Union: 'Teachers being made ill with stress of working with rising numbers of ASN pupils'
The EIS union says teachers are sick with stress from dealing with additional support needs pupils without adequate resources
Scotland's largest teaching union claims teachers are being made ill by the stress of working with soaring numbers of additional needs pupils.
The number of young people with additional support needs (ASN) has risen by more than 710 per cent since 2007.
Yet, a new briefing paper from the EIS shows, there are nearly 20 per cent fewer specialist ASN staff in schools since 2010.
EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley said: “In less than two decades, we have witnessed a more than seven-fold increase in the number of young people in our schools with an identified Additional Support Need.
“This has most definitely not been matched with a similar increase in the resources available to support young people with ASN.”
Ms Bradley said the consequences of the shift are “profound and far-reaching”, adding that young people are not having their individual needs met.
“For teachers,” she said, “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.”
The union surveyed its members in Scottish schools and used Scottish Government data to create the EIS ASN briefing.
Published today, it shows the number of ASN teachers in Scotland fell from 3,524 to 2,837.
This equates to a fifth of the ASN teachers that Scotland once had disappearing from the system in the last decade and a half.
Fewer than one per cent of members surveyed said they had sufficient time ‘all the time’ in a typical working week to carry out the tasks needed to support pupils with ASN.
In 2021, the Scottish Government pledged to recruit an additional 3,500 teachers to help address the growing workload crisis.
Figures released last week show there are 810 fewer teachers than when the pledge was made.
Had the pledge been met, some 4,310 more teachers would currently be employed.
Ms Bradley added: “The Scottish Government’s own figures, released last week, confirm the growing resource crisis in our schools.
“It is impossible to overstate the positive impact that 4,310 additional teachers in our schools would have on issues such as teacher workload, support for pupils, and positive outcomes for Scotland’s young people.
“The failure of the Scottish Government, and its local authority partners, to deliver on the promises made to teachers and pupils in the 2021 Manifesto is what has led to the ongoing workload dispute and our statutory ballot for industrial action.”
Special schools with no pupils or attended only by pupils registered at other schools were included in school counts until 2017 but have since been excluded.
This makes comparisons with pre-2017 figures not like for like, the government said.
Teachers were asked if the under-resourcing of ASN under the presumption of mainstreaming in Scottish education has an impact on teachers.
Some 99 per cent of members responded ‘Yes’, with a further 94 per cent stating that it increases teacher workload.
The union said teacher workload does not allow them sufficient time to tailor teaching for large numbers of pupils with ASN.
Survey respondents said that, beyond teaching and lesson preparation, accommodating ASN was the single largest issue identified.
Unmet ASN can lead to ASN-related pupil behaviour issues that then affect all pupils and need to be followed up during and after classes.
The time then taken to deal with violent and aggressive incidents takes away teaching time, the union added.
Ms Bradley said Scottish political parties must address these issues with credible policy platforms in their Holyrood 2026 election manifestos.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Ministers have been clear that all children and young people should receive the support they need to thrive in their education.”
He said the government is investing a further £29 million this year to support the ASN workforce, in addition to a spend 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 spokesman added.
“Ministers regularly meet families, teachers, school staff and council representatives to discuss matters relating to additional support needs.
“We have also committed to a wider review to explore what more can be done to support pupils and staff.”
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