In February 2024, thanks to a deal between the SNP and the Greens, Glasgow City Council passed a budget that included major reductions to education services.

The highest profile cut was, inevitably, the decision the slash teacher numbers – despite the council’s attempts to hide the reality within a broad policy of “education service reform”. Other programmes, such as a massively successful mentoring scheme for at-risk teenagers, were also put on the chopping block, and this followed on from previous cuts to provision that included the closure of a city-wide book lending service for schools.

The Herald has followed the story of Glasgow’s education cuts ever since. We have interviewed key figures,  investigated the opaque processes employed by the council, covered protests by parents and teachers, and highlighted the expected consequences of the cuts to education provision in Scotland’s largest city. When information began to emerge about the detail of the cuts, we mapped the schools that were going to be most severely affected. When a group of Glasgow parents decided to take the council to court over the proposals, we broke the story.

The budget deal from February 2024 covered a three year period, so this is just the beginning – as many as 450 teachers, nearly 10% of the total, could ultimately be lost. So far, 172 posts have been removed, prompting teachers and parents to speak out about the reality of the consequences for families, teachers and, of course, children themselves.

In the run up to the October break, the Association of Headteachers and Deputes Scotland – which represents the vast majority of the primary school headteachers in Glasgow – carried out a survey of its local members. The organisation had warned in advance that such major cuts would have a profound impact and significantly harm the quality of education available in the city.

In response to the latest survey, 44% of AHDS members in Glasgow said that the impact of the cuts had been as bad as expected – but 51% said that things were even worse than they thought they would be.

More than 90% of respondents said that the reduction in teacher numbers had either a negative (46% or significantly negative (45%) impact on their ability to deliver quality education.

A total of 60%said that the cuts had forced a decrease in extra-curricular activities, with many saying that all of their lunch-time and after school clubs had stopped. Several said that this sort of activity had previously been supported by the use of Pupil Equity Funding (PEF), which is provided to schools on the basis of the number of pupils receiving free school meals, but that they have now had to use that cash to pay for staff.

Headteachers also overwhelmingly felt that their workload had increased, with more than half saying that this has changed significantly. For deputes and principal teachers, this has come from an increase in time spent in class, while for headteachers it is driven by increasing time covering classes and providing support for individual pupils.

This has made it difficult for school leaders to attend meeting or engage in vital professional development activities, and also means that schools staff are “struggling to keep on top of other elements of their remits including supporting teachers, communication with parents, and strategic planning.”

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However, the cuts are also having a significant negative impact on the wellbeing of school staff. One respondent said that they have been left “exhausted, stressed” and suffering from “increased blood pressure issues”, while another talking about “low morale” and a “feeling of dread around the impending cuts to come”.

Others warned that teachers are “feeling overwhelming” and that the “personal levels of work stress as a direct result of the current climate” have pushed them to take early retirement.

Another respondent offering an especially stark warning about the situation in Glasgow’s schools: “My stress levels have increased dramatically. I know this is not sustainable. I love my job and love the children in my school but I have no work life balance and I can see the deterioration beginning.  Parental frustration has begun. I cannot sleep with the worry but I also am making sure I hide this feeling from my school community.   With needs are increasing and resourcing decreasing the inevitable negative consequences to attainment & outcomes will be exponential.”

Greg Dempster, General Secretary of the AHDS, told The Herald that although a recent ballot showed his members were “not ready to take strike action”, it is clear that they are “feeling and seeing substantial negative impacts as a result of the cuts to teacher numbers.” He added that the situation is unsustainable, “particularly with the winter season of bugs and absence yet to hit.”

Speaking directly to The Herald, one highly experienced headteacher – who wishes to remain anonymous – described the start of the current school year as a “monumental” challenge. They said that the cuts being imposed mean “fewer teachers in place and it’s already clear that this is having an impact on how we perform in schools.” Detailing the events of just one week, they described how the cuts have led to a huge increase in workload and day-to-day pressures; as a consequence, important work like ASN reviews, forward planning meetings and communication with the parent council had been delayed.

The impact of the cuts on teachers was reinforced by the EIS teaching union, whose spokesperson told us that the scale of the cuts in Glasgow "is impacting on all aspects of school life, and on all pupils and staff."

"For teachers, the cuts to staff numbers leave them with little or no support, and with an ever-increasing workload burden which is placing an intolerable level of stress on many teachers. For young people, there is also a loss of support with absolutely no spare staffing capacity to provide additional help to young people when they need it.

"It is inevitably the young people most in need of additional support who are being hurt the most by these cuts, although all young people will feel the impact.

"These deep and devastating cuts are bad for teachers and pupils in Glasgow, will have serious and long-lasting consequences for all concerned and, also, damage the reputation of education in Glasgow and Scotland."

Parents, pupils and teachers protested against cuts during a March for Education through Glasgow city centreParents, pupils and teachers protested against cuts during a March for Education through Glasgow city centre (Image: Newsquest)

The cuts that have already taken place, and those on the horizon, are clearly having a serious impact on teachers, but parents have also spoken out about the consequences for children and families across the city.

Earlier this month, the parent council of Blairdardie Primary published an infographic highlighting the impact of cuts that they say “jeopardise the quality of education for Blairdardie Primary & thousands of children and young people across Glasgow.” The graphic noted that the school now has fewer teachers and larger classes, and that staff have very little time to plan lessons, support pupils, or respond to parents.

The chair of the group, Alison McIntyre, told The Herald that they are “witnessing the direct impact the education cuts are having on our children's learning environment.”

She said that staff cuts mean that children with ASN “have lost vital help in the class, in the playground, and with their coping skills”, adding that this has had an impact on all pupils, not just those recognised as having additional needs. In response, “Parent Council members have undergone training to help support pupils with their literacy in school.”

However, Ms McIntyre was adamant that “blame does not lie with the teachers or the school, but rests solely with the Council who are responsible for the disastrous and misguided cutbacks.

“Our head teacher and all staff at Blairdardie Primary School are fantastic at their jobs and are somehow still managing to continue to provide excellent care, but parents and carers are now seeing the fallout of the cuts and how the school is being affected. The Scottish Government committed to 'GIRFEC' - Getting It Right For Every Child – and giving young people and their families 'the right support at the right time' but these cuts are going against that commitment. 

“Society promotes good mental health awareness but Glasgow City Council have opted to ignore the impact these cuts are having on their employees - and this all within the first year of cuts. With another two years to go, we cannot predict the health implications due to lack of support from the Council, workload and additional pressure being heaped onto our teachers and the potential life changing impact on our children's education and mental health.”

(Image: Blairdardie Primary School Parent Council)

The Herald has also spoken to individual parents who said that their children have received less support and schools have struggled to maintain the levels of communication seen previously. One explained that, although the council has put together a plan to help their child, they know that it cannot be implemented as the necessary staff are not available. This, they said, means that the council is expecting schools to take action while failing to provide them with the tools they need.

Many of these concerns were echoed by the Glasgow City Parents Group, which represents parent councils from across the city.

Their chairperson, Leanne McGuire, told The Herald that the group has heard “serious concerns from parent councils across Glasgow about the impact of recent cuts.

“With staff shortages, schools are struggling to monitor break times safely, and many are already dealing with staff absences, forcing them to bring in supply teachers, which further strains their already limited budgets.

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“We’ve had reports of children not being able to access crucial one-to-one support because all available staff are tied up in class teaching, leaving some children struggling to regulate in a busy classroom environment.

“The pressure on school staff is also affecting other areas, such as access to services like ParentPay or Showbie, where there’s simply no capacity for staff to assist parents or update systems. This lack of support is not just impacting children’s education but also their overall wellbeing.

“Parent councils are feeling helpless, and unsure of how to support their schools when resources are stretched so thin.

“The reality is, that these cuts are leaving schools unable to provide the level of care and attention that our children need, and that’s a deep concern for us all.

“Unfortunately, this is what we predicted and we are disappointed to see these impacts become reality. We also must remember that this is only year one, we still have the further cuts of years two and three to bear."

A Glasgow City Council spokeswoman said: “Our officers continue to support headteachers and schools and know that all schools will be experiencing different situations.

“Support for learning staff were not part of any budget savings so we don’t recognise the situation being presented and officers will be in touch with the headteacher to offer advice.

“We also meet regularly with trade union colleagues and where any concerns can be tabled.”