Scotland’s schools are relatively well funded, according to this IFS report. Falling pupil rolls and workforce planning represent both challenges and opportunities going forwards.
At just under £8 billion, spending on schools and childcare is the second-largest area of public service spending in Scotland, behind spending on health. While councils rather than the Scottish Government itself determine how much to spend on schools, they do so in the context of a funding and policy environment shaped by the Scottish Budget.
Policymakers in Scotland face a number of major challenges. As a result of demographic change, the number of pupils is declining over the long run, which might make some schools uneconomical in the future.
These trends appear even more challenging in rural and island areas. Recently, the Scottish Government has been seeking to maintain teacher numbers.
In the long run, however, it might become increasingly expensive, and even unsustainable, to maintain teacher and school numbers as they are. Scotland’s performance on international PISA tests has also been in decline, particularly in maths and science.