All Schools Are ASN Schools: What the 2025 Audit Scotland Findings Mean for Scottish Education

In 2025, Audit Scotland released a report that sent a powerful message across the Scottish education sector: 40% of all children in mainstream schools are now identified as having Additional Support Needs (ASN). This figure marks not only a statistical milestone, but also a paradigm shift—one that requires us to reframe our understanding of what schools are and who they serve.

The New Reality: Every School Is an ASN School

With almost half of all pupils in mainstream education requiring some form of additional support, the traditional separation between "mainstream" and "ASN provision" is increasingly unfit for purpose. This is not just a matter of inclusion—it’s a recognition of reality. When 4 in 10 children need support beyond the standard curriculum or approach, we must conclude: every school is now an ASN school.

This isn't a marginal issue or a specialist concern—it’s the new mainstream. And it brings with it both urgent challenges and crucial opportunities.

All Teachers Are ASN Teachers

If every classroom includes a significant proportion of children with ASN, then every teacher is an ASN teacher. But are they equipped for that role?

Audit Scotland’s report echoes a sentiment that many in education have long understood but which policy has struggled to fully address: ASN is not a specialism; it is a core part of modern teaching. Yet, too often, teacher training and professional development continue to treat ASN as an add-on—something for specialists, something separate.

This must change.

The Case for Universal ASN Training

To respond effectively to this data, ASN training must become a foundational part of teacher education and ongoing professional development. That means:

• Embedding ASN pedagogy in all initial teacher education (ITE) programs

• Mandatory in-service training on supporting neurodiversity, mental health, and learning differences

• Clear guidance and support for inclusive classroom strategies

• Greater resourcing and time for collaboration between classroom teachers, support staff, and specialists

  
  

Scotland prides itself on values of equity, inclusion, and social justice. Living up to those values in education today means equipping every teacher to understand and meet the diverse needs of their pupils—not just some of them.

Why We Created Neurodivergence Connect

It was in response to this exact reality that Neurodivergence Connect was created—by two Scottish teachers, one of whom is also an ASN parent. Between us, we have seen both sides of the system: the classroom pressures and the parenting journey. We’ve felt the frustration of teachers who want to do more but lack the training, and we’ve lived the experience of parents trying to advocate for children whose needs are too often misunderstood or overlooked.

We founded Neurodivergence Connect to:

• Empower teachers with the tools, strategies, and confidence they need to support neurodivergent learners

• Bridge the gap between families and schools by valuing parents as co-educators and experts through their lived experience

• Build a community where educators and families are not working in isolation, but in partnership

  
  

This is not about blame—it’s about building capacity and connection. Teachers need support. Parents need to be heard. And pupils need all the adults in their lives working together, not in silos.

A Call to Action

The 2025 Audit Scotland data should not be viewed as a crisis, but as a call to adapt. If we continue to silo ASN support, we are failing not just the 40%, but the whole school community. Inclusion benefits everyone. Classrooms that are responsive to difference are classrooms that work better for all learners.

In practice, this means headteachers, policymakers, teacher educators, and unions must all act on a shared understanding: ASN is everyone’s business. It’s not about changing pupils to fit the system—it’s about evolving the system to meet the reality of our pupils.

Let’s stop asking whether we have ASN pupils in our classrooms. We do. The only question now is: are we ready to teach them all, well?