From 2,284 pupils to just 2: The biggest and smallest Scottish state schools in 2024 revealed

Two state secondary schools in Scotland have a pupil roll higher than 2,000, while there are rural primaries attended by just two youngsters.

The roll figures for every school in the nation in 2024 were recently published by the Scottish Government following the annual pupil census.

It comes after Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth hit the headlines earlier this year when she told a committee of MSPs she believes there are “some schools in Scotland that are too big”.

She added: “I think they are too big for our children with additional support needs, but I think they are too big for our pupils and our staff, full stop.

"And what that means is that teachers don’t get to know their children and young people in big schools.”

Despite the comments, the school roll data shows that the some of the biggest schools in Scotland are also among the best performing in terms of exam results.

Mearns Castle School, St Ninian's High School and Williamwood High School in East Renfrewshire, as well as Boroughmuir High School in Edinburgh, all routinely feature in the “Top 10” schools in league tables, however all four also have a pupil roll that is higher than 1,500.

In total, there are 20 secondaries in Scotland with a roll above 1,500, and they are all in the central belt.

Four of the 20 are in Fife, with three each in Edinburgh, East Renfrewshire and Glasgow, and two in South Lanarkshire.

Pupils at Scotland’s biggest state school, Holyrood Secondary in Glasgow. Image: John Devlin | NW

According to the data, the biggest state school in Scotland remains Holyrood Secondary, a Catholic school in the south side of Glasgow, with 2,284 pupils in 2024.

The only other academy to top 2,000 was Larbert High in the Falkirk Council area, which had 2,060.

The next highest was St Ninian's at Giffnock with 1,980 pupils, followed by St Andrew's Secondary in Glasgow with 1,941, and then Queen Anne High in Dunfermline with 1,859.

The top 10 also featured Duncanrig Secondary, and St Andrew's and St Bride's High, both in South Lanarkshire, with 1,806 pupils and 1,768 respectively.

Then it was James Gillespie's High in Edinburgh with 1,765, Williamwood High at Clarkston with a roll of 1,678, and Robert Burns Academy in Cumnock, attended by 1,666.

The other 10 schools with a roll over 1,500 were Levenmouth Academy in Fife, Lasswade High in Midlothian, Inverkeithing High in Fife, Mearns Castle, Balwearie High in Kirkcaldy, Boroughmuir High, St Peter the Apostle High School in West Dunbartonshire, The Royal High School in Edinburgh, Park Mains High in Renfrewshire, and Lourdes Secondary in Glasgow.

The statistics show that the largest primary school in Scotland is Dunbar Primary, which is split over two campuses in the East Lothian town, and attended by 906 pupils.

It was followed by Our Lady of the Missions in East Renfrewshire with 830 pupils, and Mearns Primary, also East Renfrewshire, with a roll of 740.

Kilpatrick School in West Dunbartonshire is the largest special school, with a roll of 229, followed by Riverbrae School in Renfrewshire with 221, and Craigmarloch School in Inverclyde with 217 youngsters.

Dalry Secondary in Dumfries and Galloway is the smallest high school in the country, with just 13 pupils, followed by Stronsay Secondary in Orkney, with 14, and Sanday Secondary, also Orkney, with 24.

Just two pupils attend both Kilchattan Primary School in the island of Colonsay, and Duror Primary, Appin.

A total of 39 primary schools in Scotland had fewer than 10 pupils attending in 2024, of which 16 are in the Highland Council area, and nine are in Argyll and Bute.

Since 1998, the number of schools in Scotland has fallen from 2,868 to 2,445, a drop of almost 15 percentage points.