Edinburgh schools: Exclusions have dropped as violence increases, says Tory MSP
Exclusions from schools in Edinburgh have fallen by more than 43 per cent over the last ten years despite rapidly deteriorating behaviour, a Lothian Tory MSP has claimed.
Miles Briggs said his research showed that, according to official figures, there were 1,095 exclusions from Edinburgh schools in 2014/15, but by 2024/25 they had dropped to 622.
And he said the drop since 2007/08, the first year for which figures were available, was 68 per cent - from 1,941 to 622.
Meanwhile, he said, a Freedom of Information request submitted by the Scottish Conservatives had found that violence in Edinburgh’s secondary schools had increased by more than 92 per cent since 2019/20.
And he said one constituent had complained that his child’s learning was regularly being disrupted because the whole classroom was often evacuated due to the behaviour of one pupil.
Mr Briggs pointed to a report by teaching union NAS/UWT which described teachers being assaulted with knives, chairs, hockey sticks, fireworks, and more.
Eighty per cent of the teachers who responded to the union’s survey reported being threatened with a weapon by a pupil and 90 per cent being verbally abused. Some 44 per cent said they had experienced physical abuse in the last 12 months.
And only 12 per cent of the teachers felt appropriate action had been taken after an incident. They claimed it was “frowned upon” to be disciplinary and that senior management assumed behavioural issues were the fault of the teacher.
Mr Briggs said: “The fact that disruptive and violent pupils are not being removed from our classrooms is extremely unfair.
“In fact, it is increasingly the rest of the class which is evacuated due to the behaviour of individual pupils. This cannot be allowed to continue.
“Exclusions in Edinburgh have been slashed by more than half while well behaved children and exasperated teachers face unacceptable pressures every day.
“This is unfair to everyone, especially pupils with additional support needs who are stuck in mainstream classrooms, unable to access the specialist teaching they require and who cannot handle disruption as well as others.
“SNP ministers must face up to the catastrophe in Scottish schools and give head teachers the authority to remove disruptive and dangerous pupils as they see fit.”
Education convener James Dalgleish said he was deeply concerned at the rise in violent incidents in schools.
“We take reports of any abuse towards our teachers and school staff extremely seriously. We are committed to making sure that those who work in our schools are equipped to deal with instances of distressed or dysregulated behaviour in an appropriate way, and are balancing a focus on staff safety, while also offering the right training, which includes making sure that all our school staff are trauma informed.
“In addition to supporting staff when incidents do occur, we have extensive programmes in place to promote positive behaviour and to manage behaviours of concern in school, so we can try and reduce the number of incidents.
“We want our schools to be as inclusive as possible and aim to keep exclusions to a minimum, in line with national guidance. We have a range of measures in place to support an inclusive education for all children and young people in Edinburgh, reducing the need for exclusions, including early intervention measures which bring the right resource and support to the child or young person when it is needed. At the heart of this, our focus is always on getting it right for Edinburgh’s children and staff.”