High end dinners are a fraction of over 29,000 lobbying meetings in the last parliamentary term. But campaigners argue that because the lobbying spend is not declared, their significance is underplayed.
Education has been a central theme of this election, with opposition parties repeatedly attacking the SNP’s record in government and questioning whether the party has lived up to its promises to improve outcomes and standards in schools.
During a special debate on education on the BBC’s Sunday Show, Conservative candidate and former MSP Meghan Gallacher listed a series of SNP pledges which she claimed they had failed to live up to. One was about the number of teachers across the country.
“They [The SNP in government] promised to recruit 3,500 teachers. They've recruited 75." – Meghan Gallacher MSP
The Ferret Fact Service looked at this claim and found it Mostly True.
Evidence
Gallacher’s claim refers to a pledge made by the SNP ahead of the 2021 Scottish Parliament election. In its manifesto, the party committed to “increasing teacher numbers and classroom assistants by a further 3,500 on top of the increase over the last parliament”.
After the SNP won this election and formed the Scottish Government, its pledge was confirmed in the first Programme For Government, which sets out government policies and priorities each year. It stated: “Over the course of the parliament, we will provide funding to support the recruitment of at least 3,500 teachers… over and above the 1,400 recruited during the pandemic”. This means the government pledged to recruit at least 3,500 between 2021 and when parliament ended in 2026 ahead of the current election.
Statistics for teachers are recorded annually by the Scottish Government. The latest figures were released in March, and cover the period up to September 2025. They showed 53,475 full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers in Scotland, including early learning and childcare teachers.
FTE adds up full-time, part-time and other types of employment to show you the amount of full-time positions covered. It gives a more accurate representation of ‘real time’ staffing levels than overall numbers.
Meghan Gallacher’s claim was that just 75 teachers had been put in place since the SNP made its promise to increase numbers by 3,500.
In 2020, the number of FTE teachers was 53,400. This means between 2020 and 2025 there was an increase of 75, which was first highlighted in an article in The Herald in December 2025. This article was cited in evidence to the Ferret Fact Service by the Scottish Conservatives.
The SNP’s pledge was to increase the number of teachers over and above the 1,400 pledged during the Covid-19 pandemic. Since 2021, when teacher increases were reflected in statistics, there has actually been a decrease in FTE numbers, from 54,285 to 53,475.
A report from the Scottish Government in 2025 highlighted that some additional teachers were being trained but, since 2021, many were unable to find roles in schools. The report stated that “since 2019/20, we estimate that an excess of approximately 950 primary teachers have been trained”. But because there were not enough additional teaching posts, an estimated 939 surplus teachers were not working by 2022-2023.
Ferret Fact Service verdict: Mostly True
Meghan Gallacher’s claim is accurate when looking at the latest figures on teacher numbers over the last parliamentary period from 2021 to 2026. Looking at the SNP-led Scottish Government’s pledge, there may in fact have been a decrease in working teacher numbers since additional teachers were added during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Alastair leads our fact-checking arm, The Ferret Fact Service, and writes about disinformation and conspiracy theories. He also delivers training on media literacy and spotting disinformation. He spends his free time at gigs in basements.
Alastair Brian
