Exclusive:Scotland's schools under 'intolerable strain' due to overcrowding in classrooms
More than one in seven secondary schools in Scotland are over capacity in terms of their pupil rolls, figures have revealed.
Scotland’s schools are being placed under “intolerable strain” by over-crowding pressures on classrooms, it has been claimed.
Latest figures show more than one in seven secondary schools have a pupil roll greater than capacity, while one in ten primary schools have a pupil roll almost or at capacity.
Local authorities said they have taken steps to mitigate pressures on school buildings, including re-purposing dining halls and adding modular extensions. However, the situation is placing “unacceptable pressure” on teachers, Miles Briggs, the Scottish Conservative shadow education and skills secretary, said.
Almost a quarter of secondary schools are operating at or near their limit, while almost 50 primaries are over capacity, and 10 per cent operating at or near their limit.
Mr Briggs said: “The SNP has put Scotland’s schools under intolerable strain, disadvantaging students and imposing unacceptable pressure on hard-working teachers.”
He pointed to the abandonment of a flagship SNP promise to recruit an additional 3,500 teachers and classroom assistants by 2026.
“Instead, with teacher numbers actually falling, they said they would try to return them to 2023 levels,” he added. “Meanwhile, hundreds of Scottish schools are operating above or near capacity – because hundreds of them have closed since the Nationalists came to power.”
Glasgow City Council said it had taken a variety of steps to deal with increasing roll pressures. Parents at schools across the city have complained about classroom overcrowding, such as at Wallacewell Primary.
While the school has capacity for 545 pupils and last year’s roll was 440, it was not over its limit. However, parents complained about young people having to take split breaks because of a lack of space in the dining hall.
Some schools are re-configuring space to make room for all pupils, physically adapting an existing space to create new teaching rooms.
At Springburn Academy, a council spokeswoman said, the dining hall was adapted to create a new mezzanine floor that now provides an additional classroom and breakout area for pupils.
St Paul’s High School, visited by Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth on Tuesday, has seen an extension built in recent years. The extension area now houses new classrooms.
At other secondaries, such as Shawlands Academy, a new games hall was built in the playground while other schools such as at St Thomas Aquinas Secondary School, St Mungo’s Academy, and St Andrew’s RC Secondary School, pre-fabricated ‘modular’ style units were used to make space.
Data from the most recent School Estate Statistics show 52 secondary schools have a pupil roll greater than 100 per cent of the school capacity. There are 359 secondary schools in total, so 15 per cent of these have a pupil roll greater than capacity.
Under a quarter of secondary schools have a pupil roll almost or at capacity. The figures show 82 secondary schools have a pupil roll of 90 to 100 per cent capacity - or 23 per cent of the total.
The Edinburgh school roll has dropped each year for the past three years, but is expected to rise from 2029. Large housing sites on the outer edges of the city at Cammo, Maybury, New Brunstane, Gilmerton and Builyeon Road are all projected to place pressure on the school estate.
The overall secondary roll at the time of the September 2024 census was 23,828 pupils - the highest since the 1980s.
Various projects to either build new schools or create extensions are underway or being considered, such as engagement in Craigmillar exploring how a new school could be used as a means of improving facilities and services in and around Hunter’s Hall Park and the Jack Kane Centre.
“During their time in office, the SNP Government has reneged on its pledges on classroom sizes again and again,” Mr Briggs said, referring to historic pledges to limit class sizes to help improve teaching outcomes.
“There must now be urgent and long overdue action to reverse the damage that years of SNP neglect have inflicted on our schools – including during John Swinney’s dismal stint as education secretary.”
The Scottish Government has been contacted for comment.
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