New figures show more teachers and rise in performance

Spotlight on figures for Courier country

Schools in Scotland are “moving in the right direction”, Education Secretary John Swinney said after new figures showed an increase in teacher numbers and slight rise in pupil performance.

Scottish Government statistics show the proportion of students achieving the expected level under Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) has “increased slightly” across most stages compared to previous years.

Overall performance for 2018-19 was “similar” to 2017-18, according to the report.

For youngsters in P1, P4 and P7 combined, the results showed 72.3% achieving the expected standards in literacy – up from 71.4% in 2017-18 – while for numeracy the proportion increased from 78.4% to 79.1%.

In secondary schools, the number of S3 pupils achieving the third level or better in literacy went from 87.3% in 2017-18 to 87.9% in 2018-19, with numeracy increasing from 89% to 90.2% over the same period.

Angus showed slight drops across all primary areas, but the figures remained higher than neighbouring authorities.

Perth and Kinross also showed falls of 1% in writing, literacy and numeracy.

Dundee and Fife improved in all areas. At S3 level, Angus saw a 1% fall in reading and 2% in writing, with no change in listening/talking and numeracy.

In all other categories in Tayside and Fife there was improvement.

Meanwhile, separate figures show there were 52,247 full-time equivalent teachers working in both schools and in the early learning sector – an increase of 288 on the 2018 total.

This includes 25,027 primary teachers, with Mr Swinney hailing this as the highest total for almost four decades.

The average size of a primary school class in 2019 was 23.5 students – unchanged from 2016, with schools having an overall pupil/teacher ratio of 13.6 children for every teacher.

The figures come a week after international data showed that Scotland’s schools had declining scores for performance in maths and science, although reading had improved.

Labour said the “continual existence of a large attainment gap” highlighted the Scottish Government’s “mismanagement of education”.