FOI/202600500568 · FOI · unclear
Ill health and retirement applications made to the Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) from teachers: FOI release
Information requested
I am kindly requesting information regarding ill health retirement applications for teachers only, specifically for individuals whose only health condition is Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Please ensure that any details provided pertain solely to applications where ME/CFS is the applicant's sole or main diagnosed health condition. Can you provide the following data for the year 2025:
Please split into age groups (eg 18-30, 31-40 etc - or whatever is easier with your data)
1) How many ill health applications have been processed in 2025 with the condition ME/CFS or Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
Of those:
2) How many received partial incapacity award approval in each of the years, in each age range
3) How many received full incapacity award approval in each of the years, in each age range
4) How many were rejected in each of the years, in each age range
5) Of the cases that were either partially approved (not granted full capacity) or fully denied, how many were denied due to the reason “may improve enough to be able to work before pension age,” or similar wording?
Response
We have compiled information from all referrals made to our Medical Advisors (MAs) between January and December 2025 for members of the SPPA who are Teachers.
Please note the following important caveats regarding the information provided:
Diagnosis Categories: SPPA do not record the reason for ill-health retirement directly from the member’s application form. The only available source for this information is the diagnosis categories assigned by our Medical Advisors when issuing their decision. Teachers’ Pension Status: if a member qualifies for both a deferred and active pension, this has been recorded as accepted (where “total” refers to active/accepted for deferred). For reporting purposes, this is counted as one retirement. Rejected/Partial Awards: where a member has been rejected or awarded a partial benefit, they have been given the option to submit additional information to seek a higher award as the Medical Advisor does not have enough evidence to make a final decision. For this report, we have only recorded the outcome for the member within the 2025 reporting period. Please note that this may have changed outside of 2025 if further information was submitted later. If a member has applied for ill health multiple times (as they had the opportunity to submit further evidence) SPPA have only included the latest outcome. Our Medical Advisors follow established diagnosis naming conventions. While we have a category for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, there is no specific category for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME). If ME has been referenced under a miscellaneous section, this information has been included in the data we have collated. Where a member has been rejected or awarded a partial benefit, they have been given the option to submit additional information to seek a higher award. Due to that, no definitive answer has been made to whether the member may improve enough to be able to work before pension age as the Medical Advisor is still not privy to all medical evidence.
Please see attached table for data relating to outcomes for members containing a reference to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME in 2025.
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