Increasing numbers of ASN applications rejected in Scotland
The Scottish Conservatives and Liberal Democrats urged ministers to act after School Leaders Scotland (SLS) released data collected from a freedom of information (FOI) request to all 32 local authorities.
The leadership organisation for secondary schools in Scotland released the FOI responses which show that while the number of secondary places for young people with ASN is staying the same, the number of applications for these places from mainstream primary is increasing.
SLS concluded that there is an increase in young people in mainstream provision who made an application towards specialised provision and who have been unsuccessful.
The overall number of applications for ASN support from mainstream primary is increasing from around 1,000 to more than 1,300.
However, there is roughly the same amount of young people in specialised provision S1-S4, which is an estimated 1,600 places each year.
Over the past three years (2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25) the percentage of successful applications has fallen from 51% in 2022-23 to 33% in 2024-25.
SLS also sent out a survey to all their members and 181 responses showed 99% of respondents had seen an increase in young people within their schools with additional support needs, with 96% saying that there had been an increase in the level of dysregulation in young people.
Some 82% of respondents said it had become much harder for a young person to be allocated a place in specialised provision and more than two-thirds of applications placed by secondary schools were unsuccessful.
SLS decided to investigate ASN provisions after a previous survey sent to members revealed a majority of respondents said proper support for inclusion and/or adequate ASN provision would make their role more manageable.
Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesman Willie Rennie said: 'We are setting up young people to fail and placing an intolerable workload on staff in schools.
'There is little point in identifying additional support needs if the support isn't available to assist young people. When there is inadequate support in the class everyone suffers, not just the pupils with additional support needs.
'Mainstreaming and inclusion is just not working at present. The SNP Government must wake up to the scale of the issue before the system breaks.'
Scottish Conservative education spokesman Miles Briggs said: 'This deeply alarming report reveals the stark reality facing teachers across Scotland.
'They are under immense pressure with the ever-growing number of pupils with additional support needs in the classroom.
'Teachers are completely overwhelmed in trying to deal with incidents, but the SNP are failing to provide the funding and resources they need to cope.
'We've repeatedly demanded proper support for inclusion and adequate provision for additional support needs in our schools – but our warnings have fallen on deaf ears leaving the most vulnerable pupils feeling abandoned.
'It's time SNP ministers faced reality, acted on this report and backed our plan to recruit 1,000 extra classroom assistants to ease the strain on staff.'
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: 'All children and young people should receive the support they need to thrive and to succeed, and we can be proud that our parliament has passed legislation with cross-party support that ensures education is a right for all children and inclusive in its approach.
'However, as SLS's report acknowledges, there is more to do to turn rights into reality and to make inclusive education work practically for all children, teachers and staff.
'The Education Secretary is convening a cross-party roundtable with local government to discuss what more may be done to support ASN in schools and to inform a subsequent review.
'Work continues to meet the challenges that the growth in ASN presents and we are investing a further £29 million this year to support the ASN workforce, in addition to record spend of over £1 billion by local authorities on ASN in 2023-24.'
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