Jenny Gilruth announces review into soaring Additional Support Needs figures - but what will it show?
The term “Additional Support Needs” includes a wide array of issues - could a new review limit the definition of what ASN is?
The number of Scottish pupils with additional support needs (ASN) has nearly doubled in the past 10 years, new figures show.
A coalition of children’s charities has referred to the situation - some 43 per cent of pupils are classed as having ASN - as “unsustainable”.
One of the starkest increases is in the number of children being diagnosed with autism, dyslexia and mental health problems.
However, the ASN umbrella is a broad one.
Pupils who have English as an Additional Language (EAL) are classed as having an ASN, even if their English is competent.
Illnesses such as diabetes are classed as an ASN, as are home situations where a pupil lives with a disabled family member or are a young carer.
The Scottish Children’s Services Coalition (SCSC) has called for increased resourcing to address the growing numbers of children requiring ASN which they say is driving surging levels of classroom disruption and violence.
Post-pandemic, young people are struggling with mental health problems and issues with attendance.
The picture is complex. Experts say that during the pandemic the message to young people was that school isn’t vital - they can learn from home.
Some are finding it almost impossible to be back in the classroom even years after lockdown.
Anxiety and other mental health conditions are on the rise with CAHMS service under pressure, although the government said recently it is hitting its CAHMS waiting time targets.
The rise in the number of pupils with ASN comes after a decline in the number of specialist schools, which has fallen from 144 in 2015 to 107 in 2025.
The SCSC is calling for an increase in the numbers of teachers, specialist teachers, pupil support assistants, mental health professionals and educational psychologists.
Further statistics on exclusion rates indicate that per 1,000 pupils, the exclusion rate for pupils with ASN was 28.9 in 2024-25, almost five times the rate for pupils without ASN.
The government is well aware of the issue.
In the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday, Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth announced a new review will be carried out of the categories included under the Additional Support Needs umbrella.
Ms Gilruth said “clear and concise national guidance” will be set out to help support local authorities to record ASN data.
The minister said the data will be used to create a national support model for identifying, assessing, planning and providing help to children, young people and their families.
Ms Gilruth pledged that an ASN Action Plan will be published by the end of the parliamentary term next year.
This has the potential to be politically dicey for the SNP.
If the review finds that the categories should be broadened, the government risks having such a large and complex cohort of young people who will be almost impossible to serve.
Yet, which political party wants to be the one who suggests removing the right to support from some children?
ASN can be controversial. A study last year suggested that middle class parents game the system, knowing that a dyslexia diagnosis buys more time in exams.
Figures to back up that theory include the fact one of the highest levels of additional support needs is found in East Renfrewshire, a solidly middle class area where parents move for the “good” schools.
Among the lowest level of ASN is found in the more socio-economically deprived North Lanarkshire.
Can the SNP keep to its pledge of carrying out a probe before the end of parliamentary term?
It has to. The issue has become far too pressing to ignore.
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