Teachers continue to be left vulnerable to violence and abuse from pupils due to the failure to put in place an agreed national system for reporting incidents, NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union is warning.

In addition, two years on from the publication of a National Action Plan by the Scottish Government, which was supposed to help local authorities and schools drive down levels of disruption, evidence suggests that many teachers remain unaware of the plan, report no change in school practice, and continue to experience unacceptable levels of violence, aggression, and abuse in the workplace.

These failures to tackle dangerous and abusive behaviour are reflected in new figures obtained by the BBC which show that there were over 35,500 reported assaults on teachers in 2024/25, compared to just over 22,500 in 2022/23.

Teachers at NASUWT Scotland’s Annual Conference, which took place last week in Clydebank, called for the implementation of the National Action Plan on Relationships and Behaviour to be made mandatory and for a requirement to be introduced to publish robust data setting out which local authorities and schools have updated their behaviour policies and School Improvement Plans (SIPs) in line with the guidance.

Matt Wrack, NASUWT General Secretary, said:

“Nearly two years on from the launch of the Behaviour Action Plan we are still receiving regular reports from teachers across Scotland about incidents of serious violence and abuse in schools.

“It is clear that in too many schools nothing has changed and that in some instances teachers are continuing to be left exposed to regular verbal and physical attacks from pupils

“We are calling for stronger mechanisms to be put in place to ensure greater accountability and joined up practices across schools, local authorities and the government so that there is consistency of practice across the country when it comes to setting expectations for behaviour in schools and in sanctions for violent and disruptive behaviour.

“Classroom teachers and unions must also be involved in the review and redesign of school behaviour policies, including in jointly agreeing clear, consistently applied consequences for poor behaviour.”

Mike Corbett, NASUWT Scotland National Official, said:

“The figures obtained by the BBC are likely to be the tip of the iceberg as we know that teachers are often dissuaded from reporting incidents and that there are major questions about the variability and reliability of data on behaviour incidents across local authorities.

“If we cannot see the true scale and nature of the behaviour challenges in our schools, we cannot deal adequately with the problem – this is why the introduction of a nationally agreed reporting system that is mandatory across all schools and local authorities is urgently needed.”