Dumfries High School, Dumfries
Dumfries High School is a secondary school for pupils in Dumfries.
- Attendance
- 89.3%
Data last updated 25 Oct 2026
Dumfries High School in detail
School in Scotland
Dumfries High School is a local authority school in Scotland. Scottish schools are inspected by Education Scotland rather than Ofsted, and Scotland does not publish school-by-school exam league tables.
In the 2025 pupil census it had 849 pupils and 14.8 pupils per teacher.
13% of pupils are registered for free school meals, 45% of pupils have an additional support need recorded and 2% speak English as an additional language.
3% of its pupils live in Scotland's most deprived fifth of areas and 36% in the least deprived fifth (SIMD).
Attendance was 89.3% in 2024/25, and 32.8% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).
The 2026 school estate survey rated its buildings' condition as poor (C) and their suitability for teaching as poor (C); the school was 91% full.
95% of pupils who left in 2024/25 went on to a positive destination - further or higher education, training, work or volunteering, against 97% for its "virtual comparator", a matched group of pupils with similar backgrounds from across Scotland.
Dumfries High School in its own words
In its own words: "In partnership with our school community, our vision is to improve the performance of our school, giving all our students a consistently excellent educational experience, which meets their individual needs and offers them appropriate personal support to achieve positive and sustained destinations."
Vision and values (school website)
Source: The school's own website
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other state secondary schools to Dumfries High School are Dumfries Academy (0.7 miles), St Joseph's College (0.8 miles) and North West Community Campus Secondary (1.6 miles).
Dumfries AcademySt Joseph's CollegeNorth West Community Campus Secondary
Getting there
The nearest railway station is Dumfries Rail Station, about 650 metres away (roughly a 8-minute walk).
8 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is School (at), 120 metres away.
Primary schools nearby
The primary schools closest to Dumfries High School are Noblehill School (0.5 miles), St Michael's School (0.8 miles), Loreburn School (0.8 miles) and Georgetown School (0.8 miles). In Scotland, secondary places normally follow the catchment area, and each secondary school has associated primary schools; Dumfries & Galloway publishes both.
Noblehill SchoolSt Michael's SchoolLoreburn SchoolGeorgetown School
Sources: Scottish Government school statistics: pupil census, attendance and absence, school estate, leaver destinations (OGL); NaPTAN (Department for Transport)
Key Information
Scottish GovernmentInspection
Schools in Scotland are inspected by Education Scotland, not Ofsted. Find Dumfries High School's reports on the inspectorate's website.
At a Glance
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
No
Special Measures
Latest from Dumfries High School
DHS Clubs
23 Sep 2026
Thinking about a career in farming?
10 Sep 2026
Merits
10 Sep 2026
Engineering Career Opportunity
1 Jul 2026
S2 Book Club
29 Jun 2026
Quiz Club
29 Jun 2026
From Dumfries High School's website. School Signal is not affiliated with the school.
Social & online
Keep up with Dumfries High School
Getting There
Train Stations
Bus Stops
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 5
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 1
- Children hurt
- 1
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 5 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 1 serious and 4 slight.
1 child aged 0 to 15 was hurt: 1 on a bicycle.
2 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included.
The typical figure for schools in Dumfries & Galloway is 1 (the median across 109 schools, same distance and years).
Serious and slight counts use the Department for Transport's severity adjustment, which allows for changes in how police forces record injuries; they are estimates, rounded to whole numbers. Distances are in a straight line. Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19), Open Government Licence v3.0.
Commute and house prices
Feeder Primary Schools
Primary schools that likely feed into this school, based on proximity
Dumfries High School
Showing 10 of 12 linked schools
Questions parents ask about Dumfries High School
What is the catchment area for Dumfries High School?
Scottish schools have catchment (zoned) areas, and Dumfries High School is no exception: children living in its zone are normally given a place there automatically. Families who want a different school make a placing request to Dumfries & Galloway. Dumfries & Galloway publishes the zone boundary.
How do I apply to Dumfries High School?
If you live in Dumfries High School's catchment zone your child is normally allocated a place automatically, and Dumfries & Galloway will write to you. To ask for a place here from outside the zone, make a placing request to Dumfries & Galloway - requests usually open in November and close in mid-March for the following August.
How many road collisions happen near Dumfries High School?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 5 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 1 serious and 4 slight. 1 child aged 0 to 15 was hurt: 1 on a bicycle. 2 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included. The typical figure for schools in Dumfries & Galloway is 1 (the median across 109 schools, same distance and years).
Where is Dumfries High School?
Dumfries High School is at Marchmount, Dumfries, Dumfries, DG1 1PX.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)