Publication: School workforce - Audit scope

Councils have statutory duties to provide and improve school education in Scotland. Education is the service area which accounts for the largest proportion of council spending. Around three quarters of councils’ net revenue expenditure on education is on employee costs, totalling around £5.8 billion in 2024/25.

In 2025, councils employed around 53,000 whole time equivalent teachers in primary, secondary and special schools across Scotland. Councils also employed almost 17,000 whole time equivalent pupil support assistants in addition to a range of other support staff in schools.

Effective workforce planning helps councils to have the right people with the right skills in the right place at the right time. This is particularly important in the context of changing demand for services, such as reductions in pupil numbers and planned reductions to teachers’ class contact time.

This audit will provide an independent assessment of how well councils are planning for the school education workforce and addressing workforce challenges. Where appropriate, we will make recommendations to councils on actions to improve how they manage the school workforce.