Support staff now go into Scottish schools “ready for trouble”, a union has said after uncovering figures showing a “dramatic” rise in violence.
The findings prompted a response from first minister John Swinney, who has described violence as “completely unacceptable” and is now facing calls for a parliamentary statement.
The GMB Union has said that data it obtained through freedom of information requests showed a 20 per cent rise in assaults and abuse in schools last year.
‘Dramatic escalation’ in violent behaviour
GMB said there was a “dramatic escalation in violence and threatening behaviour” in schools across Scotland, including Glasgow, where the number of incidents rose by 30 per cent in 2024 to 6,081.
In Shetland, 1,794 incidents were recorded involving council staff, up 81 per cent on 2023. In Stirling, there were 836 violent or threatening incidents in schools, up 16 per cent, the data shows.
“Many support staff no longer get ready for work but ready for trouble,” GMB Scotland’s Keir Greenaway said.
The union said some school support staff were wearing protective clothing to work to deal with physical abuse from pupils.
Mr Greenaway told the Daily Record: “Our members are being hurt and abused on a scale that would be absolutely unacceptable in any workplace - any workplace, apparently, but our classrooms.
“Many support staff tie up their hair to stop it being pulled and they are wearing long-sleeved, protective vests beneath their clothes to protect them from scratches and bites.”
He added: “That is the daily reality for many of our members whose fears have been ignored for years while the authorities wring their hands but do little more.”
Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Willie Rennie has called for a parliamentary statement on the issues highlighted by the GMB.
Problems ‘festering for years’
“This dramatic increase in school violence is a deep concern - this problem has been festering for years and yet the SNP have failed to take the necessary action,” Mr Rennie said. “Councils and schools should be empowered to respond to bullying and violence appropriately. Instead, the education secretary [Jenny Gilruth] seems content with very long new guidance that is making little impact.”
He added: “Teachers, parents and pupils deserve better. The Scottish government must make an urgent statement to Parliament explaining how it will tackle school violence.”
Asked about the GMB findings, Mr Swinney said the government was working with councils and unions to protect school staff.
The first minister told the PA news agency: “Violence is completely unacceptable in any part of our society and most definitely unacceptable in our schools, so the government has in place the guidance that we worked on with trade unions and with local authorities to protect staff and pupils in our schools.
“Our schools should be safe places of learning and of work for individuals, and I want to make sure that guidance is followed, and we work collaboratively with trade unions and with local authorities to make sure that’s the case.”
Violence in schools ‘completely unacceptable’
Mr Swinney added: “Trade unions and teachers have worked with the government in producing the guidance that’s now in place to ensure that schools are safe, that violence is not tolerated, and that the appropriate measures are in place to tackle violence in our schools where it is completely unacceptable.
“Those measures are in place and the government will work with trade unions and local authorities to make sure that’s the case.”
Figures released in October via a freedom of information request suggested Scotland had the most violent classrooms in Britain.
Some 490 reports of serious injuries to school staff in Scotland were caused by violence between 2014 and 2024, higher than England and Wales when adjusted for population size.
Mike Corbett, Scotland national official for the NASUWT teaching union, described those figures as “hugely disturbing”, adding that they “hear from too many of our members that serious incidents of abuse and violence are not being dealt with appropriately”.
Mr Corbett said most pupils were well behaved but that there had been a clear rise in disruptive behaviour since Covid-19.
He argued that restorative approaches now commonly used in Scottish schools are only “appropriate for low-level disruption, not for more serious issues”.
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