As part of The Herald's investigation into ASN provision in Scotland's schools, EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley criticises the "current climate of under-investment" and warns that both teachers and pupils are being badly affected.

In the last ten years, the level and complexity of additional support needs (ASN) has increased significantly in Scottish schools, with the latest official data indicating that 40.5% of learners have an identified ASN – in a class of thirty-three, that’s thirteen children with an additional support need. Across the country, we now have tens of thousands more children and young people in our classrooms with cognitive, social, emotional or behavioural support needs, and in many cases, a combination of needs that are even more complex to respond to.

Resourcing for ASN, however, has not kept pace with this increased requirement for support, and the number of specialist ASN teachers and Special Schools has continued to fall, while access to wider specialist support from allied professionals such as Educational Psychologists, mental health, speech and language, and English as an Additional Language services, has become even more limited.

The impact of the pandemic, more than a decade of austerity, the cost of living crisis, and associated rampant poverty, coupled with the systemic underfunding of Education as a vital public service, have undoubtedly........

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