Exclusive:Demand for Aberdeen schools quadruples after influx of overseas students and Ukrainian refugees

Out-of-catchment requests in Granite City are four times the figure for 2018/19

An influx of overseas students and Ukrainian refugees has contributed to a near-300 per cent rise in placing requests for state schools in Aberdeen.

Data obtained by The Scotsman shows the number of out-of-catchment applications for schools in the Granite City has rocketed from 668 in 2018/19 to 2,622 last year.

Aberdeen Grammar School is now believed to be the most in-demand secondary in Scotland, while its associated primaries are also among the most popular in the nation.

Aberdeen

But huge numbers of families are being left disappointed, with more than half of out-of-catchment placing requests in Aberdeen last year being rejected.

At secondary school level, a total of 941 applications were refused in 2022/23, while just 431 were approved.

Meanwhile, the number of appeals has soared from 64 in 2018/19 to 187 last year, with Aberdeen Grammar School accounting for a quarter of them.

In Scotland, local authorities assign pupils to a nearby state school based on catchment areas, with parents able to request a different school if they wish.

Earlier this year, The Scotsman reported a large increase in out-of-catchment placing requests in Glasgow City and South Lanarkshire in recent years, with demand often focussed on Catholic schools and those considered top performers in terms of exam results.

Aberdeen City Council has now revealed it has experienced an even more dramatic increase in applications.

The total number of placing requests in Aberdeen is higher than Edinburgh and topped only by Glasgow and South Lanarkshire.

Over the summer, it was reported that local education chiefs in the north-east were warning that siblings in Aberdeen may have to attend different schools from each other, amid soaring demand for places after the overall roll increased by 11 per cent since 2019.

A rise in overseas students at Robert Gordon University and Aberdeen University, particularly those from Nigeria, was said to be largely responsible for the trend, with many bringing their families with them when they relocated.

The number of international students arriving with their families to Aberdeen is now beginning to reduce, however.

Aberdeen schools also have around 280 pupils displaced from Ukraine as a result of its war with Russia, close to 10 per cent of the Scottish total.

And there have been reports of a fall in the number of families in the city sending their pupils to private schools.

Aberdeen Central SNP MSP Kevin Stewart suggested a potential rezoning of city catchment areas as a result of the changes.

“It is not surprising that school placing requests have increased in Aberdeen given that the school age population has grown because of young people coming from Ukraine and other countries to seek refuge in our city,” he said.

“In my opinion the council should also look at whether a school catchment area rezoning exercise is required given the demographic changes that have taken place in some areas of our city.”

North-east MSP Liam Kerr, education spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives, said: “There is a stark increase in parents in Aberdeen who, for one reason or another, don’t want their kids to go to the local school.

“Parents know best about what’s right for their children, and it’s up to the Scottish Government to live up to these expectations.

“More work is required to know for sure what the driving force behind this increase is.

“But there’s absolutely no doubt that parents across Scotland are concerned about declining education standards, a worsening picture when it comes to classroom violence.”

In 2018/19, the data shows there were 353 out-of-catchment placing requests for Aberdeen primaries, and 315 for secondaries.

These numbers more than doubled the following year to 791 for primaries and 664 for secondaries.

The trend continued in subsequent years, with the number of applications for primaries rising to 897 in 2020/21, then to 1,095 in 2021/22 and 1,343 last year.

For secondaries, the last three years have seen an increase from 720 requests to 883 and then 1,279 in 2022/23.

An Aberdeen City Council spokesman said: “The rise is directly linked to the sharp increase in pupils and subsequent demand.

"Given the scale of the increase we have not been able to place all children locally, despite our best efforts to do so.”

Councillor Martin Greig, education committee convener in Aberdeen, said: "The council always does its best to provide the best possible educational opportunities for all young people in the city."

A spokesperson for Robert Gordon University (RGU) said: “RGU is proud to offer an inclusive community that is made up of a culturally diverse and global student population.

"As part of our international student cohort, we have both undergraduates and postgraduates who have chosen Aberdeen as their destination due to our range of tailored courses and welcoming city.

"During the 2022/23 academic year there was a welcome but unprecedented number of international students coming to study with us accompanied by their families.

"Whilst school provision is the responsibility of the local authority, we were sympathetic to the challenges Aberdeen City Council experienced and worked closely with them to support international students.

“Despite a reduction in the number of international students being recruited to RGU in 2023/24, we continue to invest heavily in our student support networks which include a dedicated international student recruitment team, student help point, and support service (ResLife) which works with students across the university to ensure they succeed personally, socially and academically, particularly while living in Aberdeen and the local area.”