Professor John Robertson OBA
In the Herald yesterday:
There are less teachers in Scottish schools but what really matters, and the Herald writer knows is is the pupil teacher ratio.
There were 57 500 state school teachers in Scotland in 2007. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11314736
There were 53 412 state school teachers in Scotland in 2024. https://www.gov.scot/publications/summary-statistics-for-schools-in-scotland-2024/
How has the ratio of pupils to teachers changed?
Barely. In 2008 it was 12.9, in 2017 it was 13.6, and in 2024 it was 13.3.
https://www.gov.scot/publications/pupil-census-supplementary-statistics/
And the ratios elsewhere in UK?
Pupil to teacher ratios were lowest in Scotland (13.2), and similar in Northern Ireland (17.4), England (18.1), and Wales (18.6).
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
1 – 23 in primary
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Hi John a wee bit O/T but still relevant
‘I’d rather be a teacher in Scotland than England’
The headline is from tes magazine 2019 in an article about a teacher from England who came to work in Scotland.
“Teachers have a far better time of it north of the border, says this educator who has experienced school life in both countries”
He goes on to say that “On balance, I think teaching in the Scottish state- education system is better than in the English one. It seems foolish now that I never considered there would be differences; it’s just that my English-centric view had me assume that the two systems would be identical. Believe me, they are not.”
In England, he states, that, teachers “definitely cannot work in a place of their choosing if they are not required on site.” In other words it is “expressly forbidden”
for a teacher in England to take home a pupils work for assessment.
In Scotland you can and he says that “treating teachers with this more professional and trusting attitude seems the norm here.”
He explains why Scottish teachers are “so engaged” and “so fiercely passionate about contributing their views” at staff meetings.
He says that “teachers have a much stronger voice here” whereas in England they are not asked for their opinions or to put ideas forward.
He ends with “ if you were to ask me where teachers have a better time of it, I’d say Scotland comes out on top.”
‘I’d rather be a teacher in Scotland than England’ | Tes Magazine
From UCL (University College London) 2020
Wellbeing among teachers in England is lower than in Scotland
According to their report they used “data from the Annual Population Survey” where they compared levels of anxiety, unhappiness, low life satisfaction and low levels of self-worth across the four consistent countries of the UK.
They found that:
“Teachers in England are more anxious and less happy”
The standout finding is that teachers in England are more likely to say that they are unhappy (21% of teachers) than their Welsh (18%), Scottish (17%) and Northern Irish (12%) counterparts.
A similar pattern can be seen for levels of anxiety, with teachers in England more likely to report higher levels of anxiety (21%) than those in Scotland (18%) and Northern Ireland (13%). The figure for Wales is close to the English figure, at 20%.
Teachers in England also had lower levels of life satisfaction than teachers in Scotland.
Unfortunately they then go on to put Scotland down, as is always the way if England doesn’t’ come out top, by the quite frankly cringe worthy “Maybe the sunny Scottish weather, copious amounts of Iron-Bru and the ready availability of haggis could be factors at play.”
Is wellbeing among teachers in England lower than in the rest of the UK? | UCL IOE Blog
From The Guardian
“Record numbers of teachers in England quitting profession, figures show
Department for Education survey finds that 40,000 – almost 9% of workforce – left state schools in 2021-22 before retirement.”
“The survey found that unfilled teaching vacancies were also at a record high, with more than 2,300 empty posts compared with 530 a decade earlier. A further 3,300 posts were filled by supply teachers, 1,000 more than the year before.”
“Teaching unions blamed poor working conditions and the long-term erosion in pay for the exodus.”
Record numbers of teachers in England quitting profession, figures show | Teacher shortages | The Guardian
So there you have it “why teachers in England seem to be the most miserable.”
And why the SNP Government have made life as a teacher in Scotland an envious vocation!!!
JB
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Aye, it looks like someone is shit-stirring –
“An official note of the meeting, released under Freedom of Information legislation, reveals that council officers challenged government education officials about the current plans, highlighting that their delayed response meant that that budgets had already been set.”
Notable that who made the FoI request remains hidden… https://archive.ph/OVe0U
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If it sounds familiar from James McEnaney…. https://archive.ph/tjqYo
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