1,470	1,436	1,436
Dundee City	1,393	1,372	1,375	1,367	1,330	1,321	1,316
East Ayrshire	1,139	1,139	1,151	1,149	1,189	1,185	1,205
East Dunbartonshire	1,184	1,191	1,204	1,217	1,245	1,248	1,269
East Lothian	903	902	920	913	935	960	973
East Renfrewshire	1,207	1,201	1,213	1,227	1,265	1,277	1,306
Falkirk	1,568	1,578	1,581	1,605	1,620	1,634	1,629
Fife	3,507	3,469	3,476	3,494	3,498	3,503	3,530
Glasgow City	4,813	4,803	4,779	4,869	5,020	5,263	5,352
Highland	2,340	2,331	2,357	2,355	2,365	2,388	2,300
Inverclyde	733	725	734	735	738	745	730
Midlothian	832	847	866	873	892	930	941
Moray	877	881	874	848	856	868	866
Na h-Eileanan Siar	340	323	324	321	327	327	313
North Ayrshire	1,333	1,325	1,332	1,371	1,396	1,393	1,376
North Lanarkshire	3,503	3,452	3,406	3,474	3,502	3,545	3,590
Orkney Islands	250	254	255	260	253	250	251
Perth and Kinross	1,339	1,337	1,337	1,329	1,329	1,346	1,329
Renfrewshire	1,582	1,576	1,596	1,633	1,656	1,676	1,674
Scottish Borders	1,098	1,063	1,049	1,052	1,055	1,070	1,038
Shetland Islands	332	322	323	318	323	322	320
South Ayrshire	1,082	1,062	1,063	1,043	1,056	1,048	1,065
South Lanarkshire	3,174	3,147	3,176	3,202	3,282	3,298	3,341
Stirling	934	932	921	942	925	934	938
West Dunbartonshire	909	911	921	928	961	956	980
West Lothian	1,868	1,868	1,880	1,899	1,924	1,924	1,909
All local authorities	49,645	49,368	49,538	49,858	50,464	51,012	51,327
Grant aided	145	153	141	127	127	126	122
Scotland	49,790	49,521	49,679	49,985	50,592	51,138	51,449

(1) Includes teachers based in schools and centrally employed teachers.

Table 3.3 shows pupil teacher ratios (PTRs) in schools, giving a measure of the size of the teaching workforce relative to the pupil population. The national PTR increased between 2013 and 2014 from 13.5 pupils per teacher to 13.7. It then decreased to 13.6 in 2017 and has remained stable for the last three years.

Across Scotland, 19 local authorities have decreased or maintained their PTR from 2018. Since 2013 West Dunbartonshire had the largest decrease in PTR of 0.8. The largest increase in PTR since 2013 was in Dundee City at 1.3.

Table 3.3: Pupil teacher ratio (PTR) (all sectors excluding ELC)⁽¹⁾

Pupils per teacher

Local Authority	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Aberdeen City	13.5	13.6	13.6	14.0	14.0	14.1	13.8
Aberdeenshire	13.3	13.5	13.3	13.4	13.3	13.5	13.3
Angus	13.1	13.3	13.2	13.3	13.3	13.1	13.0
Argyll and Bute	12.4	12.2	12.4	12.3	12.5	12.0	12.2
City of Edinburgh	14.3	14.9	14.9	15.1	15.1	15.1	14.9
Clackmannanshire	13.5	13.3	13.4	12.5	12.9	13.0	12.8
Dumfries and Galloway	12.7	12.7	12.7	12.7	12.8	13.1	13.1
Dundee City	12.6	12.9	13.0	13.2	13.7	13.8	13.9
East Ayrshire	14.0	14.0	13.9	13.9	13.3	13.5	13.4
East Dunbartonshire	13.6	13.6	13.6	13.5	13.4	13.6	13.5
East Lothian	15.1	15.2	15.1	15.4	15.2	15.1	15.1
East Renfrewshire	13.4	13.7	13.7	13.7	13.5	13.5	13.2
Falkirk	13.4	13.5	13.5	13.5	13.5	13.4	13.5
Fife	13.7	14.0	14.0	14.1	14.1	14.2	14.2
Glasgow City	13.6	13.6	13.8	13.8	13.5	13.1	13.0
Highland	13.2	13.2	13.1	13.1	13.0	12.9	13.5
Inverclyde	13.8	13.8	13.5	13.5	13.4	13.2	13.6
Midlothian	14.2	14.2	14.2	14.2	14.2	13.8	14.0
Moray	13.7	13.7	13.7	14.1	13.9	13.7	13.8
Na h-Eileanan Siar	10.1	10.4	10.3	10.5	10.3	10.2	10.6
North Ayrshire	13.7	13.7	13.6	13.3	13.1	13.1	13.1
North Lanarkshire	13.9	14.2	14.4	14.1	14.0	13.8	13.7
Orkney Islands	10.6	10.5	10.5	10.4	10.8	11.1	11.1
Perth and Kinross	13.1	13.3	13.3	13.6	13.5	13.3	13.6
Renfrewshire	14.8	14.7	14.6	14.3	14.2	14.1	14.2
Scottish Borders	13.3	13.7	13.8	13.8	13.8	13.6	14.0
Shetland Islands	9.7	10.0	10.0	10.2	10.0	10.1	10.2
South Ayrshire	13.1	13.2	13.2	13.4	13.3	13.3	13.2
South Lanarkshire	13.6	13.7	13.7	13.7	13.4	13.4	13.4
Stirling	13.1	13.2	13.4	13.2	13.5	13.5	13.5
West Dunbartonshire	13.6	13.6	13.5	13.4	13.1	13.1	12.8
West Lothian	14.0	14.1	14.1	14.1	14.0	14.1	14.3
All local authorities	13.5	13.7	13.7	13.7	13.6	13.6	13.6
Grant aided(2)	8.7	8.1	8.6	9.2	9.3	9.4	9.6
Scotland	13.5	13.7	13.7	13.7	13.6	13.6	13.6

(1) Includes teachers based in schools and centrally employed teachers.

(2) The pupil teacher ratio for grant aided schools in 2011-2016 was amended in October 2017. See background notes for details.

Information on teachers funded through the Attainment Scotland Fund can be found in the background notes.

One of the most important uses of the data collected in the school staff census is in modelling future changes in the workforce to provide guidance on the number of new teachers to train. Chart 1 shows that the age profile of teachers has changed much over the past 10 years. The prominent peak of teachers aged in their fifties, as seen in 2009, no longer exists. In 2019, the majority of teachers were in the 25 to 40 age range.

The average (mean) age of primary, secondary and special school teachers was 40 in 2019, compared to 43 in 2009, so teachers were, on average, younger in 2019 than in 2009.

Chart 1: Age profile of school based teachers

Table 3.4 shows that in both primary and secondary sectors the proportion of teachers who were female falls at each level of seniority. In primary schools, 89% of teachers at all grades were female compared to 85% of head teachers. In secondary schools 64% of teachers at all grades were female compared to 42% of head teachers. However the number increases in special schools, where 76% of teachers at all grades were female compared to 79% of head teachers.

Teaching posts were classified into three employment types for the purposes of the school staff census: Permanent, Temporary and Techer Induction Scheme. Teachers may be employed on a permanent contract but be working in a post classified as a temporary employment type, for example while covering a vacancy. The proportion of teachers in temporary posts was 11% (compared with 12% last year). In 2019 17% of teachers were working part-time, with the rate higher amongst females (20%) than males (7%).

Table 3.4: Teacher characteristics

Percentage of Full Time Equivalents (FTE)

	School Type				Total
Characteristic	Primary	Secondary	Special	Centrally Employed
Sex
Female	89	64	76	84	77
Male	11	36	24	16	23
Age (years)
Under 25	7	5	1	0	6
25 to 34	32	29	17	9	29
35 to 44	27	28	31	23	27
45 to 54	23	23	30	35	24
55 or over	11	15	21	33	14
Average Age	39	41	45	49	40
Ethnicity
White - Scottish	68	61	64	53	64
White - other British	23	26	24	25	25
White - other	2	4	5	5	3
Minority ethnic group	1	2	2	5	2
Not known	4	4	3	8	4
Not disclosed	1	3	1	3	2
Post employment type
Permanent	81	85	88	85	83
Temporary	12	9	12	15	11
Teacher Induction Scheme	7	6	0	0	6
Grade
Head teacher	7	1	5	3	4
Percentage female	85	42	79	82	78
Depute head teacher	6	5	7	2	5
Percentage female	87	57	76	91	74
Principal teacher	7	22	11	10	15
Percentage female	87	63	70	80	69
Teacher or chartered	80	71	77	85	76
Percentage female	90	66	77	85	79
All - percentage female	89	64	76	84	77
Mode of working(1)
Full-time	80	87	79	66	83
Percentage female	88	61	73	82	75
Part-time	20	13	21	34	17
Percentage female	95	83	86	89	90

(1) The mode of working is the percentage of FTE by working pattern in a schooltype at a particular grade. See background notes for more details.

Teachers provisionally registered with the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) (for example those that have recently completed their initial teacher education) are required to complete a period of probation before becoming eligible for full registration. Probation can be completed through either the one year full time Teacher Induction Scheme (TIS) post or a flexible route.

Table 3.5 shows the percentage of previous TIS probationers who were in teaching posts in a publicly funded school in Scotland in the year following their probation. Of the 2012/13 TIS probationer cohort, 79% were teaching in the year following their probation. This increased to 86% for the 2014/15 cohort and remained at a similar level until dropping to 84% for the 2018/19 cohort. Teachers not in a post at a publicly funded school may be teaching elsewhere (including abroad or in the independent sector), in non-teaching employment or be unemployed. The proportion of the 2018/19 TIS probationer cohort with a full-time permanent post at the time of the following year's census was 48%, down from 55% for the previous cohort.

Table 3.5: Teacher Induction Scheme post-probationers teaching in the year following their probation

Percentage of headcount

	TIS probationer cohort
	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19
Full-time permanent	28	35	39	45	55	57	55	48
Full-time temporary	35	35	33	35	27	28	27	30
Part-time permanent	3	2	2	2	2	1	2	2
Part-time temporary	8	6	6	4	2	2	3	5
Other(1)	25	21	20	14	13	12	13	16
Headcount of teachers in cohort	1,944	2,044	2,215	2,448	2,524	2,630	2,852	2,836

(1) The "Other" category includes those teaching elsewhere, including in the independent sector, those who have found supply work, and those who are unemployed or who have left teaching, although this detail is not included in the census data.

Table 3.6 shows the percentage of TIS probationers in teaching posts up to six years following their probation. The percentage of teachers in such employment in the first year following probation increased from 79% for the 2012/13 cohort to 88% for the 2016/17 cohort. That percentage has decreased to 87% and 84% respectively for the two most recent cohorts. Since the 2014/15 TIS probationer cohort there has been a trend for the employment rate to reduce in each year after the first year following probation. For example, 87% of the 2015/16 cohort were in a teaching post in a publicly funded school in their first year after probation but this had reduced to 81% by 2019.

Table 3.6: Long-term employment of Teacher Induction Scheme probationers

Percentage headcount

	Sep-13	Sep-14	Sep-15	Sep-16	Sep-17	Sep-18	Sep-19
2012/13 cohort	79	77	77	77	76	74	74
2013/14 cohort		80	81	79	78	77	76
2014/15 cohort			86	83	82	80	79
2015/16 cohort				87	84	83	81
2016/17 cohort					88	85	83
2017/18 cohort						87	84
2018/19 cohort							84