When asked if they had been bullied or harassed at work, around of quarter of employees at Scotland’s national inspection and curriculum development body answered “yes” or “prefer not to say”.

In a survey of 262 Education Scotland employees (in March 2020 the body reported that it employed 385 staff in total), 13 per cent reported being bullied or harassed in the past year, with 11 per cent saying they preferred not to answer the question.

A total of 75 per cent of Education Scotland employees said definitively that they had not been bullied or harassed at work.

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The results - obtained by Tes Scotland using freedom of information legislation and taken from the People Survey carried out across the Scottish civil service in autumn last year - compare unfavourably with those for civil servants generally.

Across the survey as a whole - which involved 319,935 people from 106 civil service organisations - 85 per cent answered “no” when asked if they had been bullied or harassed at work; 9 per cent said “yes”; and 6 per cent responded “prefer not to say”.

Reports of bullying at Education Scotland

A total of 35 out of the 262 Education Scotland respondents answered further questions about the nature of the bullying or harassment they had reported.

The most common type of bullying or harassment experienced was “spreading gossip or false accusations about me” or “being denied time off for family or caring responsibilities” (21), followed by “intimidation or verbal or written aggression” (16); being “treated less favourably to others” (15); “humiliated in front of team or others” (15); “negative micromanagement” (13); being “ignored, excluded, marginalised” (12); and “removal of job responsibilities, unconstructive criticism or changing expectations” (12).

Around a third said they had reported the experience of bullying or harassment, with the most common reason for not reporting being “I did not believe that corrective action would be taken”.

In 2019, 12 per cent of Education Scotland staff said they felt bullied or harassed and 7 per cent chose not to answer the question, with 81 per cent definitively stating that they did not feel bullied or harassed.

However, the survey report warns against comparing 2020 results with previous years given “the type of year we’ve had due to the coronavirus pandemic”.

Although Education Scotland suspended inspection to take pressure off schools during the pandemic, the body has come under fire from teachers for being slow to provide support, particularly during the first national lockdown.

In February MSPs backed a motion calling for “substantial reform” of both the Scottish Qualifications Authority and Education Scotland.

The Tes Scotland freedom of information request also asked for any evaluations that Education Scotland had carried out into the impact of its work between March this year and last year.

In response, the body said it had not carried out impact surveys but had asked for feedback to gauge effectiveness following sessions “including the use of feedback forms, evaluative statements, blogs and case studies”.

It said it had “intentionally limited the number of formal evaluations or surveys that were issued as the organisation did not want to place additional pressures on the system”.

The response continued: “We have engaged with a wide range of participants this year through our programme activity as well as through new offers such as our Blethers and Headspace sessions.

“Whilst these are not impact surveys, due to their nature they do provide immediate and very useful feedback on the sessions themselves, including content and method of delivery, which is then considered and acted upon for future programme iterations.”

The Education Scotland corporate plan was updated in September to take account of the pandemic. In it the body said it would “continue to work alongside practitioners, schools and local authorities to provide them with the support they need”.

It added that it would ensure that its “national offer” was responsive by building on “the evidence from evaluation of our delivery”.

Responding to the People Survey results, an Education Scotland spokesperson said that the wellbeing of staff is a “core organisational priority” for Education Scotland.

The spokesperson continued: “Overall this year, we saw improvements in several areas of our People Survey results. While we recognise that the results around bullying and harassment compare slightly less favourably than the wider civil service, we have been working across the organisation to make improvements.

“Following on from the survey results, a colleague-led implementation group is taking forward the organisation’s zero-tolerance approach to dealing with bullying and harassment across the organisation. We also ensure all staff are aware of our procedures and expectations in relation to bullying and harassment, and the Scottish government’s Fairness at Work policies.”