Pupils forced to trek as far as 87 miles to study key subjects

Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Willie Rennie MSP has today urged the SNP government to invest in core education provision and address falling teacher numbers, after research by his party revealed that pupils have had to make multi-mile commutes for lessons in core subjects, including a trip of 87 miles to study English.

Freedom of information requests by the Scottish Liberal Democrats revealed pupils had travelled:

• 87 miles to study Advanced Higher English in 2022/23 in Argyll & Bute.
• 23.1 miles to study Scientific Technologies in 2021/22 in East Lothian.
• Two 17 miles to study Advanced Higher Maths and Advanced Higher Biology in 2021/22 in Moray.
• 14 pupils in Angus had to travel to another school in 2022/23 to study Advanced Higher Biology, Advanced Higher Chemistry, Advanced Higher Maths and Advanced Higher History. One of these journeys involved a 22 mile trip by taxi and train.

In December 2023, new figures showed that the number of teachers in Scotland has fallen for a second consecutive year, despite the SNP promising to hire 3,500 more.

Mr Rennie said:

“No young person should ever have to trek 87 miles to get to and from their lessons, but the SNP’s neglect of education has made that a depressing reality.

“Pupils are having to make these shocking commutes for key subjects, including English, Maths and STEM. They take huge chunks out of the school day, precious time that could be better spent learning or engaging in extra-curricular activities.  

“Young people want to develop their interests and talents, but they can’t be expected to do that if the guidance and support just isn’t there. So much of this comes down to the SNP’s abject failure to promote teaching as a rewarding career.  Their failure creates a vicious cycle that diminishes the skills of future generations and undermines teacher recruitment for years to come.

“Education was once a defining mission for the SNP, but it has fast become their defining failure. Scottish Liberal Democrats want to end this crisis, and that's why we will continue calling for the government to properly resource teachers and staff and to finally guarantee teachers stable contracts they can depend on.”