Scottish Government

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL CENSUS, SEPTEMBER 2009

27th April, 2010

A National Statistics Publication for Scotland

This document contains the results of the annual census of independent schools in Scotland. The results relate to September 2009.

The main findings are:

• There were 30,507 pupils in independent schools in Scotland in 2009, 218 fewer than in 2008 ( Table 1.1). The percentage of pupils in independent schools remained unchanged at 4.31 per cent in 2009 after a gradual increase from 3.86 per cent in 2000 to 4.31 per cent in 2008. ( Chart 1).
• There were a total of 3,418 teachers, a decrease of 51 compared to the 2008 figure. This equates to 8.9 pupils per teacher in 2009 (the same as in 2008). The average (mean) age of teachers was 43. The age profile shows a slight peak in the fifties, with 18 per cent of teachers aged 55 or over ( Chart 2). About 85 per cent of teachers were registered with the General Teaching Council.

Schools

• There were 108 independent schools open in September 2009, however 51 of these schools had both primary and secondary pupils. In the majority of tables (with the exception of table 1.3) primary and secondary are counted separately, resulting in 59 primary, 55 secondary and 45 special schools ( Table 1.1).

Pupils

• There were 11,439 pupils in independent primary schools in 2009, a decrease of 1.4 per cent from 2008. ( table 2.1).
• There were 18,086 pupils in independent secondary schools in 2009, virtually unchanged from 2007 (18,079 pupils) and 2008 (18,109 pupils). The number of female pupils has gradually increased from 8,416 in 2000 to 9,046 in 2009 ( table 3.1).
• There were 982 pupils in independent special schools in 2009, a decrease of 38 from 2008 ( table 4.1). Ninety-seven per cent of pupils in independent special schools were funded by local authorities ( table 4.4).

Additional Support Needs

• Among pupils in mainstream independent schools the most commonly recorded support needs were dyslexia (6.1 per 1,000 pupils) and learning disability (2.8 per 1,000 pupils) (tables 2.7 and 3.5).
• In special schools the most prevalent categories were social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (819 per 1,000 pupils) and looked after (269 per 1,000 pupils) ( table 4.6).

Teachers

• There were 917 teachers ( FTE) in independent primary schools (12.5 pupils per teacher) and 2,171 teachers ( FTE) in independent secondary schools (8.3 pupils per teacher). This gives a pupil teacher ratio in mainstream schools of 9.6 (the same as in 2008).
• There were 331 teachers ( FTE) in independent special schools. This equates to 3.0 pupils per teacher ( table 5.1).
• Ten per cent of independent school teachers present in the 2008 census were not in the independent sector in 2009. A further one per cent had moved schools ( chart 3).