The annual revelation that larger schools cost less to run per pupil than smaller ones has been issued by the Scottish Executive. The figures show the average primary now costs pound;2,369 per pupil and the average secondary pound;3,505 (compared with pound;1,642 and pound;2,686 respectively a decade ago).
The Executive applies more health warnings to these statistics than to any of the others in its “information for parents” series. It notes that running costs are not just affected by size of school but by the presence or otherwise of a special unit, changes to budgetary allocations, higher costs in rural and island areas, the condition of the buildings and higher staffing ratios in some schools.
