Tag: Additional Support for Learning

Strengthening additional support for learning

Delivering better experiences for learners, teachers and practitioners to thrive

A rapid review of Additional Support for Learning (ASL) has set out recommendations to ensure young people’s evolving needs continue to be met across Scotland.

Professional Education Advisor Janie McManus’ expert review of ASL said that clearer expectations, stronger pathways to support across education, health and social care, and early interventions should underpin the next steps in delivering Additional Support Needs (ASN) provision in schools.

Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth welcomed publication of the review outcomes and accepted the recommendations in a speech to practitioners – the first in a series of national events on ASL convened by the Scottish Government.

In her address, Ms Gilruth also confirmed that an app to streamline administrative tasks and free up teachers’ time to focus on pupil needs would be rolled out more widely later this year, backed by £700,000 government funding, subject to the success of ongoing pilots in six council areas.

Ms Gilruth said: “I am grateful to MSPs from across Parliament for their constructive engagement on the additional support needs review. I am also thankful to Janie McManus for leading this short, sharp review into ASN, with clear recommendations for the next Scottish Government to address.

“The pandemic was an undoubtedly challenging time for schools, but none more so than for our additional support needs pupils. It is with the needs of those young people in mind, that we have come together to work collegiately to drive the improvement we all want to see in Scotland’s inclusive schools.

“Across the country our teachers and school staff display extraordinary commitment working with pupils with ASN to provide a nurturing, supportive environment. Through our investment in the CivTech programme, we are seeing how technology can be harnessed to cut the time spent on paperwork and free up valuable time for teaching and learning, helping ensure teachers and school staff have the time to focus on what matters most – their pupils.”

COSLA Children and Young People Spokesperson Cllr Tony Buchanan said: “We welcome the final progress report on the Additional Support for Learning Action Plan.

“Six years after Angela Morgan’s review, progress has been made, though more remains to do. We now better understand the needs of children and young people, supported by new tools and stronger partnerships.

“Local and Scottish Government must continue working together with a shared vision that enables local and individualised approaches. We note Janie McManus’s report and will consider it jointly with Scottish Government.”

A spokesperson for the Scottish Children’s Services Coalition commented: “While we welcome the outcomes of the expert review on additional support for learning (ASL), including the call for timely access to specialist services across education, health and social care, and early intervention, there needs to be adequate resourcing in place to turn this vision into a reality.

“Across the last decade, spending per pupil on ASL has declined by almost a third, and there have been cuts in the like of specialist ASN teacher numbers, which have been slashed by 240 over the same time period. We are facing a lost generation of vulnerable children and young people who are not getting the care and support they so vitally need.

“We would urge the Scottish Government to prioritise the windfall that will come from proposed increased spending on those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in English schools, on those Scottish pupils with ASN.

“With more than two out of five pupils identified with additional support needs, and the Scottish Parliamentary elections forthcoming, we would additionally urge the political parties to concentrate on this issue as they draft their manifestoes and for the public to focus on what these parties intend to do if voted into office.”

Delivering Additional Support for Learning

National review lead is announced

A national review into the provision of  Additional Support for Learning (ASL) will be led by former Chief Inspector of Education in Scotland Janie McManus.

Announcing the appointment to Parliament, Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth said Ms McManus will lead an expert group to examine how to strengthen delivery, including provision in schools and how policy is translating into effective practice.

The review report will be completed within two months and be shared at a National Engagement Event on 12 March. This will be the first in a series of events, enabling teachers and practitioners to come together and showcase effective ASL practice from different local authorities across the country.

The Education Secretary said: “I am delighted that Janie McManus, our Professional Advisor for Education, is leading this work. She brings substantial experience in inclusive education and system improvement, and will lead a rigorous, evidence-informed review.

“Our ASL National Engagement Event will also provide an opportunity for stakeholders to come together, reflect on the findings, and to hear more about the short, actionable improvement agenda, which will inform the next phase of ASL policy design.

“This work will mean we are in a strong position to shape the next phase of ASL policy, ensuring future developments move swiftly from insight to implementation.

“Our commitment is unwavering to build an education system where school staff have the tools and confidence to meet diverse needs and where children and young people with additional support needs thrive – every day, in every classroom, in every community.”

Fundamental review needed of planning and resourcing of additional support for learning

The Scottish Government and councils must fundamentally rethink how they plan, fund and staff additional support for learning as part of core school education in Scotland.

Since legislation in 2004 to make additional support for learning (ASL) more inclusive, there has been an eight-fold increase in pupils recorded as receiving ASL; currently 40 per cent of Scottish pupils – or 285,000 children – receive ASL. Almost all support is now delivered in mainstream classrooms, and it has become an increasingly central part of what teachers do.

The Scottish Government failed to plan for the impacts of this inclusive approach, and poor data means it is not possible to determine the scale, complexity and nature of needs across Scotland. The Scottish Government and councils urgently need better information to understand pupils’ needs and appropriate level of resource to support them.

Existing measures show a wide gap in outcomes for pupils receiving additional support compared with other pupils, including being more likely to be absent or excluded from school. More appropriate ways of measuring the achievements of pupils who receive ASL are still to be developed.

Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland, said: “The Scottish Government has failed to plan effectively for its inclusive approach to additional support for learning. Current gaps in data mean it is unclear whether all children’s right to have an education that fully develops their personality, talents and abilities is being met.

“The Scottish Government and councils urgently need better quality data to understand pupils’ additional support needs and the resources required to provide support to enable all pupils to reach their full potential.”

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Ruth MacLeod, Member of the Accounts Commission, said: “Councils and the Scottish Government must fundamentally rethink how additional support for learning is planned and provided as a core part of Scotland’s school education.

“This includes reviewing how mainstream and special education is provided to meet current and future additional support needs and demands.

“It is critical they work with pupils, parents and carers and staff throughout this process.”

COSLA’s Children and Young People Spokesperson, Councillor Tony Buchanan @antbuc1), has commented following report published today about Additional Support For Learning from the Auditor General and Accounts Commission.

The Auditor General and Accounts Commission published a briefing paper on additional support for learning (ASL) on 27th February 2025. It makes a series of recommendations to Scottish Government and Councils, touching on data, measuring the outcomes of children and young people with additional support needs, funding, workforce planning and school buildings.

The COSLA Children and Young People Board will discuss the briefing at their meeting on 7th March.

Councillor Tony Buchanan, said: “Local Government is fully committed to supporting all children and young people to learn and to providing opportunities so that they can realise their full potential. The briefing paper published by the Auditor General and Accounts Commission on additional support for learning is welcomed.

The COSLA Children and Young People Board will be updated next week, with an initial consideration of the recommendations. COSLA, alongside the Scottish Government, co-chair the Additional Support for Learning Project Board.

“There will be an opportunity for the project board to consider the recommendations fully when they meet next month and consider how these can inform their priorities.”

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Holyrood launches inquiry into Additional Support for Learning

The services that schools and local authorities provide to children and young people with additional support needs will be scrutinised by the Scottish Parliament’s Education, Children and Young People Committee.

More than a third of children and young people in Scotland’s public and grant-maintained schools have an identified additional support need. Working under the direction of the Scottish Government’s policies, local authorities are responsible for identifying, providing and reviewing the additional support needs of children and young people.

The Committee is launching its inquiry with a call for people to share their experiences of how services are provided to people with additional support needs. The Committee is keen to hear from parents, teachers, support staff, carers, pupils themselves and support organisations.

The inquiry will consider how Scottish legislation that aimed to support children and young people, including 2004’s Additional Support for Learning Act, has been implemented and is working in practice.

The Committee is particularly interested in hearing views about the presumption that children and young people should receive a ‘mainstream education’, which aims to ensure they could be included alongside their peers; the impact of COVID-19 on the availability of additional support; and what happens when people are in dispute with their local authority over the services provided to a child or young person.



Sue Webber MSP, Convener of the Education, Children and Young People Committee, said: “Earlier this year, the Additional Support for Learning Project Board told us about its role in improving the support that is available for children with additional support needs, but it acknowledged that there is not a quick fix to the recommendations laid out by the Morgan Review.

“We would like to hear what people with additional support needs, parents and carers, teachers and support organisations make of the current system and the services that local authorities and schools provide.

“If you have experience of accessing additional support for learning in mainstream education or a specialist unit, views on the impact of COVID-19 on the delivery of additional support for learning, or have been involved in discussions about the support a child or young person receives, please get in touch.”

The Committee’s call for views, which is now open, will close on 31 December 2023. Variations of the call for views are available in an Easy Read format and British Sign Language.