Scottish island primary school rescued from being permanently closed

The decision comes as Scotland continues to battle school closures in areas facing depopulation

Plans to permanently close the only school on the Isle of Luing have been rejected, with councillors giving islanders a year to prove the facility’s sustainability.

Luing Primary School was mothballed in 2020 when Covid hit due to a lack of pupils. Seven of the eight pupils at the time graduated to high school on the mainland, and Argyll and Bute Council decided it could no longer justify keeping the island school open. This put it at risk of permanent closure, which residents have been campaigning against after calling the school the “heart of the community”.

However, Argyll and Bute’s community services committee voted by seven votes to four this week to hold on to the school for at least another year, with a mothball extension of five years.

Plans to permanently close the only school on the Isle of Luing have been rejected by councillors.

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The Luing Community Trust said it had developed plans to offer incentives to people with young families to come to live and work on the island in an effort to reverse depopulation. The school’s reopening is not guaranteed, but residents hope their plans for new jobs, housing and other projects will attract newcomers.

Following the decision, a statement from Luing Community Council read: “Argyll and Bute Council’s community services committee voted to extend the mothballing of Luing Primary School for five more years.

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Luing Primary School has been mothballed for the last three years due to lack of pupils.

"It is clear that our campaigning and arguments convinced them to decide otherwise. This is a fantastic achievement, so thank you to everyone who played their part.

"Now we have to make this decision worthwhile for Luing, our children and our island community, making homes available and enabling families and young people to live here. The challenge is on."

The Scotsman previously highlighted the island’s need for better transport options for the school run after the premise was shut three years ago. Parents are sending their children to schools on Seil island or the mainland – a trip consisting of two buses and a short ferry crossing each way.

This week’s decision comes as rural communities battle the widespread risk of school closures, which pose a direct threat to depopulation.

The Scotsman has previously reported reviews across much of northern Scotland have been launched into the future of schools, with some councils planning closures. Some local authorities are reviewing schools with falling rolls, as well as those with dilapidated buildings. For example, a third of Highland schools are in “poor” condition. Despite this, the council’s bids for money to refurbish the buildings to a safer state were rejected.

Figures show 118 schools are less than half full in Aberdeenshire, Highland, Moray and Orkney alone. In the Highland region, 54 primary schools in the area, and ten secondaries, are less than half full. Aberdeenshire has 29 schools operating at under 50 per cent capacity, with the figure expected to rise to 40 by 2028, and a third of all primary schools in the area now have fewer than 50 pupils.

According to officials analysed by National Records of Scotland, Scotland’s population will peak in 2028 before starting to decline, largely due to lower birth rates.