Official Report 473KB pdf
Education and Skills
14:15
The next item of business is portfolio question time. The portfolio this afternoon is education and skills. I remind members that questions 2, 4 and 6 are grouped together. I will take supplementaries on those questions after all three have been answered. If a member wishes to ask a supplementary question, they should press their request-to-speak button during the relevant question.
Question 1 has not been lodged.
Newly Qualified Teachers (Permanent Posts)
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the availability of permanent teaching posts for newly qualified teachers. (S6O-05444)
Under the Education Act 1980, local authorities are solely responsible for the recruitment and employment of teachers. Notwithstanding that, since 2021, the Government has provided in excess of £800 million to support enhanced salaries for Scotland’s teachers, ensuring that they remain the best paid on these islands, with the top of the classroom teacher salary scale now standing at £52,614.
In addition, the Government provided extra funding in this year’s budget, which uplifted the ring-fenced funding for teacher numbers to £186.5 million. Our budget for 2026-27 maintains that financial commitment to safeguard teacher numbers.
Figures show that nearly nine in 10 newly qualified primary teachers are stuck in temporary posts or doing supply work, without a permanent job. That is not what they signed up to when they trained to become teachers. How does the cabinet secretary explain the collapse of permanent primary teaching jobs after years of Scottish National Party promises to expand the workforce?
On the issue of permanence, I very much welcome that this year’s statistics show a slight improvement. The overall number of those who have gained employment post probation has increased from 65 per cent last year to 69 per cent. However, there are substantive problems in relation to primary teachers, which I accept.
The improvement that we have seen has been delivered as a result of the extra funding that I spoke about in my original answer, which was secured through the budget. I was grateful to colleagues across the chamber who were able to vote for the budget, and I hope that Conservative colleagues will find themselves able to vote for the budget this year to protect funding for teacher numbers, which has paid dividends in the past year alone.
We also provide extra funding to Scottish councils via the Scottish attainment challenge. We know that, across the country, that is helping to support the employment of around 3,000 extra staff, of whom approximately 700 are teachers. That is welcome.
In addition, we have recently announced a recruitment campaign that I am sure colleagues will be aware of, which is very much focused on filling the gaps that we know exist in secondary schools in particular. One of the options that I have been exploring with the Geneal Teaching Council for Scotland, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and the teaching unions is how we might provide funding to enable primary teachers who are unable to obtain jobs to qualify in secondary subjects for which they might already have some of the necessary qualifications.
I talked about that in a bit more detail at the Education, Children and Young People Committee last week. We will be meeting colleagues to discuss the issue in the coming weeks, and I will be happy to give Mr Stewart a written update on the progress that we make.
Newly Qualified Teachers (Employment)
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that newly qualified teachers are able to secure stable, long-term employment, in light of recent reports that only one in four newly qualified teachers secured permanent posts in 2024-25. (S6O-05446)
I welcome this year’s statistics, which, as I have outlined, show some improvement in the overall post-probation employment levels, which increased to 69 per cent from 65 per cent last year. That improvement has been supported as a direct result of additional investment from the Government’s budget.
It is worth while reminding members that the overall percentage of teachers in permanent posts has remained relatively stable at more than 80 per cent over the past 10 years. However, I am keen to enhance the number of permanent teaching posts, which is exactly why funding has again been protected in this year’s draft budget.
As a result of this year’s additional funding for local authorities, this year’s census data shows an overall increase in the number of teachers for the first time since 2022.
With that kind of answer, it is no surprise that the education secretary got heckled at the Educational Institute of Scotland hustings last week. She has failed to deliver the 3,500 extra teachers that she promised, failed to deliver the permanent contracts that she promised and failed to reduce teacher contact time by 90 minutes. She blames the councils and the unions, and now she blames the teachers for being paid too much. She has given the impression that she has given up on delivering on all those promises. Has she given up, or is she gonnae meet those promises?
I thank Mr Rennie, as ever, for his question. I recall that, at a certain point during the hustings that we attended, there were some heckles for Mr Rennie, too. We will just leave it at that. [Interruption.]
However, it is important to say that, since 2021, significant investment has been provided to support Scotland’s teaching profession, not least in relation to teacher wages. I provided detail of that in my response to Mr Burnett.
It was Alexander Stewart.
Apologies—I meant Mr Stewart. Apologies, Mr Stewart. Thank you, Mr Kerr, for the heckle.
That additional investment is helping to enhance teachers’ salaries and to ensuring that Scotland’s teachers remain the best paid on these islands.
A number of different data sets published in recent months have also shown real progress in relation to the investment that we are providing to Scotland’s schools. Class sizes are coming down, according to the most recent data, which was published in December. We continue to have the lowest pupil teacher ratio on these islands. In November, we secured another record pay deal for Scotland’s teachers.
I am certainly not complacent about the challenges. I accept Mr Rennie’s point that negotiations remain on-going, but it is important for teachers’ morale to remind ourselves of the strengths in our schools and of the significant investment that the Government has protected in our budget for schools—with, of course, the support of Mr Rennie’s party in the previous budget and, I sincerely hope, with the support of his party in this year’s budget, too.
I call Stephen Kerr.
I hope you noted, Deputy Presiding Officer, that the cabinet secretary said, “Thank you, Mr Kerr, for the heckle.”
I am always gracious.
I shall move on.
Mr Kerr, for the record, I am not really privy to whatever ministers’ request or members seek in terms of heckling, interventions and so forth. I note what you say, but do not draw me into your issues. Thank you.
I do not really have an issue with the cabinet secretary when she says things like that.
Newly Qualified Teachers (Permanent Posts)
To ask the Scottish Government how many new teachers, who qualified in the last three years, are now in permanent teaching posts. (S6O-05448)
Figures from the 2025 teacher census show that there are 2,798 full-time equivalent teachers in permanent posts who were part of the last three teacher induction scheme cohorts. Since 2014, the percentage of teachers in permanent posts has remained at 80 per cent, and additional Scottish Government investment has led to an increase in the number of teachers in the past year. The permanent employment of teachers is a matter for local authorities, which currently employ Scotland’s teachers.
A few years ago, in this Parliament, I used to stand up and say that one in eight teachers are on temporary contracts. Now the figure is one in five, or something like that. That is shocking. We have gone backwards at a rate of knots. Further reflection of that reality is the statistical fact that one in 10 primary teachers who are qualified do not have a permanent job in their first year. That is not success.
Whatever happened to the funding agreement with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities that was going to guarantee teacher numbers? At what point will the cabinet secretary get really serious about the issues that we keep raising in the chamber and bring forward a properly thought-out and planned workforce projection?
Mr Kerr has touched on a number of points. One relates to the issue of primary teachers. He may be aware of the reduction that I have delivered in the number of primary teachers that we are training. In the past year, we have reduced the number of primary teachers for the exact reasons that he has set out. I also gave some detail of that in my response to Alexander Stewart.
There is potential for primary teachers to move into the teaching of secondary subjects where there are currently gaps. The member will be aware of the marketing campaign that we launched recently that targets some of the areas where there are known gaps. We also know that there are primary teachers with the prerequisite qualifications who may be able to move to fill those gaps and vacancies, as and where they exist.
Mr Kerr also mentioned the COSLA agreement, which was negotiated through last year’s budget. It provided £186.5 million to increase teacher numbers or, for some local authorities, to maintain them at 2023 levels. That is important in relation to Mr Rennie’s point about reducing class contact. We need the right number of teachers in our schools to deliver on that commitment. I know that Mr Kerr welcomed the progress that we have seen in the past year, with teacher numbers increasing for the first time since 2022 as a direct result of that COSLA agreement and investment.
Again, I encourage Mr Kerr to consider supporting the Scottish Government’s budget, because it maintains that investment, which we know has made a real difference in the past year by increasing teacher numbers and allowing us to make progress on reducing class contact.
There are a number of supplementaries.
Does the cabinet secretary think it acceptable that some local authorities advertise full-time permanent posts only to tell successful applicants when offering a job that the post is, in fact, temporary? Working with local authorities and teaching unions, what steps will she take to end that deceptive practice?
I do not think that the points that have been set out by Kenny Gibson are acceptable. It is important to state that the Scottish Government plays no role in the direct employment of Scotland’s teachers. We have 32 local authorities with various approaches to recruitment practices. That allows for inconsistency, but the issues that Mr Gibson has alluded to should not be happening with fair approaches to employment and employment practices more broadly.
We will continue to work with COSLA on that. I spoke to some of the detailed work on teacher training that has been undertaken with COSLA, the teaching trade unions and our initial teacher education institutions, to provide a more consistent approach to the employment of teachers and the support that they receive in relation to initial teacher education.
I raised with the First Minister last week at First Minister’s question time the cabinet secretary’s comments, when, in response to the issue of teachers moving abroad to access jobs, she said that people are
“opting not to travel to jobs”
in Scotland, and that they are
“much more expensive to employ”.
The First Minister accused me of skating past his stellar record on education, but I suggest that he somewhat skated past the defence of the cabinet secretary’s comments. To go to the point that Willie Rennie made, does the cabinet secretary why teachers are so angered by what she said? Does she also accept that a recruitment campaign at this stage in the current parliamentary session, in which she promised recovery and made a very clear pledge on teacher numbers, is just not going to cut it?
I think that some of my commentary has been taken out of context. There are a number of teaching vacancies across the country, but I have said publicly that I accept that not everyone can travel or move. As members will know, I have used my own example of moving to Moray for a year, because I ticked the box to go and as a result, I received £6,000. There are financial incentives attached to that. I know that Mr O’Kane will be delighted to hear that it has now been increased to £8,000 to incentivise people to move.
The interesting thing, from Mr O’Kane’s point of view, is that we see teachers opting not to tick the box in ways that they did previously. That might be for good reason, but since the pandemic, people are opting not to move in ways that they might have done. We therefore need to work with local authorities on different ways to support teachers in obtaining employment.
It has always been the case that people need to apply for jobs after the completion of probation. People are not guaranteed a job in their local authority area, and I do not think that anyone in the chamber would suggest that that should change. Instead, we need to work with local authorities on a partnership basis.
One of the things that I am interested in exploring further with COSLA, through our review of the probationer scheme, which has not been reviewed since 2002, is how we can jointly, with local authorities, work on a partnership approach to funding that. At the current time, it is solely funded by the Scottish Government. It is in the region of £40 million of investment, and at the end of probation, we do not ask local authorities for anything else. I do not think that that is good enough. We have to have a partnership approach. We also—
Cabinet secretary, I have been very generous in giving you a lot of latitude. You are well aware of what the response time is supposed to be. I am keen to get in those who are desperate to ask a question.
The recent figures that the cabinet secretary mentioned show that there has been an increase in the number of Scotland’s teachers. How will investment in the 2026-27 budget support furthering that progress?
The investment that has been delivered as a result of extra funding that was provided for in last year’s budget increased the number of teachers in our schools by 63—the first increase in teacher numbers that we have seen since 2022. I would like to see more improvements in that regard.
It is notable that some local authorities took additional funding from the Government and reduced teacher numbers. That is not politically credible to our constituents and the communities that we all represent and my officials are working with a number of local authorities who chose to take that additional investment and reduce teacher numbers.
To the member’s substantive point, we can enhance teacher numbers by protecting funding in the budget. This year’s budget does so, and I encourage colleagues to consider supporting a budget that will support an increase in teacher numbers.
The NASUWT has described the situation as a “dysfunctional teacher supply system” that is clearly failing teachers, pupils and the taxpayer. It is right, but let us focus on the pupils for a moment. We know how critical a stable teacher-pupil relationship is to children’s learning and wellbeing. Does the cabinet secretary accept that the overreliance on short-term contracts for newly qualified teachers risks undermining educational continuity for pupils? Has the Scottish Government done any assessment of the impact of that on children’s attainment?
Roz McCall raises a hugely important point. I will go back to the probationer scheme, which I attempted to speak on in my response to Mr O’Kane—although I accept that I spoke for far too long, Presiding Officer. When it was established in 2002, that scheme was intended to be in addition to the staffing complement that schools received. However, for many years, that has not been the case. It certainly was not my experience when I started teaching in Elgin high school in 2008, when I replaced somebody who had retired. Notwithstanding Roz McCall’s points, it is important that probationers have support and time in school to learn how to become teachers. People do not come out of probation as fully formed teachers—they need to learn, and they need that support and time. It is important that we create the necessary conditions for that.
I absolutely agree with Roz McCall’s points about consistency and about pupils’ experience of churn in the system not being good for educational opportunities or attainment more broadly. Those issues are being discussed as part of the wider work that I alluded to in my response to Mr Stewart earlier, and I would be more than happy to give Roz McCall a written update on that before dissolution, in which we will address in more detail the issue that she has raised today.
Teacher Recruitment (Rural Areas)
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the recruitment of teachers in rural areas. (S6O-05445)
Last week, we launched a new national teacher recruitment marketing campaign, which includes activity designed to encourage those thinking about a career in teaching to consider teaching jobs outwith the central belt and in more rural areas. In addition, probationer teachers can receive a preference waiver payment of up to £8,000 if they are willing to complete their probation anywhere in Scotland, as part of the Government-funded teacher induction scheme. We have manually allocated PWP probationers in recent years, which has resulted in more probationers in hard-to-fill subjects being allocated to remote and rural areas. I have also convened a round-table discussion with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, trade unions, the General Teaching Council for Scotland and other key partners to explore urgent collective solutions to the challenges that were outlined in Alexander Burnett’s question and other teacher recruitment and retention challenges.
As part of its budget, Aberdeenshire Council is expecting £9.4 million from the Scottish Government to maintain or increase teacher numbers and to reduce class contact time. However, that funding is at risk because teacher numbers have decreased as Aberdeenshire receives an insufficient number of newly qualified teachers through the Scottish Government’s teacher induction scheme, having failed to get nearly 40 per cent of the primary teachers and 70 per cent of the secondary teachers that it had requested. That trend is happening across all rural local authorities, because the Scottish National Party is not providing enough support to attract newly qualified teachers to those areas. Will the cabinet secretary confirm whether education in Aberdeenshire will be further penalised for the educational recruitment failings of the SNP Government?
I will walk Alexander Burnett back to my comments in response to his colleague Roz McCall, in which I alluded to the fact that, when the probationer scheme was introduced in 2002, it was meant to be in addition to the staffing complement.
I hear the challenge that Aberdeenshire Council is facing, and I have met with it a number of times to discuss those issues. Aberdeenshire has benefited from the manual allocation of PWP probationers by gaining more probationers. However, probationers are meant to be in addition to the staffing complement. In the past year, Aberdeenshire Council was one of the local authorities that took additional funding from the Scottish Government to the tune of just over £9 million and chose to reduce teacher numbers.
I am also aware that Aberdeenshire Council is currently led by the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, so there is a political incoherence between Alexander Burnett’s question—although I am sympathetic to that question—and the actions of his local authority, which have been to take the funding that I protected centrally in national Government and to cut teacher numbers. That is not a coherent approach. I would be more than happy to engage directly with the local authority on those issues, but we must remember that, when central Government protects funding for teacher numbers, communities should expect to see that play out in their communities. That is not what has happened in the case of Aberdeenshire.
We have a shortage of teachers in Moray, but not necessarily a shortage of people who are willing to teach. With the large military footprint of RAF Lossiemouth and Kinloss barracks in the area, a number of the spouses of those serving there who travel up with the rest of their family are qualified to teach in England but are barred from teaching in Scotland unless they get a Scottish qualification. It would ease the efforts of Moray Council considerably if that issue could be resolved. I have raised the issue repeatedly with the cabinet secretary, and I think that she was sympathetic to it. Can we just get a solution?
I am sympathetic to Mr Ross’s points. Of course, matters pertaining to the registration of teachers in Scotland are for the GTCS to address. I encourage Mr Ross to engage with it directly. I see that he is nodding and indicating that he has done so. I am more than happy to raise the matter myself with Pauline Stephen at the GTCS.
It is the case that different qualifications are required in Scotland, not least the requirement to have a degree-level qualification to deliver teaching in Scotland, which does not necessarily exist in other parts of the United Kingdom. That is an important feature of our education system, and it is one that we would want to protect.
I am more than happy to speak to the GTCS on Mr Ross’s behalf, but I encourage him to engage directly with the organisation, too. It is difficult for me, as cabinet secretary, to comment on the specifics of individuals without first understanding their qualifications. That would be a matter for the GTCS, which is independent of Government, to give an opinion on.
This is another example of poor workforce planning. To be frank, we are having real difficulty, with a surplus at primary level and, by and large, a shortage at secondary level. In remote areas in particular, that is a challenge. The incentive scheme is not enough. What other measures is the cabinet secretary prepared to consider to ensure that every part of the country has the specialist teachers that it needs?
I agree with the sentiment behind Mr Rennie’s question, but I return to the points that I made to Mr Burnett. Consider the kingdom of Fife, in which Mr Rennie and I represent our respective constituencies: in the previous financial year, Fife Council was in receipt of significant additional investment from the Government of close to £13 million. It took that funding and cut teacher numbers. Fife Council is run by a minority Labour administration that is supported by the Conservatives, Reform and, of course, Mr Rennie’s Liberal Democrat colleagues. I accept the points that Mr Rennie raises, but it is politically incoherent to come to the chamber to ask for additional investment for hard-to-fill subjects while his council colleagues are taking funding from the Government and voting to cut teacher numbers.
I agree that we need to work on the issues in relation to where there are gaps. Those will be identified in the work that we are doing via the marketing campaign. There is also the work that I spoke to in relation to the role of the GTCS, which is very clear that there are opportunities for people to have further qualifications in subjects and to teach in secondary where we know that there are subject gaps.
I encourage Mr Rennie to work with his Liberal Democrat councillor colleagues, who I am sure will be considering whether they are able to vote for the upcoming Labour budget in Fife Council. Last year, they supported it, which resulted in teacher numbers falling.
Centre for Teaching Excellence
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the establishment of the centre for teaching excellence. (S6O-05447)
I visited the centre at the University of Glasgow this week to hear about the substantial progress that it has made following its launch in September 2025. Three research hubs are already open, providing accessible resources and professional learning, aligned with priorities that have been identified by Scotland’s teachers. A further three hubs will open this spring, including—crucially—one that is focused on additional support needs, on which I updated the chamber a couple of weeks ago. Teachers can access the latest research and evidence through the centre, with structured support to apply insights to their practice. There are already 46 seconded teachers acting as points of contact for colleagues in schools, ensuring that research is relevant to and practical for our classrooms.
I am extremely pleased to hear that additional support needs is a focus of the centre, because my eldest granddaughter has additional support needs. With that in mind, will the cabinet secretary say more about the role that the centre will play to improve practice to support children with specific learning needs?
I cannot tell colleagues what a positive visit I had this week, meeting the seconded teachers who are already working at the centre for teaching excellence. They are making a real difference in our schools, listening to the profession and formulating the exact type of support that Mr Adam spoke about in relation to additional support needs.
The centre will have a dedicated hub on pedagogy for inclusion. That will open this spring, and it will have a specific focus on ASN. The hub will give teachers access to the latest research and evidence and will provide practical support to allow our teachers to apply their own insights in their own classrooms. It will allow teachers to share learning across communities of practice, engage with expert panels and develop classroom-ready resources, and they will be supported by teachers who are seconded to the hub. I was delighted to meet a group of those teachers yesterday, who are already helping to make a difference by supporting teachers in our schools in relation to ASN. I note that the hub’s work will link to and be shaped by the short, sharp review that I announced on 15 January.
The cabinet secretary will know that the difference between a mediocre and an excellent school is an inspirational school leader, and we know that we have a shortage of school leaders in our country. What part of the work of the centre will be devoted to the development of school leaders? How will the cabinet secretary incentivise more potential qualified school leaders to take the career path to school leadership?
I thank Mr Kerr for his question. I met a group of seconded teachers yesterday, including a couple of school leaders who are now part of the centre and driving that work forward, and we had a really interesting discussion. Mr Kerr makes a number of points in relation to driving improvement, and, with the support of the Parliament and the Presiding Officer, I would like to write to him to outline in a bit more detail the evidence that I was provided with yesterday.
I also encourage Mr Kerr and colleagues who are interested in the work of the centre to go to the University of Glasgow, visit the centre and hear for themselves about the work that colleagues are undertaking and the collaborative approaches that are being supported all over the country by local authorities the length and breadth of Scotland. The work that those teachers are leading on is inspiring and positive. I will provide Mr Kerr with a more substantive written update on the points that he has outlined.
Question 7 has been withdrawn, and question 8 has not been lodged.
That concludes portfolio questions on education and skills. There will be a short pause before we move on to the next item of business.
Air ais
Business Motion