Scotland education: Dramatic surge in Scottish home schooling blamed on violence in classrooms
In Dumfries and Galloway, the number of children home schooled more than quadrupled over a four year period.
Classroom violence and declining classroom standards have been cited as reasons for a surge in home schooling across Scotland.
The rise in Scotland has been linked to a lack of support for children with additional support needs (ASN), concerns over quality of schooling as well as a breakdown of discipline, as first reported by the Sunday Times.
Figures show in the 2024/25 school year, there was a 28 per cent rise in children being educated at home.
A total of 2,851 children were home schooled in Scotland in the most recent completed school year. This is up from 2,222 in 2023/24 and a 79 per cent rise on the 1,591 recorded in 2021/22.
In May, GMB Scotland said pupil support assistants were the most likely staff to suffer violence and abuse in Scotland’s classrooms. The union warned of an “epidemic of assault” and verbal abuse in Scottish schools.
Huge rise in families choosing home education ‘should sound alarm bells’
Miles Briggs, education spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives, said: “Parents, of course, should have the option of home education if that is their preference. But the huge rise in families choosing this route should sound alarm bells for the SNP.
“Clearly something negative is happening in Scotland’s education system if so many more people are choosing to educate their child themselves rather than within the state system.
“Given plunging standards and rising levels of violence and disruption in schools, perhaps SNP ministers shouldn’t be surprised by this trend.
“After 18 years of the SNP in full control of education in Scotland, it’s clear that more and more parents have decided that falling standards in schools means they cannot trust the SNP with their children’s education.”
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Permission from a local council is required to take a child out of school in Scotland, though it must not be withheld “unreasonably”.
Figures show dramatic rise in home schooling
In Argyll and Bute, figures show the number of children home schooled rose from 15 in 2021/22 to 73 in 2024/25.
In Fife, the number went from 49 to 260 over the same period. Meanwhile, in Glasgow, the figure increased from 88 to 258 and in Dumfries and Galloway, the number more than quadrupled, from 53 to 218, over the four years.
The statistics do not include Edinburgh, where the council said 49 children had been registered as home schooled in 2024/25, because the local authority did not provide figures for previous years. Shetland was the only other council not to provide present and previous figures.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Ministers are clear that violence and abusive behaviour in schools is completely unacceptable and we have a joint national action plan to ensure that classrooms are safe environments for staff and pupils alike.
“Work continues to meet the challenges that the growth in ASN presents and we are investing a further £29 million this year to support the ASN workforce, in addition to a record spend of over £1 billion by local authorities on ASN in 2023/24.”
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