One in three youngsters in main UK metropolis will not be native English audio system, new knowledge reveals
Asylum seekers are believed to be drawn to the city because rules require councils to house all unintentionally homeless people, rather than those in “priority need”
New data has revealed that nearly one in three pupils in Glasgow do not use English as their main language. Scottish Government figures show that 28.8% of pupils in the city’s schools are classed as speaking English as an additional language (EAL), the highest proportion anywhere in Scotland.
The number of EAL learners has risen by nearly a third since 2019, when the share stood at 22.5%. Last September, data gathered revealed that 20,717 of the 71,957 pupils in Glasgow schools spoke English as an additional language, which comes as many people are just learning one weird thing about the Scotland flag.
This also includes children who are entirely new to English as well as those still developing fluency. The council employs specialist teachers to support some students, while others receive help from their classroom teacher.
These findings come as there has been growing concern about the city’s ability to cope with the rising number of new arrivals.
Glasgow has been described as Britain’s asylum capital and is currently accommodating more asylum seekers than any other local authority in the UK, with 3,777 people housed at the end of September.
Asylum seekers are believed to be drawn to the city because Scottish rules require councils to house all unintentionally homeless people, including single men, rather than restricting support to those in “priority need” as is the case in England.
Some homeless refugees are reported to have travelled from cities such as Birmingham, London and Liverpool to reach Glasgow.
Council leaders stressed that not all pupils learning English were recent arrivals. They said overseas enrolments had actually dropped by more than 1,000 in the current academic year and noted that part of the rise in EAL numbers was due to more accurate recording of pupils’ language backgrounds.
Despite this, Glasgow still had the highest proportion of EAL pupils in Scotland in 2024. It was followed by Edinburgh on 22.1% and Aberdeen on 21.6%. Inverclyde recorded the biggest increase of any local authority over the past five years, with its number of EAL pupils more than tripling from 2019 to 2024.
Opposition politicians called the findings “staggering” and accused the SNP government of failing to support integration.
Tory MSP Stephen Kerr said: “The statistics for English as an additional language pupils in Glasgow are truly staggering. This scale of demand has serious consequences for educational standards, for social cohesion and for the long-term health of our society and economy.
“A cohesive society depends on a shared language. For so many children of immigrants to have a level of English that requires support at school is a failure of government to ensure that immigrant communities are integrating into wider Scottish society.
“The SNP are guilty of avoiding the difficult work of integrating immigrant communities under a misguided politically correct agenda that is now failing these children. There needs to be a complete rethink and we must ensure that all the people who live here can play a full role in Scottish society.”
A spokesman for Glasgow council said: “Glasgow thrives as a city enriched by many different languages and cultures, and we proudly celebrate this diversity and the positive impact it brings to all our school communities.”
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