(Scotland) 43% of students have special needs; number of places "increasingly outstripped by demand"
- The end of childhood
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Jan 18, 2026, Daily Record: Hundreds of Scots parents have applications for additional support needs schools rejected
Hundreds of pupils were enrolled in mainstream education after being rejected from local authority specialist facilities last year - despite a national rise in the number of pupils with Additional Support Needs including ADHD and autism.
Hundreds of parents are having applications for additional support needs schools rejected, a Sunday Mail investigation can reveal.
More than 500 primary and secondary school pupils were enrolled in mainstream education after being rejected from local authority specialist facilities last year.
It comes amid a national explosion in the number of children being diagnosed as having ASN (Additional Support Needs), including autism and ADHD.
The latest Scottish Government statistics show a record 299,445 children were classified as ASN this year – the equivalent of 43 per cent of the school roll.
Some pupils are streamed into specialist schools with smaller class sizes and additional facilities but the number of places is increasingly being outstripped by demand.
Meanwhile squeezed council budgets mean limited assistants, educational psychologists and speech and language therapists in mainstream schools.
One mum, who asked not to be named, said: “We knew our daughter wouldn’t be able to cope in mainstream school but our application for an ASN school place was turned down.
“There needs to be an increase in ASN placements but also a massive increase in resources and support so children who have to attend mainstream can. . . .
Andrea Bradley, general secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland, said: “The EIS supports the policy of mainstreaming but has long raised concerns about the funding of it.
“The failure to fund ASN support properly is failing our young people and placing massive additional strain on already overburdened teaching staff.”
Scotland has seen a decline in ASN schools, which have fallen by more than 25 per cent in a decade.
Scottish Labour education spokesman Paul O’Kane said “Kids with support needs are at risk of falling through the cracks as a result of the SNP’s shameful failures on ASN. . . .
The Scottish Children’s Services Coalition (SCSC), a specialist care and education trade body, has called for greater support for pupils.
A spokesman said: “A decline in the number of special schools is worrying, putting increased pressure on the mainstream sector, with many of those with ASN more suited to a special school environment. . . .
“The current situation is unsustainable and is not only letting down thousands of children and young people, but also their fellow pupils, teachers and support staff.” . . .
The Scottish Government’s annual census of pupils and teachers in publicly funded schools, showed that the number of pupils with ASN has more than doubled over the past decade, from 153,143 in 2015.
The rise in the number of those with ASN comes amid a slump in the number of special schools, which have fallen from 144 in 2015 to 107 this year.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We are investing a further £29million [$39M] this year to support the ASN workforce, in addition to a record spend of over £1billion [$1.3B] by local authorities on ASN in 2023-24. . . .
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