Pupils trekking miles for lessons shows need for more teachers, Lib Dems say
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The Scottish Government has been urged to do more to address falling teacher numbers, as figures show increasing numbers of pupils are having to “trek miles” for lessons in key subjects. According to figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats through a freedom of information request, 1,599 pupils were affected by “consortia arrangements” between schools in the 2023/24 academic year, up from 1,468 the year before.
Consortia arrangements enable pupils to travel to a different school for lessons that are not offered at their own school. The figures show some pupils in Aberdeenshire, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Orkney, Perth and Kinross, Scottish Borders and South Ayrshire travelled more than 10 miles for lessons in a number of subjects.
This included pupils in the Borders travelling up to 12 miles for advanced higher physics, maths and history lessons, and pupils in Dumfries and Galloway travelling 20 miles for advanced higher religious, moral and philosophical studies lessons. Meanwhile, pupils in East Lothian had to travel 23 miles for business skills lessons.
The number of of consortia arrangements also rose from 399 in 2022/23 to 471 last year. Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Willie Rennie said the figures showed there were “not enough teachers in key subjects”. “The SNP once claimed that education would be their defining mission. Instead, it has become their defining failure,” he said.
