2. Main Statistics
2.1 In September 2009 there were, in total, 676,740 pupils in 2,692 publicly funded schools in Scotland. Pupil numbers have fallen by 0.7 per cent since 2008.
2.2 There were 367,146 pupils in 2,128 primary schools, 302,921 pupils in 374 secondary schools and 6,673 pupils in 190 special schools ( table 1.1). The proportion of pupils in specials schools continues to be about one per cent, with about 1.3 per cent of pupils spending all or most of their time in special schools or classes.
2.3 The average number of pupils in a primary school was 173, no significant change from last year. About 35 per cent of primaries had fewer than 100 pupils. The average number of pupils in a secondary school was 810, no significant change from last year. About a third of secondary schools had over 1,000 pupils ( table 1.2)
2.4 There were 44,176 pupils who were either based in a special school or had Additional Support Needs in primary or secondary schools ( table 1.6). In mainstream schools there were 37,504 pupils (5.6 per cent of all mainstream pupils) with a Coordinated Support Plan ( CSP) and/or an Individualised Educational Programme ( IEP). This is the first year in which pupils who previously had a Record of Need were not collected through the Pupil Census, but recorded against either CSP and/or IEP. In 2008, the figure for pupils with Additional Support Needs (as defined by: RoN, CSP and/or IEP) was 38,716 ( table 1.6).
2.5 Of those pupils with Additional Support Needs, the most prevalent categories of reason for support are social emotional and behavioural difficulties (13.7 pupils per 1,000) and learning disabilities (13.6 pupils per 1,000).
2.6 Overall, 68 per cent of pupils with additional support needs were boys, a slight decrease from recent years (70 per cent) ( table1.8).
2.7 Of those pupils whose ethnic background was declared (in 98 per cent of cases), 92.5 per cent were White- UK (down from 93.1 per cent). The largest other groupings were White-other (2.4 per cent, up from 2.2 per cent), Asian-Pakistani (1.5 per cent, unchanged) and Mixed (one per cent, no significant change). ( table 1.11)
2.8 The average class size in primary schools was 23.1 pupils, down from 23.2 in 2008. P1 classes had the smallest average size of single stage classes at 21.1 pupils, unchanged from 2008 ( table 2.10). The proportion of pupils in composite classes remain unchanged from 2008 at 26.9 per cent ( table 2.11).
2.9 The percentage of P1-P3 pupils who were in class sizes of 18 or fewer remains unchanged from 2008 at 13.2 ( table 2.16). If classes with two teachers are also counted, the figure is 13.4 per cent (unchanged from 2008) . In P1 nine per cent of pupils were in class sizes of more than 25, up from six per cent in 2008 ( table 2.13).
2.10 There were 2,638 pupils receiving Gaelic medium education, down from 2,766 in 2008. A further 1,402 were taught Gaelic through the medium of Gaelic, up from 1,330 in 2008.
2.11 There were 11,334 pupils assessed or declared as disabled ( table 1.9). There are wide variations in the extent to which pupils with disabilities had been identified in different local authorities and the information should not be considered as complete.
2.12 There were 138 different languages reported as the main home language. The most common after English was Polish followed by Punjabi and Urdu respectively. These were followed by Arabic, Cantonese, French and Gaelic ( table 1.14). Polish was the most common main home language after English in 21 authorities, with Punjabi in six authorities ( table 5.8).
2.13 There were 21,223 pupils identified as having English as an additional language and who were not fluent in English (an increase of 2,222). There were 4,249 who were considered "New to English". This is an increase of 228 from the 2008 figure. ( table 5.9)
National pupil projections (2008 based)
2.14 The total number of pupils receiving publicly funded school education is projected to decrease steadily from 677 thousand in 2009, to 662 thousand in 2015, then rise until peaking at 684 thousand in 2022.
2.15 The number of pupils in publicly funded primary schools is projected to continue to fall briefly from 367 thousand in 2009, to 366 thousand in 2011, then rise until peaking at 392 thousand in 2018. Primary pupil numbers are projected to be above current numbers from 2012 to 2030.
2.16 The number of pupils in publicly funded secondary schools is projected to decrease steadily from 303 thousand in 2009 to 268 thousand in 2016, then rise until peaking at 290 thousand in 2023.
2.17 The number of pupils in publicly funded special schools has been projected to change in line with the projected change in the number of children of school age. It has also been assumed that the number of pupils in the independent sector will remain constant.