Bad teachers ‘allowed to fail pupils’ as fewer than one per year sacked

Teaching unions accused of making it ‘nigh on impossible’ to dismiss underperforming staff

Incompetent teachers are being allowed to fail Scottish children, it has been claimed, after figures suggested that fewer than one a year is sacked for underperformance.
Figures obtained by The Telegraph showed that over a five-year period, only four of Scotland’s 32 councils said a teacher had been dismissed due to ineptitude in the classroom.
The Scottish Tories claimed that powerful Scottish teaching unions had made it “nigh on impossible” for headteachers to get rid of underperforming staff despite hundreds of newly qualified graduates struggling to find permanent work.
While it is technically possible for teachers to be dismissed due to poor classroom performance, employers must go through a protracted process involving multiple stages to do so.
Statistics released by councils showed that several have never even started initial disciplinary processes for teachers due to performance concerns since 2019, with only two saying they had done so in five or more cases.
There are 54,033 teachers working in Scotland’s schools, according to the most recent figures.
However, only four councils – Argyll and Bute, South Ayrshire, West Dunbartonshire and West Lothian – said they had sacked a teacher for incompetence between the 2019-20 and 2023-24 academic years.
West Lothian and South Ayrshire said they had dismissed one each, with the other two refusing to provide an exact figure due to small numbers involved but confirming it was fewer than five.
The totals reveal as few as four teachers were dismissed due to performance issues over the five-year period.
Miles Briggs, education spokesman for the Scottish Tories, said that while most teachers were “dedicated and tremendously hard-working,” it should become easier to sack those who were not up to the job.
“There are teachers who fall below these standards and that only harms our pupils,” he said. “Powerful trade unions have made it nigh on impossible to get rid of such teachers, which is confirmed by councils only getting rid of a handful in recent years.
“If we want to achieve the best for our young people, then that must change. I back the calls from our leader Russell Findlay to make it easier to replace failing teachers, with talented ones desperate for an opportunity to make a difference in the classroom.”
Major councils including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Fife, Aberdeen and Dundee, which between them employ more than 16,000 teachers, said they had never sacked a teacher due to performance concerns in five years.
In a statement, East Dunbartonshire council, which employs the equivalent of 1,405 full-time teachers, said: “Since 2019, no teacher has been disciplined or dismissed relating to performance or competence.”
While he was running for the Scottish Tory leadership, Mr Findlay said unions had created a system that meant it was “incredibly difficult, often impossible” to dismiss failing teachers.
Figures disclosed following Freedom of Information requests to Scotland’s 32 councils back up his claim.
North Ayrshire council said there had been 15 cases over five years in which “advice had been sought” from its HR department owing to concerns over teacher performance.
Its records indicate only one of the cases went beyond a “preliminary” stage and the teacher did not face any disciplinary action after they received “support”.
Scotland has plummeted down international education league tables in recent years, with the attainment gap between rich and poor pupils also increasing. Nicola Sturgeon once claimed it would be her “defining mission” to eradicate it.
Pass rates for crucial exams also fell this year with Jenny Gilruth, SNP education secretary, admitting results are “not good enough”.
The EIS, Scotland’s largest teaching union, insisted “the problem is not incompetent teachers” but “systemic underfunding” of the education system.
Andrea Bradley, its general secretary, said teachers, who in Scotland must be degree-educated, worked, on average, in excess of 11 hours per week above their contracted hours to meet rigorous professional standards.
“Such robust arrangements ensure it is rare that teachers are found to be incapable of meeting their professional responsibilities,” Ms Bradley said.
“In the rare event that this does transpire, there is a formal competency framework in place which will determine the appropriate action based on the specific circumstances.
“The problem is not incompetent teachers, it is the systemic underfunding of our education system which is letting down our children and young people, and impacting on the health, safety and wellbeing of teachers.”
The Scottish Government was approached for comment.