Glasgow City Council has refused to reveal the full extent of the impact of ongoing teacher cuts on primary schools, The Herald can exclusively reveal.

In May, The Herald reported that up to 45 primary schools across the city faced having only their headteacher out of class for at least some of the week. Teachers and parents have already hit out at the decision, raising concerns about additional support provision, teacher workload and pupil safety.

The latest development came as members of the EIS union voted 'overwhelmingly' in favour of strike action in response to the council's overall plans to cut up to 450 teaching posts over three years.

Read more: Teachers 'overwhelmingly' back strike action over job cuts

Following confirmation of the worst-affected schools, The Herald submitted a Freedom of Information request asking the council to confirm the amount of time each week when each school would have only a single member of senior management not in class and therefore available to deal with emergencies.

The council responded on June 10 claiming that providing this information would be too expensive because it has not centrally collated the data. Officials have claimed that contacting the relevant schools would cost more than £600, allowing them to reject the request entirely.

The response goes on to state that “a table top exercise was carried out in April 2024 using the information available at that point in time”, but then claims that this information would now be out of date and that providing it “would not answer your request.”

In addition to concerns about the consequences of teacher cuts for specific schools, it has also emerged that no Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) was carried out before the process for reducing teacher numbers had begun.

During a council session on June 6, Director of Education Douglas Hutchison was asked when an EQIA had been initiated as part of the proposed teacher cuts. He explained that as part of the budget process his department had offered “proposals” for cost savings, but suggested that nothing else could be done until councillors ultimately made their budget decisions on February 15.

He added: “Having got to that point I have now asked a Quality Improvement Officer to undertake a full Equality Impact Assessment around both the reduction in teachers and the MCR proposal.”

Mr Hutchison then states that it is his “hope and expectation” that the process will be “completed by the end of June.” The Herald revealed at the end of March that the process for cutting teachers had already begun.

Read more: 

Revealed: the Glasgow primary schools hit hardest by teacher cuts

Up to 45 Glasgow primaries facing 'unacceptable' staffing situation due to cuts

Why schools in Scotland needs teachers out of the classroom

Initial impact assessments, provided alongside budget documents in February before funding decisions had been made, identified “potential significant socioeconomic, equality and disability impacts for service users including children and young people and staff.”

Parents have also raised concerns about a possible increase in the use of composite classes across Glasgow as schools struggle to cope with the initial round of teacher cuts. Composite classes have a lower legal maximum number of pupils in recognition of the additional challenges of teaching two or more levels at once.

The most recent census data suggests that, prior to the ongoing teacher cuts, fewer than 25% of Glasgow primary classes were composite.

Leanne McGuire, Chair of the Glasgow City Parents Group, said that her organisation is "disappointed" in the council's failure to clearly communication the impact of budget decisions, and insisted that families "deserve to understand how these decisions will affect their children and their education."

She continued: "With the possibility of strike action from unions, it is crucial that schools communicate this information clearly, no matter how challenging it may be. These tough cost saving-measures have significant consequences for both pupils and staff that must be addressed.

"Every week, we hear concerns from families across the city, especially from parents of children with additional support needs. Glasgow City Parents Group recognises that this may be a stressful time for headteachers and Glasgow City Council's education department. However, it's crucial to show compassion and understanding towards parents' concerns.

“The GCPG is increasingly hearing about parents and Parent Councils feeling dismissed when they raise questions about the proposed cuts in education. This approach is unhelpful for both the schools and the parents or carers."

A spokesperson for Glasgow EIS told The Herald that imposing more composite classes to save money will harm the most vulnerable pupils.

They said: “EIS believes it is imperative that EQIA is done and urgently so the drastic impact of cutting teacher numbers in Glasgow is transparent to all stakeholders. We have been clear from the outset that cutting the workforce by nearly 10% will have a profoundly damaging effect on all our pupils but especially those in high SIMD areas and with additional support needs

"That an equalities impact assessment was not done before the 3-year budget was voted through and the resulting new staffing formula introduced, is a scathing indictment on GCC’s understanding of the declining state of education provision in the city.

"We have long warned about the detrimental effect that multi-level classes in the Secondary Senior phase has on our pupils’ learning and the exponential workload burden it means for our teachers.

"Composite classes with concomitant reduced pupil numbers can work from an educational point of view but as an imposed model to mitigate against cuts, it is yet another ill-judged move which will have a damaging impact on our most vulnerable pupils.”

A spokeswomen for Glasgow City Council said: “The data that was requested is not held by education services and it would be cost excessive to gather.

“Information that was previously issued for a media enquiry was taken from collated information at that point in time and is now out of date. Since then, we have allocated all probationers, considered requests from some headteachers for amendments, and the pupil rolls have changed.

“There is also not a one-size all approach to non-class contact time and each headteacher will manage this in a way that meets the needs of their staff and pupils.

“Composite classes have been used by schools for many years to manage fluctuating school rolls and the numbers in each primary year group.

“There are strict guidelines on how they are used in schools and all composites are smaller classes – a maximum of 25 at all primary stages.”

The spokeswoman also stated that “a scoping EQIA for the budget options was included in the February budget” and that a “full assessment is being carried out by education officers and will be published shortly".