Created on: 13 Jan 2026
The EIS has welcomed headline increases in funding for Scottish education and anti-poverty measures in the Budget statement made by Finance Secretary Shona Robison in the Scottish Parliament this afternoon.
Amongst the key elements included in the Finance Secretary’s statement are a 2% increase in local authority funding to support improvements including the reduction in teachers’ class contact time, enhanced provision for young people with Additional Support Needs (ASN), and funding for free breakfast clubs in every primary and special school. An announced 10% increase in funding for Scotland’s colleges is also very welcome.
Commenting, EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley said, “While we await all of the detail on the Scottish Budget, the Finance Secretary’s statement in Parliament today did include some significant good news for Scottish education. There will be a 2% increase in local authority funding, which the Finance Secretary says will support key improvements in education, including the long-promised reduction in teachers’ class contact time to reduce excessive workload and enhancements to provision for young people with Additional Support Needs. These are key priorities for Scottish school education, and it is welcome that the Scottish Government is placing an emphasis on these issues.”
Ms Bradley continued, “On steps to tackle the persistent poverty-related attainment gap, the EIS very much welcomes the commitment on the provision of free breakfast clubs in all primary and special schools. This will have significant benefits for the health and wellbeing of young people in our schools, which in turn will have a positive impact on their learning. The EIS would still wish to see free school meals for all school and nursery-aged children be fully funded by government.”
Ms Bradley added, “The promised 10% increase in the budget for Scotland’s Further Education colleges is a very significant step in the right direction, and much-needed within a sector that has been under significant financial pressures in recent years, seeing real-terms cuts of 20%. Scotland’s colleges play a vital part in educating, training and upskilling people at all stages of life, right across the country. It is absolutely essential that they are properly resourced for this essential role that they play.”
Concluding, Ms Bradley said, “The EIS will now look closely at the further detail provided in all the budget information published today by the Scottish Government. We will engage constructively with the Scottish Government, local authorities and with the Further and Higher Education sector, to ensure that the promises made to Scottish education, its learners and its teaching professionals, are kept.”