Summary Statistics For Schools In Scotland 2021

Chapter 3: School teachers

53,581 teachers in schools compared to 52,672 in 2020 (excludes ELC)

13.2 pupil teacher ratio for publicly funded schools

80% of teachers on the 2020/21 Teacher Induction Scheme were in employment the following school year

Table 3.1: Teachers in Scotland by sector and local authority, 2021, Full Time Equivalents ( FTE)

Local Authority	Primary	Secondary	Special	Centrally employed	Total
Aberdeen City	884	778	30	53	1,745
Aberdeenshire	1,377	1,269	49	36	2,731
Angus	582	567	0	23	1,172
Argyll and Bute	432	410	6	13	860
City of Edinburgh	1,684	1,665	172	93	3,615
Clackmannanshire	299	227	29	2	556
Dumfries and Galloway	654	670	23	75	1,421
Dundee City	659	631	57	29	1,375
East Ayrshire	607	554	81	20	1,263
East Dunbartonshire	585	699	53	38	1,374
East Lothian	506	499	0	25	1,031
East Renfrewshire	612	690	35	3	1,341
Falkirk	760	819	77	6	1,663
Fife	1,798	1,651	102	85	3,636
Glasgow City	2,782	2,398	337	105	5,621
Highland	1,079	1,187	44	42	2,352
Inverclyde	370	375	44	6	795
Midlothian	504	471	25	24	1,024
Moray	475	455	0	22	952
Na h-Eileanan Siar	161	149	0	8	317
North Ayrshire	701	665	41	54	1,462
North Lanarkshire	1,824	1,651	239	64	3,778
Orkney Islands	122	128	0	7	257
Perth and Kinross	683	649	15	39	1,386
Renfrewshire	841	840	87	26	1,793
Scottish Borders	500	509	39	6	1,054
Shetland Islands	160	158	0	11	329
South Ayrshire	529	531	29	40	1,128
South Lanarkshire	1,696	1,634	149	0	3,480
Stirling	437	489	20	17	963
West Dunbartonshire	463	431	50	16	959
West Lothian	1,021	881	126	0	2,029
All local authorities	25,783	24,731	1,959	988	53,461
Grant aided	23	51	46	#	120
Scotland	25,807	24,782	2,005	988	53,581

Table 3.2 shows that the total number of teachers (primary, secondary, special and centrally employed) increased by 909 between 2020 and 2021. Total teacher numbers rose in each year from 2014 to 2021. (Statistics pre-2015 are available from the supplementary statistics and historical time series).

One of the drivers for the increase in teacher numbers could be the additional funding that has been made available to local authorities for the recruitment of more teachers. Further information on funding for additional teachers including COVID-19 education recovery funding and the Attainment Scotland Fund, can be found in the background notes.

Although the number of teachers has increased since 2020, this was not the case for each local authority. In 28 local authorities the number of teachers increased or stayed the same, with the largest increase of 9% seen in Moray; followed by Inverclyde, with an increase of 6%. The other four local authorities saw small decreases in teachers this year, of up to 2%.

Table 3.2: Teachers (all sectors excluding ELC) ⁽¹⁾, Full Time Equivalents ( FTE)

Local Authority	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Aberdeen City	1,632	1,603	1,624	1,636	1,675	1,725	1,745
Aberdeenshire	2,650	2,655	2,675	2,650	2,696	2,720	2,731
Angus	1,136	1,125	1,133	1,160	1,172	1,197	1,172
Argyll and Bute	844	841	825	861	834	846	860
City of Edinburgh	3,193	3,213	3,281	3,346	3,452	3,518	3,615
Clackmannanshire	490	528	513	512	520	554	556
Dumfries and Galloway	1,479	1,466	1,470	1,436	1,436	1,413	1,421
Dundee City	1,375	1,367	1,330	1,321	1,316	1,340	1,375
East Ayrshire	1,151	1,149	1,189	1,185	1,205	1,233	1,263
East Dunbartonshire	1,204	1,217	1,245	1,248	1,269	1,366	1,374
East Lothian	920	913	935	960	973	1,008	1,031
East Renfrewshire	1,213	1,227	1,265	1,277	1,306	1,322	1,341
Falkirk	1,581	1,605	1,620	1,634	1,629	1,688	1,663
Fife	3,476	3,494	3,498	3,503	3,530	3,627	3,636
Glasgow City	4,779	4,869	5,020	5,263	5,352	5,446	5,621
Highland	2,357	2,355	2,365	2,388	2,300	2,284	2,352
Inverclyde	734	735	738	745	730	751	795
Midlothian	866	873	892	930	941	985	1,024
Moray	874	848	856	868	866	873	952
Na h-Eileanan Siar	324	321	327	327	313	312	317
North Ayrshire	1,332	1,371	1,396	1,393	1,376	1,412	1,462
North Lanarkshire	3,406	3,474	3,502	3,545	3,590	3,742	3,778
Orkney Islands	255	260	253	250	251	247	257
Perth and Kinross	1,337	1,329	1,329	1,346	1,329	1,346	1,386
Renfrewshire	1,596	1,633	1,656	1,676	1,674	1,778	1,793
Scottish Borders	1,049	1,052	1,055	1,070	1,038	1,065	1,054
Shetland Islands	323	318	323	322	320	329	329
South Ayrshire	1,063	1,043	1,056	1,048	1,065	1,101	1,128
South Lanarkshire	3,176	3,202	3,282	3,298	3,341	3,438	3,480
Stirling	921	942	925	934	938	954	963
West Dunbartonshire	921	928	961	956	980	964	959
West Lothian	1,880	1,899	1,924	1,924	1,909	1,971	2,029
All local authorities	49,538	49,858	50,464	51,012	51,327	52,555	53,461
Grant aided	141	127	127	126	122	117	120
Scotland	49,679	49,985	50,592	51,138	51,449	52,672	53,581

(1) Includes centrally employed teachers.

Table 3.3 shows pupil teacher ratios (PTRs) which give a measure of the size of the teaching workforce relative to the pupil population. The national PTR decreased from 13.3 in 2020 to from 13.2 in 2021, the lowest national PTR since 2008. (Statistics pre-2014 are available from the supplementary statistics and historical time series).

Across Scotland, 26 local authorities have decreased or maintained their PTR from 2020. The biggest decrease was seen in Moray, which decreased by 1.1. Since 2015, North Ayrshire and North Lanarkshire have had the largest decrease in PTR at 1.4. The largest increase in PTR since 2015 was in Dumfries and Galloway at 0.5.

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

Local Authority	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Aberdeen City	13.6	14.0	14.0	14.1	13.8	13.7	13.9
Aberdeenshire	13.3	13.4	13.3	13.5	13.3	13.4	13.4
Angus	13.2	13.3	13.3	13.1	13.0	12.8	12.9
Argyll and Bute	12.4	12.3	12.5	12.0	12.2	12.0	11.7
City of Edinburgh	14.9	15.1	15.1	15.1	14.9	14.8	14.5
Clackmannanshire	13.4	12.5	12.9	13.0	12.8	12.0	12.1
Dumfries and Galloway	12.7	12.7	12.8	13.1	13.1	13.2	13.2
Dundee City	13.0	13.2	13.7	13.8	13.9	13.7	13.4
East Ayrshire	13.9	13.9	13.3	13.5	13.4	13.2	12.9
East Dunbartonshire	13.6	13.5	13.4	13.6	13.5	12.7	12.7
East Lothian	15.1	15.4	15.2	15.1	15.1	14.8	14.6
East Renfrewshire	13.7	13.7	13.5	13.5	13.2	13.2	13.1
Falkirk	13.5	13.5	13.5	13.4	13.5	13.0	13.1
Fife	14.0	14.1	14.1	14.2	14.2	13.9	13.8
Glasgow City	13.8	13.8	13.5	13.1	13.0	12.9	12.6
Highland	13.1	13.1	13.0	12.9	13.5	13.5	13.1
Inverclyde	13.5	13.5	13.4	13.2	13.6	13.1	12.3
Midlothian	14.2	14.2	14.2	13.8	14.0	13.7	13.5
Moray	13.7	14.1	13.9	13.7	13.8	13.9	12.8
Na h-Eileanan Siar	10.3	10.5	10.3	10.2	10.6	10.7	10.4
North Ayrshire	13.6	13.3	13.1	13.1	13.1	12.8	12.2
North Lanarkshire	14.4	14.1	14.0	13.8	13.7	13.2	13.0
Orkney Islands	10.5	10.4	10.8	11.1	11.1	11.3	10.9
Perth and Kinross	13.3	13.6	13.5	13.3	13.6	13.5	13.1
Renfrewshire	14.6	14.3	14.2	14.1	14.2	13.4	13.3
Scottish Borders	13.8	13.8	13.8	13.6	14.0	13.6	13.7
Shetland Islands	10.0	10.2	10.0	10.1	10.2	10.0	10.1
South Ayrshire	13.2	13.4	13.3	13.3	13.2	13.0	12.7
South Lanarkshire	13.7	13.7	13.4	13.4	13.4	13.1	13.0
Stirling	13.4	13.2	13.5	13.5	13.5	13.4	13.3
West Dunbartonshire	13.5	13.4	13.1	13.1	12.8	13.0	13.0
West Lothian	14.1	14.1	14.0	14.1	14.3	13.9	13.6
All local authorities	13.7	13.7	13.6	13.6	13.6	13.3	13.2
Grant aided(2)	8.6	9.2	9.3	9.4	9.6	10.0	9.7
Scotland	13.7	13.7	13.6	13.6	13.6	13.3	13.2

(1) Includes 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.

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 2011, no longer exists. In 2021, teacher numbers were highest between the ages of 25 and 41.

The average (mean) age of primary, secondary and special school teachers was 40 in 2021, compared to 43 in 2011, so the teacher workforce was, on average, younger in 2021 than in 2011.

Table 3.4 shows that there are many more female teachers than male, especially in the primary sector where 89% of teachers are female. However, in both primary and secondary sectors there was a lower proportion of female teachers in promoted posts compared to main grade or chartered teachers. In secondary schools 65% of teachers at all grades were female compared to 44% of head teachers.

A new role of Lead Teacher was established in June 2021 by the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers. There were no Lead Teachers in post at the time of this year’s school staff census in September.

Teaching posts were classified into three employment types for the purposes of the school staff census: Permanent, Temporary and Teacher Induction Scheme. Teachers may be employed on a permanent contract but be recorded in the staff census as temporary if they are working in a post classified as a temporary employment type, for example while covering a vacancy. The proportion of teachers in temporary posts was 13% (compared with 12% last year). This increase in temporary posts was seen across the primary, secondary and special school sectors. Further details on the recording of employment types is included in the background notes.

In 2021, the percentage of teachers working part-time, as a proportion of all FTE, was 17%. There was a higher rate amongst females (20%), than males (8%) (data not shown).

Table 3.4: Teacher characteristics, Percentage of Full Time Equivalents (FTE)

Sex

Characteristic	School Type				Total
	Primary	Secondary	Special	Centrally Employed
Female	89	65	77	83	77
Male	11	35	23	17	23

Age (years)

Characteristic	School Type				Total
	Primary	Secondary	Special	Centrally Employed
Under 25	6	5	2	1	6
25 to 34	32	29	17	9	30
35 to 44	28	28	32	25	28
45 to 54	23	23	31	34	24
55 or over	10	14	18	31	13
Average Age	39	41	44	48	40

Ethnicity ⁽¹⁾

Characteristic	School Type				Total
	Primary	Secondary	Special	Centrally Employed
White - Scottish	70	63	66	54	66
White - other British	21	24	22	26	23
White - other	2	4	5	5	3
Minority ethnic group	1	2	2	5	2
Not known	4	4	3	8	4
Not disclosed	2	3	2	3	2

Post employment type

Characteristic	School Type				Total
	Primary	Secondary	Special	Centrally Employed
Permanent	78	83	84	85	81
Temporary	16	11	16	15	13
Teacher Induction Scheme	7	6	0	0	6

Grade

Characteristic	School Type				Total
	Primary	Secondary	Special	Centrally Employed
Head teacher	6	1	5	4	4
Percentage female	84	44	79	77	78
Depute head teacher	5	5	7	3	5
Percentage female	88	57	77	86	74
Principal teacher	7	22	10	11	14
Percentage female	86	63	73	76	69
Teacher or chartered	81	73	78	83	77
Percentage female	90	66	77	84	79
All - percentage female	89	65	77	83	77

Mode of working ⁽²⁾

Characteristic	School Type				Total
	Primary	Secondary	Special	Centrally Employed
Full-time	79	87	81	70	83
Percentage female	88	62	75	80	75
Part-time	21	13	19	30	17
Percentage female	95	83	86	91	90

(1) More information on the ethnicity categories can be found in the Ethnicity section in the background notes.

(2) The mode of working is the percentage of FTE by working pattern in a school sector 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) 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. The percentage of teachers in such employment in the first year following probation has decreased to 80% for the most recent cohort (2020/21) from 85% for the cohort last year. This is the lowest rate since the 2013/14 cohort but remains substantially higher than the three cohorts from 2007/08 to 2009/10 when less than 60% of teachers found such employment in the first year following their probation. Teachers not in a post in a publicly funded school may be teaching elsewhere (including abroad or in the independent sector), in non-teaching employment or unemployed.

For the 2020/21 cohort, the proportion of TIS probationers in a full-time permanent post at the time of the following year’s census was 31%, down from 38% for the previous cohort. This proportion has decreased for the last five years from a high of 57% for the 2016/17 cohort. The proportion of the TIS probationer cohort that were in a full-time temporary post at the time of the following year’s census was higher, having risen from 27% in 2015/16 to 42% in 2019/20 and 2020/21.

Statistics on pre 2014/15 cohorts are available from the supplementary statistics.

Further breakdowns of post-probationer data, by sector, local authority and secondary subject can be found on the post probationer teacher employment dashboard.

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

	TIS probationer cohort
	2014/15	2015/16	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21
Full-time permanent	45	55	57	55	48	38	31
Full-time temporary	35	27	28	27	30	42	42
Part-time permanent	2	2	1	2	2	1	1
Part-time temporary	4	2	2	3	5	3	6
Other(1)	14	13	12	13	16	15	20
All teaching post types’	86	87	88	87	84	85	80
Headcount of teachers in cohort	2,448	2,524	2,630	2,852	2,836	3,076	3,123

(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 seven years following their probation.

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

	Sep-15	Sep-16	Sep-17	Sep-18	Sep-19	Sep-20	Sep-21
2014/15 cohort	86	83	82	80	79	79	78
2015/16 cohort		87	84	83	81	80	79
2016/17 cohort			88	85	83	83	82
2017/18 cohort				87	84	84	84
2018/19 cohort					84	85	85
2019/20 cohort						85	84
2020/21 cohort							80