The number of Scottish school pupils with additional support needs (ASN) has nearly doubled since 2013 – while the number of specialist ASN teachers is down by nearly 12%.

There were a record 259,036 ASN pupils last year, equivalent to 36.7% of the school roll, with the vast majority spending some or all of their time in mainstream classes.

This has increased from 131,593 a decade ago (19.5% of the school roll) and 36,544 when the SNP came to power in 2007 (5.3% of the school roll). The total includes youngsters with mental health problems, learning disability, autism and dyslexia.

However, between 2013 and 2023 the number of ASN teachers has fallen from 3,290 to 2,898, representing a cut of 11.9 per cent. In 2013, while each ASN teacher was supporting 40 pupils with ASN, by 2023 this figure had risen to each teacher supporting 89 such pupils.

Want to see more SNP fails? – Economic Matters