Growing gap between reality and practice for ASN pupils - report

There is a "growing gap" between the support children who have additional support needs (ASN) should receive and what is happening in practice, according to a new report.

The Scottish government review comes as schools are struggling to cope with a growing number of ASN pupils.

Published by former chief inspector of education Janie McManus, the report highlights growing pressures on teachers and wide variations in access to services between council areas.

Education secretary Jenny Gilruth said the report would help improve the consistency of support for ASN pupils across the country.

Almost 300,000 Scottish school pupils (43%) are now categorised as ASN, with the vast majority in mainstream schools.

The report says additional support for learning is now central to how education provision operates on a day-to-day basis, with many ASN pupils across Scotland well supported.

But it suggests early intervention is often overlooked due to capacity and resources.

It says staff have described a significant increase in the number of children and young people requiring support as well as a variation in the complexity of needs.

Examples of reported ASNs include neurodivergence, communication needs, dysregulation, developmental delays at earlier ages and children for whom English is a second language.

It criticises a lack of early intervention and says staff in nurseries have also reported a rise in the number of two and three-year-olds needing support.

But it finds professional learning has not kept up with the scale and complexity of of ASN in mainstream education.

McManus's report describes the delays families, staff and local authorities experienced in accessing some specialist report.

It says experiences can differ widely across Scotland which can make it harder for families to understand how to access support in their area.

Reasons for variations in the report include staffing, resource responsibility and available provision.

The report suggests there is inconsistent and unequal support across the country.

It says a delay in support can add pressure to children, staff and families.

The report states six requirements that must be in place for Scotland to deliver to effective support for children, with a focus on preventative and early support.

Requirements include a consistent national framework, ongoing professional development for staff and sufficient capacity to make effective long-term decisions.

It also makes six recommendations, such as looking at staffing and existing legislation and guidance.

Education secretary Jenny Gilruth said there has been an "exponential growth" in children with additional support needs.

"The need is great, the complexity is far greater and yet the approach we are using is rooted in a system that doesn't exist anymore," she told BBC Scotland.

She said the report highlights a lack of consistency of approach.

"What I am really focused on is ensuring that children, young people and their parents experience that consistency of support across the country and that is not the case currently," she said.

Author Janie McManus said the additional support needs of pupils have changed but the system has not adapted at the same pace.

She said: "My ambition for ASN in Scotland would be that every child - no matter which school they go to - gets the right support at the right time and that it is really well coordinated and enables them to make progress in their learning."

Gilruth added that the Scottish government has invested additional funding for additional support needs in Scotland's schools.