How to stop the epidemic of violence against Scotland’s school teachers
It’s time to end the ‘presumptions’ against excluding violent pupils and in favour of educating children with severe behavioural issues in mainstream schools
Being married to a teacher, classroom disorder is a topic that regularly comes up at teatimes. Over the years, I’ve heard horrendous stories of teachers being sworn at, spat at, bitten, and having books, equipment, even chairs and tables thrown at them. In some of the worst cases, bones have been broken and teachers have had to seek hospital treatment due to pupils’ violent behaviour.
And that’s just at primary school. In secondary schools, where young female teachers may be facing adolescent boys much bigger and stronger than they are, the situation is even worse.
The scale of the problem was highlighted by this newspaper on Monday, reporting on new research by the Scottish Conservatives which showed at least five teachers a day need medical treatment following attacks by violent pupils. Over the past six years, there have been an astonishing 5,222 incidents reported where teachers required medical attention, with 225 needing to see a doctor or go to hospital.
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Teachers should be safe in their workplace
Shocking as these figures are, they do not give the full picture, which is likely to be even worse. Eleven out of 32 local authorities were unable to provide figures, and three failed to respond to my party’s Freedom of Information request. I also hear anecdotally that head teachers are under pressure to downplay incidents and not report them, as council education chiefs don’t want the figures for their area to look bad.
It goes without saying the scale of violence against teachers in schools is deeply concerning, and it appears to be the case that the situation here is worse than elsewhere in the UK, with the highest rate of violent injuries to school staff. In any place of work, employees need to feel safe and protected, and that applies to teachers as much as anyone else.
Why are we seeing what appears to be an explosion in attacks on teachers? Teachers themselves link the decline in school discipline, and the increase in violence, to the SNP government’s guidance which actively discourages the exclusion of disruptive and violent pupils. The statistics show that school exclusions are now at their lowest recorded level, with no permanent exclusions in 2024-25, compared to 164 in 2007-8.
Staff morale suffering
Scottish Government guidance from 2025 states that exclusion should only be used as a “last resort” and encourages schools to address violent behaviour through discussion and problem-solving. The result of this is that even pupils who assault teachers are not excluded or, if they are, it’s only on a temporary basis.
The current situation is clearly unacceptable, not least because of the negative impact on school staff morale. Nor is it in the interests of the vast majority of school pupils who want to feel safe in the classroom so they can get on and learn in a calm, peaceful environment.
So what can be done? There are a number of measures that could be introduced quickly to turn the problem around. Firstly, the presumption against exclusion, where it is only used in extreme cases, needs to end.
It should be up to head teachers to decide what their exclusion and discipline policies are, not the distant Scottish Government, or for that matter even education authorities. If a head teacher wants to use exclusion as a tool where pupils are violent or disruptive, then that should be their choice. And those choices should be supported by local authority education chiefs, and indeed by Scottish ministers. Without any active deterrent, it’s hardly a surprise that some pupils will continue to misbehave.
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A miserable experience
Secondly, the presumption of “mainstreaming” persistently disruptive pupils, or those who have severe behavioural issues, needs to change. The theory that putting those with severe behavioural problems into a class of well-behaved pupils will somehow mean that those who are disruptive will conform is not one which is supported by the evidence.
Disruptive pupils simply mean a miserable experience for other pupils and staff. Those who are persistently disruptive need to be taken out of the mainstream class environment, and alternative provision made for them.
Thirdly, we are currently seeing an explosion in the number of pupils being reported with additional support needs. These pupils require additional support, and schools and local authorities need to make sure that this is provided.
It is not reasonable to expect a primary teacher to have a class of 25 pupils, of which as many as half might have additional needs, without having the support of properly trained classroom assistants. Yet over recent years, we have seen substantial cuts in the provision of classroom assistants, at the same time as the demand for them has never been higher.
Specialist schools closing
If we cannot accommodate those with significant additional needs in the mainstream school setting, then we need to be providing proper alternative provision. Yet we have seen many specialist schools close due to funding issues, meaning that it is once again put back upon the long-suffering classroom teacher to try and meet the needs of a cohort of pupils with a broad range of different challenges.
Despite all the protestations we hear from Scottish Government ministers, the performance of Scottish schools has slipped back compared to where it was two decades ago when the SNP first came to power. That issue is exacerbated by declining discipline or behavioural standards in classrooms, and makes it harder to recruit and retain the quality of teachers that we all want to see.
It is essential that we tackle the epidemic of violence in Scottish schools. The Scottish Conservatives have the solutions to these problems, and it is time that the SNP ended their complacency and started listening to us and others who believe that the current situation cannot continue.
Murdo Fraser is a Scottish Conservative MSP for Mid-Scotland and Fife
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