When the EIS launched the Stand up for Quality Education (SUFQE) campaign some three years ago, there was a clear recognition that it would be a long-term project.

The campaign is focused on some major demands, which are key to delivering a better education system and an enhanced learning and teaching environment for staff and students across Scotland.

The launch of the SUFQE campaign followed on from another extensive period of campaigning during the Pay Attention campaign which, following a move to industrial action, had secured a very significant salary settlement for Scotland’s teachers.

During that battle on pay, a variety of other issues of concern had become apparent within the country’s teacher workforce. The EIS carried out a research exercise, including a national survey of members, to gather more information on the challenges facing teachers in their everyday working lives.

The results of this process confirmed that the three key issues on which members wished to see progress in the coming years were: severe pupil indiscipline, including violence aimed at teachers; the funding and level of provision available for pupils with Additional Support Needs; a reduction in excessive levels of workload consistently being placed on teachers.

In light of this, the SUFQE campaign was designed with a three-pronged approach, with each of these campaign aims to be prioritised at different points in the campaign.

Severe pupil indiscipline and violence aimed at school staff

The issue of severe pupil indiscipline was the first issue to be prioritised in the EIS campaign. A strong push by the EIS, backed up by significant political pressure on the Scottish Government, led to the creation of the Behaviour and Relationships in Schools Action Plan, published in 2024.

The Action Plan set out twenty key actions, designed to address violence and aggression in schools, with these actions set to be delivered over a three year period.

Progress in implementation of the plan was to be monitored by the Scottish Advisory Group on Relationships and Behaviour in Schools (SAGRABIS), on which the EIS is represented.

The Action Plan marked an important step in that it formally recognised the scale of the problem, and outlined steps to be taken to tackle it.

The EIS welcomed the delivery of the plan, but highlighted that its delivery would require to be supported by the delivery of dedicated additional resources – an issue on which the EIS continues to push the Scottish Government and local authorities.

Additional Support Needs

The focus on Additional Support Needs came at a time of a rapidly growing ASN crisis within schools.

Over the past decade, particularly during the Covid period in the years that followed, it has become clear that the level of ASN provision in schools is woefully inadequate in light of levels of need.

it has become clear that the level of ASN provision in schools is woefully inadequate in light of levels of need.

Currently, 43% of young people in Scotland’s schools have an identified Additional Support Need. The number is significantly higher in some schools, particularly in those where young people face additional challenges, such as living in deprivation.

The focus of the SUFQE campaign has helped to ensure that ASN is now at the heart of the education agenda, and compelled the Scottish Government to take much-needed steps to support enhanced provision.

As a result of campaigning by the EIS and other groups, including parental representatives, the Scottish Government’s budget for 2025-26 included an additional £29 million of investment for Additional Support Needs (ASN) for the year.

While more is needed, this was a very important gain in an area of critical need for pupils and teachers alike.

Reducing Teacher Workload

Most recently, the key focus of the SUFQE campaign shifted onto the issue of excessive teacher workload.

This became a major battleground, with the EIS pushing hard for commitments from a Scottish Government and local authorities who had largely dragged their feet on this vital issue for much of the past five years.

Following a formal dispute, two statutory ballots and a move towards industrial action, a deal was finally agreed between the EIS, the Scottish Government and COSLA, for a phased introduction of the commitment to reduce teachers’ maximum class contact time to 21 hours per week as a means of reducing teacher workload.

The SNCT agreement on 21 hours is fully funded, and with the full 90 mins reduction allocated to teachers’ time for preparation and correction.

There is absolutely no doubt that it was the EIS SUFQE campaign, backed by the strength of EIS members in backing industrial action in two statutory ballots, that finally compelled the Scottish Government and COSLA to agree delivery of their promise on class contact reduction.

EIS members alone delivered a strike mandate on this key issue, and the hard-fought gains that will come from the new SNCT agreement on class contact time are a direct result of the stance taken by the EIS and its members.

Further wins as a result of the SUFQE campaign

As a wide-ranging campaign in defence of Scottish education, SUFQE has been utilised at both local and national level to deliver additional significant gains to schools, pupils and teachers. These have included:

  • Additional spending and resources secured at school level where branches and local associations have been campaigning, issued a collective grievance or, as a last resort, lodged a trade dispute and then obtained a strike mandate.
  • Stronger long-term alliances have been fostered with sister trade unions and parents’ organisations.
  • A highly successful Personal Injury Claims strategy, as a component of the SUFQE campaign against pupil violence – PIC payouts to members have increased substantially, up to £460,000 this year.
  • Securing Scottish Government commitments to protect/increase teacher numbers, while local disputes such as in Glasgow have been successful in preventing cuts to teacher numbers.
  • IPPR research, commissioned as a component of the SUFQE campaign, has provided compelling evidence on the importance of preventative spend, resonating with the STUC and the Scottish Government, to the clear future benefit of Scottish education and society.