Harlaw Academy, Aberdeen
Harlaw Academy is a secondary school for pupils in Aberdeen.
- Attendance
- 91.1%
Data last updated 25 Oct 2026
Harlaw Academy in detail
School in Scotland
Harlaw Academy 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 1174 pupils and 13.1 pupils per teacher.
24% of pupils are registered for free school meals, 49% of pupils have an additional support need recorded and 15% speak English as an additional language.
6% of its pupils live in Scotland's most deprived fifth of areas and 32% in the least deprived fifth (SIMD).
Attendance was 91.1% in 2024/25, and 30.9% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).
The 2026 school estate survey rated its buildings' condition as satisfactory (B) and their suitability for teaching as bad (D); the school was 117% full.
95% of pupils who left in 2024/25 went on to a positive destination - further or higher education, training, work or volunteering, against 96% for its "virtual comparator", a matched group of pupils with similar backgrounds from across Scotland.
Harlaw Academy in its own words
Clubs and activities named on the school's website include robotics and film.
Source: The school's own website
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other state secondary schools to Harlaw Academy are Aberdeen Grammar School (0.3 miles), St Machar Academy (1.6 miles), Northfield Academy (1.8 miles) and Hazlehead Academy (2.1 miles).
Aberdeen Grammar SchoolSt Machar AcademyNorthfield AcademyHazlehead Academy
Getting there
The nearest railway station is Aberdeen Rail Station, about 1120 metres away (roughly a 14-minute walk).
23 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Rubislaw Place (opposite), 60 metres away.
Primary schools nearby
The primary schools closest to Harlaw Academy are Ashley Road School (0.4 miles), Gilcomstoun School (0.4 miles), St Joseph's RC School (0.5 miles) and Mile End School (0.7 miles). In Scotland, secondary places normally follow the catchment area, and each secondary school has associated primary schools; Aberdeen City publishes both.
Ashley Road SchoolGilcomstoun SchoolSt Joseph's RC SchoolMile End School
Sources: Scottish Government school statistics: pupil census, attendance and absence, school estate, leaver destinations (OGL); NaPTAN (Department for Transport)
Key Information
Scottish GovernmentInspection
HM Inspectorate of Education (Education Scotland) last published an inspection of Harlaw Academy in June 2025.
Source: HM Inspectorate of Education (Education Scotland), Open Government Licence.
About
Harlaw Academy is a six-year comprehensive secondary school situated 200 yards from the junction of Union Street and Holburn Street in the centre of Aberdeen, Scotland. It is directly adjacent to St Margaret's School for Girls.
From Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
At a Glance
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
No
Special Measures
Keep up with Harlaw Academy
Getting There
Bus Stops
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 10
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 5
- Children hurt
- 2
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 10 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 5 serious and 5 slight.
2 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 2 on foot.
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 Aberdeen City is 3 (the median across 69 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
Harlaw Academy
Showing 10 of 15 linked schools
Questions parents ask about Harlaw Academy
When was Harlaw Academy last inspected?
HM Inspectorate of Education (Education Scotland) last published an inspection of Harlaw Academy in June 2025.
What is the catchment area for Harlaw Academy?
Scottish schools have catchment (zoned) areas, and Harlaw Academy 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 Aberdeen City. Aberdeen City publishes the zone boundary.
How do I apply to Harlaw Academy?
If you live in Harlaw Academy's catchment zone your child is normally allocated a place automatically, and Aberdeen City will write to you. To ask for a place here from outside the zone, make a placing request to Aberdeen City - requests usually open in November and close in mid-March for the following August.
How many road collisions happen near Harlaw Academy?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 10 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 5 serious and 5 slight. 2 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 2 on foot. 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 Aberdeen City is 3 (the median across 69 schools, same distance and years).
Where is Harlaw Academy?
Harlaw Academy is at 18/20 Albyn Place, Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB10 1RG.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)