Qualified teachers are 'being failed' by SNP

Scotland’s teachers are being “driven out” of schools due to SNP “incompetence”, Labour has said, after figures suggested the numbers leaving the profession have soared.

- CRAIG MEIGHAN, PA SCOTLAND

Between 2021-22 and 2024-25, the number of teachers de-registering in Scotland increased by almost a third, according to Labour’s analysis of freedom of information (FOI) request data from the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS).

The figures suggest an increasing number of young educators are leaving the industry.

The number of teachers aged 55 or younger leaving teaching has risen by 66 per cent since 2021.

There was a 96 per cent rise in leavers aged between 21 and 25 while those leaving aged between 21 and 45 surged by 106 percent.

Classrooms crisis

Overall, half of the teachers who de-registered in Scotland in 2024-25 were under the age of 56.

Labour said the figures showed that Scotland's pupils and teachers were being failed by the Scottish Government.