Scotland’s education system is an inclusive one and is designed to make sure that every child and young person is entitled to support to enable them to gain as much as possible from the opportunities which Curriculum for Excellence provides.

The 2022 Scottish Working Definition of Dyscalculia has been collaboratively developed to provide education staff, partners, families and learners with a nationally agreed description of the range of indicators and associated difficulties of dyscalculia.

At all stages, dyscalculia is on a continuum varying from mild to severe, with a range of strengths and difficulties which are affected by the nature of the activity undertaken, the learning environment and any coping strategies and support in place. As a result, every individual with dyscalculia will differ in how they are affected and in the level of severity experienced.

There are however a common set of indicators that can be observed which are included within the working definition.

Identification and support

Receiving appropriate additional support is not dependent upon the formal identification of a specific need or label such as dyscalculia. However, this should not mean that schools and local authorities are not supportive of formally identifying additional support needs such as dyscalculia.

The identification of dyscalculia and the understanding of what it means can be extremely important to the learner’s wellbeing and their family and this should not be underestimated.

The information gathered during the collaborative identification process is valued and forms part of the ongoing monitoring of the child or young person’s progress and support within Curriculum for Excellence.

A range of templates have been developed to support the holistic, learner centred identification of dyscalculia. The templates can be downloaded from this page and adapted for local authority and school use.

Scottish dyscalculia definition

Dyscalculia is a barrier to learning. The impact this has varies in degree according to the learning and teaching environment.

Dyscalculia can affect:

• short-term working memory
• subitising (the ability to see and count numbers instantly)
• estimating
• ordering, sequencing and directionality
• recognising and understanding number symbols
• how numbers and amounts relate to each other and their representation
• learning and recalling basic maths facts and processes
• applying number skills to solve problems
• everyday tasks involving numbers (for example: money or time)

The definition has been collaboratively developed by a short life working group with representation from:

• The Scottish Government
• Education Scotland
• Association of Scottish Principal Education Psychologists (ASPEP)
• Additional Support for Learning Officers (ASLO)
• Dyslexia Scotland
• Local authority specialist teachers and officers

Consultation with children and young people and a national parent forum also supported the development.

Improvement questions

• How does my understanding of dyscalculia impact on my practice and how do I know?
• How well am I supporting learners with dyscalculia?
• How aware is our school community of dyscalculia and how do we know?

Download the resources

Scottish Working Definition of Dyscalculia (PDF 362 KB)

Dyscalculia identification pathway 2023 (PDF 1.4 MB)

Observation and Planning Tool April 2022 (Word 74 KB)

Dyscalculia Establishing needs form 1 (Word 52 KB)

Dyscalculia Establishing needs form 2 (Word 56 KB)

Possible Indicators of Dyscalculia - Teacher Checklist (PDF 282 KB)

Possible Indicators of Dyscalculia - Learner’s Checklist (PDF 237 KB)

PDF file: Possible Indicators of Dyscalculia - Parent/Carer Checklist (24KB)

Collaborative Dyscalculia Assessment summary form 3 (Word 55 KB)