Secondary school teaching vacancies have risen in Aberdeen, according to new data revealing the city now has the most unfilled posts of any Scottish local authority.
As of September this year, Aberdeen City Council had 35 advertised vacancies for secondary school posts, an increase of three on last year.
It means the city had the most vacant positions, followed by Fife Council on 29 and Glasgow City Council on 27.
Of the 35 Aberdeen vacancies, 16 of the positions had been unfilled for more than three months – the most of any council.
Scotland as a whole saw a reduction in secondary vacancies from 402 in 2018 to 294 this year, the survey conducted by the Scottish Government and CoSLA said.
Primary school vacancies fell from 204 to 88 over the same period.
Argyll and Bute was another council to experience a rise in secondary vacancies from five to 11.
In Aberdeenshire, they fell from 33 to 18. A similar trend was experienced in Moray which had a fall from 21 to 17. Highland fell from eight to five.
Tory MSP Alexander Burnett said: “Aberdeen City Council are doing the best they can to help newly-qualified teachers into the classroom, and encouraging more applicants.
“But it is a Scotland-wide problem under the SNP and all local authorities are competing for the same people.”
An Aberdeen City Council spokesman said there had been a “significant improvement” in teacher recruitment and retention.
“We have started the 2019/20 year in a far stronger position than we have for a number of years,” he said.
Education Secretary John Swinney said the data was “encouraging” across Scotland, with secondary vacancies at their lowest since 2016.