The Scottish Children’s Services Coalition (SCSC), an alliance of leading providers of specialist care and education to vulnerable children and young people, has raised concerns over an increase to a record high in the number of pupils identified with additional support needs (ASN).
The figures were released today (10 December) in the Scottish Government’s annual census of pupils and teachers in publicly funded schools.1 Concerns have also been raised about a decline in the number of special schools, and the level of statutory support being offered to those with the most complex needs, meaning that thousands of children and young people are being let down overall.
The figures show that the number of pupils with ASN, such as autism, dyslexia and mental health problems in 2024 has reached a record high of 284,448. This represents 40.5% of the pupil population, rising from 140,542 in 2014 (20.8% of the pupil population).2
It amounts to a more than doubling (102.4%) in numbers over the past decade.
Amounting to more than two out of five of the pupil population, this is set against a backdrop of budgetary cuts and an ongoing lack of support for those with ASN, including cuts in numbers of specialist ASN teachers and support staff.
The SCSC has called for increased resourcing to address this growing need, which is also having an impact on surging levels of classroom disruption and violence, as well as adequate training and development of staff. This includes increases in the numbers of specialist teachers, pupil support assistants, mental health professionals and educational psychologists.
The rise in the number of those with ASN, is against the background of a slump in the number of special schools, which have fallen from 145 in 2014 to 107 this year.
The SCSC has also voiced concerns over a declining number of those with complex or multiple ASN needs receiving a co-ordinated support plan (CSP).
Prepared by local authorities, CSPs are the only education plans that are legally enforceable documents. They require services such as education, health and social work to work together to give a child or young person the support they need. This provides some guarantees of entitlement to additional resources and legal redress, placing statutory duties on local authorities to review and ensure the provisions contained within it are being met.
Despite a Scottish Government promise that there would be no reduction in the proportion of pupils receiving them since their introduction in 2004, there has been a significant fall in the number of pupils with a CSP. In 2014, there were 3,128 pupils with CSPs.3 However, in 2024 this number had fallen to 1,215.4 This amounts to a drop of 61.1% and is a reduction from 2.2% to 0.4% of those with ASN.
The coalition has called for an expansion in access to CSPs, with the Scottish Government, local authorities, health and other relevant agencies collaborating more effectively to ensure that those requiring such a legal plan receive one.
A spokesperson for the SCSC commented: “While more children and young people are being identified as having ASN, now at a record high, this is against the increasingly challenging backdrop of a lack of specialist teachers, support staff and the resources needed to support them.
“This is not only letting down thousands of children and young person, but also their fellow pupils, teachers and support staff. Increased support is critical, especially post the Covid-19 pandemic and the damaging impact this has had on many of our children and young people, exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis, all of which is hitting the poorest hardest.
“A decline in the number of special schools is also worrying, putting increased pressure on the mainstream sector, with many of those with ASN more suited to a special school environment.
“We are also concerned that despite an increase in the numbers of those with ASN, there has been a notable decline in the use of CSPs, which are legally enforceable and designed to support those with the most complex needs.
“The Scottish Government, local authorities, health and other agencies need to work in collaboration with the private and third sectors to provide the necessary resourcing and support to address the needs of children and young people with ASN. They must also work together to ensure that those who are entitled to a CSP receive one.
“With those with ASN drawn disproportionately from poorer neighbourhoods, if we are to genuinely close the educational attainment gap, these children and young people must get the care and support they need when they need it.”
