Scotland's Schools Face Curriculum Cuts as Teacher Shortage Worsens
Secondary schools across Scotland are cutting subjects and adjusting timetables due to a severe shortage of specialist teachers, according to education leaders. The Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES) has demanded an immediate national action plan to address what it terms a "crisis" in teacher recruitment.
Curriculum Impact and Recruitment Failures
ADES reports critical shortfalls in subjects such as maths, science, design technology, and computing. This means pupils are frequently unable to access a full range of subjects throughout their schooling. Laurence Findlay, ADES president and education director at Aberdeenshire Council, stated that the “persistent and worsening shortage” has forced head teachers to make difficult decisions, leading to the absence of home economics, computing, and technical studies classes for some year groups.
Analysis shows more than 4,000 places on the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE), the main secondary teacher training course, have not been filled over the past nine years. Recruitment targets have been consistently missed across most subjects, particularly in maths, English, and sciences. For instance, in 2024/25, only 54 students joined the PGDE chemistry course against a target of 159, and only 75 trainee teachers were recruited for maths against a target of 250.
Head Teachers Grapple with Understaffing
Louise Moir, head teacher of Mackie Academy in Stonehaven and vice president of School Leaders Scotland, confirmed that schools, both urban and rural, are struggling to attract qualified staff. She explained that timetables are increasingly structured around available teachers rather than a comprehensive curriculum. Supply teachers are often deployed to subjects where they lack specialism, compromising the quality of instruction.
At Mackie Academy, Olivia, a 12-year-old first-year pupil, enjoys woodwork. However, the class will not be available to S1 pupils next year due to a lack of design technology teachers, with the school receiving no applicants after two advertisements. Practical workshop classes will be replaced by instruction from art teachers.
Controversial Solutions Proposed
Moir suggested that a four-day school week, though controversial, should be considered as an option to alleviate teacher shortages. This could involve compressed hours or a fifth day of online learning, potentially allowing specialist teachers to be shared across multiple schools. Online learning is already utilised for some Advanced Higher subjects to address staffing gaps.
However, Katrina Suèr, chair of the parent council at Mearns Academy in Aberdeenshire, dismissed the four-day week as impractical for working parents and detrimental to pupils’ education. Parent councils in Aberdeenshire wrote to the Scottish government in 2024, highlighting the urgent need for action in the north-east, with Ms Suèr noting that the situation has since deteriorated.
The Scottish government maintains that teacher numbers have increased over the last decade and that Scotland boasts the lowest pupil-teacher ratio and smallest class sizes in the UK. A spokesperson stated that teacher training targets are adjusted annually based on actual recruitment, suggesting that shortfalls do not simply accumulate year-on-year. However, official workforce planning figures indicate a consistent over-recruitment of primary teachers and under-recruitment of secondary teachers across most subjects for the past nine years.
