The SNP have been accused of failing to support teachers after new figures revealed that almost 600,000 days have been lost to mental health absences in the last five years.
Responses to Freedom of Information requests submitted by the Scottish Conservatives show that 592,272 teaching days were lost to stress, anxiety, depression or other mental health issues since 2020-21.
This includes 142,071 days lost in 2024-25 alone, during which 4,503 teaching staff were absent on mental-health grounds.
The true headline figure is likely to be higher as Western Isles did not respond, South Lanarkshire couldn’t provide the information correctly and two other councils failed to provide complete data.
These statistics come against a backdrop of rising levels of classroom violence and Scotland being the worst in the UK for violent injuries inflicted on school staff.
Shadow education secretary Miles Briggs said SNP ministers’ inaction had pushed Scotland’s teachers to “breaking point”.
Scottish Conservative shadow education secretary Miles Briggs said: “These alarming figures point to a mental-health crisis among Scotland’s teachers, who are being shamefully let down by the SNP government.
“The number of teachers off due to stress, anxiety, depression or burnout is deeply worrying – but also sadly predictable, given the relentless pressure they are working under.
“After almost two decades of SNP mismanagement, teachers and support staff are being pushed to breaking point because there are fewer of them and their working environment is often unsafe.
“It’s little wonder so many teachers are off sick when there’s an epidemic of classroom violence, which has been met with hand-wringing by the education secretary.
“Instead of brushing aside serious concerns about rising pupil violence, Jenny Gilruth must finally acknowledge the scale of the crisis and deliver the support teachers urgently need.”
Notes to editors
Almost 600,000 teachers’ absences have been recorded due to staff mental-health issues. From 2020-21 to 2024-25, councils recorded 592,272 days of teacher and school staff absences attributed to mental health issues such as stress, anxiety, depression and burnout. Aberdeen was unable to provide working-day figures and instead provided calendar days, while Argyll and Bute, Falkirk and Glasgow provided data by calendar year. (Various Freedom of Information requests, available on request).
Over 4,500 teachers and school staff have taken mental health-related absence in the last year. In 2024-25, 4,503 staff were recorded as absent for mental health reasons. (Various Freedom of Information requests, available on request).
The true scale of the problem is likely to be greater. Several councils were unable to supply complete data: East Renfrewshire and Moray provided no figures for 2020-21, and Western Isles did not reply at all. South Lanarkshire provided a link to meetings notes of its Employee, Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion Forum, but this information was not in the format needed. Highland said: ‘Individual numbers do not add up to totals as some employees have been absent for more than one mental health reason listed.’ (Various Freedom of Information requests, available on request).
Scotland is the worst in the UK for violent injuries to school staff. Between March 2014 and March 2024, there were 490 reports of serious injuries to school staff in Scotland caused by violence. The rate is higher than in Wales and all of the English regions, once adjusted for population size. It doesn’t cover Northern Ireland. (TES, 16 October 2025, link).