Pupils trekking miles for lessons shows need for more teachers, Lib Dems say

The Scottish Government has been urged to do more to address falling teacher numbers, as figures show increasing numbers of pupils are having to “trek miles” for lessons in key subjects.

According to figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats through a freedom of information request, 1,599 pupils were affected by “consortia arrangements” between schools in the 2023/24 academic year, up from 1,468 the year before.

Consortia arrangements enable pupils to travel to a different school for lessons that are not offered at their own school.

The figures show some pupils in Aberdeenshire, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Orkney, Perth and Kinross, Scottish Borders and South Ayrshire travelled more than 10 miles for lessons in a number of subjects.

This included pupils in the Borders travelling up to 12 miles for advanced higher physics, maths and history lessons, and pupils in Dumfries and Galloway travelling 20 miles for advanced higher religious, moral and philosophical studies lessons.

Meanwhile, pupils in East Lothian had to travel 23 miles for business skills lessons.

The number of of consortia arrangements also rose from 399 in 2022/23 to 471 last year.

Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Willie Rennie said the figures showed there were “not enough teachers in key subjects”.

“The SNP once claimed that education would be their defining mission. Instead, it has become their defining failure,” he said.

“On their watch, young people are having to trek miles and miles to attend lessons in key subjects.

“These journeys take up huge chunks of the school day, precious time that could be better spent learning or engaging in extracurricular activities.”

“There are not enough teachers in key subjects. By failing to promote teaching as a rewarding career, the SNP are denying young people the guidance and support they need, especially in more rural and remote communities.

“It creates a vicious cycle that diminishes the skills of future generations and undermines teacher recruitment for years to come.

Scottish Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Willie Rennie said the consortia arrangement figures showed there were ‘not enough teachers in key subjects’ (Fraser Bremner/Scottish Daily Mail/PA). PA Media

“Scottish Liberal Democrats want to end this crisis, and that’s why we will continue to call for the government to properly resource teachers and staff and to finally guarantee teachers stable contracts they can depend on.”

Figures released earlier this month showed there were 53,412 full time equivalent teachers, down by 621 from last year, with the vast majority of the fall being among primary school teachers.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “While it is disappointing that teacher numbers have declined, the Scottish Government has reached an agreement with local authorities to restore teaching posts to 2023 levels next year and is providing £186.5 million to support them to do this.

“Scotland has more teachers per pupil and the highest paid teachers in the UK. We are investing more per pupil than any other UK nation, and this investment has seen record levels of literacy and numeracy in the most recent figures and record levels of positive destinations for school leavers.”