“Consortia arrangements” between schools in Scotland are on the rise, according to figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats through a freedom of information request.
This is the term used to describe situations where a student wishes to take a subject that is not on offer in their own school so instead joins staff and students from another school that does run it.
Consortia arrangements have frequently been used for Advanced Highers, where classes are smaller than at other levels, but are not unique to this level.
More consortia arrangements
The figures show 1,599 students were involved in consortia arrangements in 2023-24, up from 1,468 in 2022-23, and the number of of consortia arrangements also increased, to 471 in 2023-24 from 399 in 2022-23.
These arrangements can result in students travelling long distances for lessons, or on other occasions joining students at other schools remotely.
The figures show that some students in Aberdeenshire, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Orkney, Perth and Kinross, Scottish Borders and South Ayrshire had to work with schools more than 10 miles away.
These included students in the Borders joining up with lessons 12 miles away for Advanced Higher physics, maths and history, while some in Dumfries and Galloway worked with students based 20 miles from their own schools for Advanced Higher religious, moral and philosophical studies.
Some students in East Lothian, meanwhile, were 23 miles from the school offering the business course they wished to pursue.
Willie Rennie, the Scottish Liberal Democrats’ education spokesperson, said the figures showed there were “not enough teachers in key subjects”.
“By failing to promote teaching as a rewarding career, the SNP is denying young people the guidance and support they need, especially in more rural and remote communities,” he added.
Mr Rennie said that “young people are having to trek miles and miles to attend lessons in key subjects”, journeys that “take up huge chunks of the school day, precious time that could be better spent learning or engaging in extracurricular activities”.
‘Vicious cycle’
Mr Rennie added that this situation “creates a vicious cycle that diminishes the skills of future generations and undermines teacher recruitment for years to come”.
He called on the Scottish government to “properly resource teachers and staff and to finally guarantee teachers stable contracts they can depend on”.
Official figures released this month showed there were 53,412 full-time-equivalent teachers in Scotland, down by 621 in a year, with the fall largely coming among primary school teachers.
A Scottish government spokesperson said: “While it is disappointing that teacher numbers have declined, the Scottish government has reached an agreement with local authorities to restore teaching posts to 2023 levels next year and is providing £186.5 million to support them to do this.
“Scotland has more teachers per pupil and the highest-paid teachers in the UK. We are investing more per pupil than any other UK nation, and this investment has seen record levels of literacy and numeracy in the most recent figures and record levels of positive destinations for school leavers.”
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