Current status: Answered by John Swinney on 3 August 2016
To ask the Scottish Government how many pupils will be taught (a) Scots and (b) Gaelic in 2016-17.
(a) The Scottish Government does not collect or hold data on pupils taught Scots in schools. The number of entries for the SQA’s Scots Language Award in 2015-16 was 127, though not all pupils taught Scots will be entered for a qualification in the subject.
(b) Information on pupils taught Gaelic in 2016-17 is not currently available. Statistics for 2015-16 show that there were 6,745 pupils undertaking a Gaelic learner class. In addition, Gaelic medium (GM) statistics gathered by Bòrd na Gidhlig shows that there were 1003 children in GM nursery, 3004 children in GM primary and 1193 in GM secondary.