Exclusive:SNP's 'trail of broken promises' as 250 schools have closed since party came to power
Scotland has almost 250 fewer schools open to pupils since the SNP came to power, new statistics have revealed.
SNP ministers have been accused of presiding over a “trail of broken promises” on education after it was revealed almost 250 schools have been closed or mothballed since the party came to power.
Statistics have revealed that since 2007, when the SNP first formed the government at Holyrood, 249 schools across Scotland have been closed or shut to pupils.
In 2007, Scotland had 2,694 schools open to pupils, but by 2024, that number has plummeted to 2,445 - a decline of almost 10 per cent.
The Scottish Government has stressed that school estate decisions are a matter for local councils and has pointed to more than 1,150 school builds or substantial refurbishment projects having been completed since the SNP came to power.
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Nicola Sturgeon maintained that her priority in government was education, while John Swinney has earmarked eradicating child poverty and improving public services amongst his four key aims.
The new data, obtained from the Scottish Government, shows that the number of schools with pupils on the rolls has declined every year since 2007, except during the pandemic in 2020 when the number remained unchanged.
In Glasgow, there are now 56 fewer schools with pupils on the roll since 2007. Glasgow is no longer the council area with the most schools in Scotland - with the city now having 192 institutions compared to 196 in the Highlands.
The number of schools with children on the rolls in Glasgow declined by 11 in a single year, in 2008.
Rural local authorities have also been hit hard with 25 institutions closed in the Western Isles, 23 in the Highlands, 16 in Dumfries and Galloway and 10 in Argyle and Bute.
Only two council areas, West Lothian and Midlothian have seen an increase in the number of schools in operation since 2007 - with an increase of three and one institution respectively.
East Lothian and East Renfrewshire are the only two local authorities to have the same number of schools in 2024 that pupils were attending in 2007.
Aberdeen now has 11 fewer schools with pupils on the rolls, there are eight fewer institutions in Dundee and four fewer in Edinburgh.
Scottish Labour education spokesperson, Paul O’Kane, said: “After 18 years in power, it is absolutely clear that the SNP government does not have a vision for the education of our young people.
“They do not know how many teachers and support staff are needed in Scotland’s, and nor do they have any way to adapt to ongoing needs in order to deliver the education system our young people deserve.”
He added: “The SNP’s record on education is truly dismal, with a trail of broken promises including their failure to eliminate the attainment gap, their failure to increase teacher numbers by 3,500, and their failure to reduce teacher contact time.
“Scottish Labour is determined to ensure that Scotland is the best place for our young people to grow up, by supporting our teachers and school staff to do the jobs they are passionate about.”
Scottish Conservative education and skills spokesperson, Miles Briggs, said: “This is typical of the SNP’s failure to keep their promise to make education a priority.
“The huge number of schools closed or mothballed since 2007 – especially in rural Scotland – shows the reality. The same is true of teacher numbers, which have been lower every single year since they came to office, making a mockery of their pledge to recruit an additional 3,500 teachers and classroom assistants.
“SNP have over-promised and underdelivered on schools, teacher numbers and the attainment gap, and their record on education is dismal.”
The SNP government has come under sustained pressure over a vow to recruit 3,500 new teachers before May’s Holyrood election. In 2025, there was a net increase of just 63 full-time equivalent teachers.
Figures show that 53,475 teachers are now working in Scotland's schools. But when the SNP came to power in 2007, there were just over 55,000 teachers across the country. The total dropped below 51,000 in 2014 and has never returned to the levels before the party came to power.
SNP Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth said that “teacher numbers not only support the profession but lead to improved outcomes for pupils”.
She said: “Since 2014, the number of teachers has increased by more than 2,500 as a result of investment from the Scottish Government.
“In last year’s budget, we provided extra funding, with an uplift in ring-fenced funding for teacher numbers to £186.5m.
“This year’s census data shows that, as a result of the increased funding to protect teacher numbers, there was an overall increase in the number of teachers for the first time since 2022. Scotland’s pupil to teacher ratio also improved to 13.2 and remains by far the lowest in the United Kingdom.”
It comes after statistics published in December show that the poverty-related attainment gap for numeracy in primary schools, which Ms Sturgeon vowed in 2016 to eradicate, would take 133 years to close at current rates. For literacy, the findings show it would take 57 years for it to close.
Scottish Government figures show that for primary pupils, who are assessed in P1, P4 and P7, 75 per cent achieved the level expected under the flagship Curriculum for Excellence in literacy in the 2024/25 school year, the highest level on record.
For numeracy, 80 per cent of primary pupil in Scotland achieved the expected levels for the subject - with no change from last year, the best recorded result.
For Scottish secondary schools, almost nine out of 10 S3 students achieved their expected level for literacy, with 91 per cent at this standard for numeracy – with both of these results higher than in previous years.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Local authorities have a statutory responsibility to ensure there is adequate and efficient school provision in their area. Decisions on the school estate are for them to take.
“The Scottish Government is continuing to invest in the school estate through the £2 billion learning estate investment programme and over 1,150 school builds or substantial refurbishment projects have been completed during the last 17 years.
“Direct Scottish Government investment, in partnership with local authorities, has seen the number of schools in ‘good’ and ‘satisfactory’ condition increase from 62.7 per cent in 2007 to a record 92 per cent in 2025.”
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