Improving Scottish Education 2005-2008
Some educational facts and figures

Pre-school

The following information is derived mainly from the 2008 pre-school census.

Pre-school education

• In January 2008 there were 2,823 centres that provided pre-school education following the Scottish 3-5 curriculum. There were 57 centres that provided pre-school education in the Gaelic medium, three more than in 2007
• There were 106,060 children registered for pre-school places funded by the local authority, of whom 5,370 were under three.

Local authority and grant-aided schools

The following information on pupils in publicly funded schools in Scotland is mainly derived from the annual pupil census which took place in September 2007.

• In September 2007 there were a total of 692,215 pupils in 2,729 publicly funded schools in Scotland.
• Pupil numbers have been reducing, in line with a fall in the population. In recent years the proportion of pupils in special schools has been falling slightly, from 1.11% in 2000 to 0.97% in 2007.
• There were 36,510 pupils who were either based in a special school or had additional support needs and were based in primary or secondary schools.
• Scotland’s young people are above-average performers in international tests at age 15. The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is based on standardised tests of reading, mathematics and science taken by students in a number of countries at age 15. Over 2,700 students in Scotland took part in PISA 2006, with 57 countries participating in total. Scotland’s 15 year olds performed significantly better in reading, mathematics and science than the OECD average.
• The Trends in International Maths and Science Survey (TIMSS) is an international assessment of pupil attainment in maths and science at primary and secondary school level which is run every four years. Compared to the two previous surveys in 2003 and 1995 Scotland has moved down the international rankings in both maths and science in 2007. Scotland’s average score in Maths had remained around the same while other countries have improved over the same period. Scotland’s average score in Science had decreased.

Local authority and grant-aided¹ primary schools

• There were 375,946 pupils in 2,168 primary schools.
• About a third of primary schools had fewer than 100 pupils, with the average size being 173 pupils.
• The average class size in primary schools was 23.3 pupils.
• There were 16,478 pupils with additional support needs and who had a Record of Needs, Coordinated Support Plan and/or Individualised Education Plan, about 4% of pupils.
• There were 23,508 teachers in primary schools, giving a pupil teacher ratio of 16.0.

Local authority and grant-aided² secondary schools

• In September 2007, there were 309,560 pupils in 378 secondary schools.
• The average number of pupils in a secondary school was 819, with almost a third having over 1,000 pupils.
• There were 12,217 pupils with additional support needs and who had a Record of Needs, Coordinated Support Plan and/or Individualised Education Plan, about 4% of pupils.
• In 2007/08, 65% of S4 pupils stayed on until post-Christmas S5. The staying-on rate until S6 was 45%.
• The proportion of young people entering full-time further or higher education was 53% in 2006/07
• In September 2007, there were 26,365 teachers in secondary schools, giving a pupil-teacher ratio of 11.7.

Local authority and grant-aided³ special schools

• There were 6,709 special school pupils in 183 special schools.
• There were 2,020 teachers in special schools, giving a pupil teacher ratio of 3.3.

Independent schools

The following information on pupils in independent schools in Scotland is mainly derived from the annual pupil census which took place in September 2007.

• There were 30,981 pupils in 156 independent schools in Scotland.
• Just over 4% of all school pupils in Scotland were in independent schools.
• There were 574 pupils with additional support needs and who had a Record of Needs, Coordinated Support Plan and/or Individualised Education Plan.

Independent primary schools

• There were 11,758 pupils in 60 independent primary schools.
• There were 13.1 pupils per teacher in primary schools.

Independent secondary schools

• There were 18,079 pupils in 55 independent secondary schools.
• There were 8.4 pupils per teacher in secondary schools.
• The proportion of young people entering full-time further or higher education was 86 per cent in 2006/07.

Independent special schools

• There were 1,144 pupils in 42 independent special schools.
• There were 3.2 pupils per teacher in special schools.

Post-compulsory education

Scotland's colleges deliver courses at different levels. A key mission is to improve learners’ employability and skills, particularly at non-advanced level. However, colleges also deliver courses at advanced level leading to higher education qualifications (mainly HNCs and HNDs, but also degrees).

• The Scottish Funding Council reports that there were 468,000 candidates enrolled in colleges in 2006/07.
• Of these 418,700 candidates were enrolled on Further Education courses (an increase on 395,700 in 2005/06) and 49,500 candidates were enrolled on Higher Education courses (a decrease on 51,000 in 2005/06).
• In addition colleges offer specialist provision, for example to people with a disability, people with learning difficulties or additional support needs, and people whose first language is not English.

Community learning and development (CLD)

The Community Learning and Development Activity Survey is a key part of a range of work by Learning Connections to build robust performance information relating to the CLD sector at a national level. The survey collects information on the number of individual learning opportunities accessed and the number of community groups supported by the sector.

The most recent data collection was carried out over a snap-shot week from 5 to 11 November 2007. Returns were made by all 32 local authorities. In total, across Scotland, they reported that during the reporting week of 5-11 November 2007:

• 62,855 adult learning opportunities were accessed;
• 90,317 youth work opportunities were accessed; and
• 3,699 community groups were supported.

In total, across Scotland, the non-local authority partners who took part in the survey reported that during the reporting week the following CLD opportunities were accessed via their organisation:

• 8,383 adult learning opportunities were accessed;
• 4,332 youth work opportunities were accessed; and
• 409 community groups were supported.

Learning Connections know the figures for non-local authority partners do not represent the total range of opportunities being delivered by non-voluntary sector partners and they are working to develop more robust figures in relation to this in future years.

Voluntary sector involvement

• In 2007, three in ten adults (30%) said that they have provided unpaid help to organisations or individuals in the last 12 months. There is little difference between men and women in this respect.
• Broadly similar percentages of men and women overall volunteer, and this is true for most age groups. Just over one quarter (27%) of women aged 16 to 24 provide unpaid help, rising to 38% of those aged 35 to 44, the peak age group for women volunteering. There is less apparent variation among men of different ages in the percentage providing unpaid help. 30% of men aged 16-24 provide unpaid help. After the age of 74, providing unpaid help declines; 17% of men and women aged 75 and over have provided unpaid help to organisations or individuals in the last 12 months.

Footnotes

1 There is one grant-aided mainstream all-through primary/secondary school in Scotland.
2 See note 1
3 There are seven grant-aided special schools in Scotland.