The “far-reaching consequences” of the fast-rising number of pupils with additional support needs (ASN) in Scotland’s schools have been highlighted in a by the EIS teaching union.
The number of ASN pupils has grown from 5.3 per cent of the population in schools in 2007 to 43 per cent in 2025 - a 710 per cent increase.
EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley said: “This has most definitely not been matched with a similar increase in the resources available to support young people with ASN.
“In reality, despite the huge increase in the number of young people with ASN, we now have 20 per cent fewer specialist ASN staff working in our schools than we did in 2010 [down from 3,524 to 2,837].”
Workload and stress
She added: “The consequences of this are profound and far-reaching. For young people, it means that far too many are not having their individual needs met adequately.
“For teachers, the results are excessive workload and increases in stress and stress-related illness as they struggle to deal with the diverse demands that are placed upon them.
“For society, it means a growing number of young people become frustrated and disengaged from education, with serious long-term consequences for all concerned.”
Ms Bradley pointed to the Scottish government’s own figures, released last week, and said they “confirm the growing resource crisis in our schools”, including concerns about the failure to deliver a 2021 manifesto commitment to hire 3,500 more teachers.
She added: “Recruiting more teachers, tackling teacher workload and ensuring a positive learning experience for all young people must be the priority for politicians of all parties as we head towards the Scottish Parliament elections in May next year.”
The EIS ASN briefing is based on the results of the union’s 2025 national survey, which gathered more than 11,000 members’ responses, as well as a review of Scottish government data on teacher and pupil numbers.
Lack of professional support
The union says that the increased number of pupils with ASN has not been matched by professional support, with “many teachers reporting that there is no meaningful support for many of the pupils that they teach”.
When the EIS survey asked, “Beyond teaching, preparation and correction, what are the biggest drivers of your workload?”, ASN was the most common theme.
A Scottish government spokesperson said it was investing a further £29 million this year to support the ASN workforce, on top of spending of more than £1 billion by local authorities on ASN in 2023-24.
“The number of pupils and teachers at special schools has increased from last year, while the pupil-to-teacher ratio has remained the same,” the spokesperson added.
The government had also “committed to a wider review to explore what more can be done to support pupils and staff”.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Scottish Children’s Services Coalition (SCSC) said that, while it supports the presumption of mainstreaming, “it is clearly difficult to see how this is functioning properly for all those with ASN, given a fall in specialist support and dramatic increases in the number of those identified with conditions such as mental health problems and autism”.
The SCSC spokesperson added: “The current system of provision is at breaking point and we are witnessing increasing levels of classroom disruption - a key cause of this being the increase in the number of those with ASN, who are not receiving the support they are entitled to.”
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