Helmsdale Primary School, Sutherland
Helmsdale Primary School is a primary school for pupils in Sutherland.
- Attendance
- 91.1%
Data last updated 25 Oct 2026
Helmsdale Primary School in detail
School in Scotland
Helmsdale Primary 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.
Helmsdale Primary School has a pre-school (nursery) class.
In the 2025 pupil census it had 41 pupils, an average class size of 20.5 and 15.2 pupils per teacher.
34% of pupils have an additional support need recorded.
0% of its pupils live in Scotland's most deprived fifth of areas and 0% in the least deprived fifth (SIMD).
Attendance was 91.1% in 2024/25, and 44.4% 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 satisfactory (B); the school was 41% full.
Getting there
The nearest railway station is Helmsdale Rail Station, about 450 metres away (roughly a 6-minute walk).
5 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Sutherland Street (at), 240 metres away.
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 Helmsdale Primary School in May 2023.
- 2.3 Learning, teaching and assessmentsatisfactory
- 3.2 Raising attainment and achievementsatisfactory
HMIE grades on a six-point scale: unsatisfactory, weak, satisfactory, good, very good, excellent.
Source: HM Inspectorate of Education (Education Scotland), Open Government Licence.
At a Glance
No
Boarding
Yes
Nursery
No
Special Measures
Keep up with Helmsdale Primary School
Getting There
Train Stations
Bus Stops
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 2
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 1
- Children hurt
- 0
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 2 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 1 serious and 1 slight.
No children aged 0 to 15 were among the people hurt.
0 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 Highland is 0 (the median across 195 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
Questions parents ask about Helmsdale Primary School
When was Helmsdale Primary School last inspected?
HM Inspectorate of Education (Education Scotland) last published an inspection of Helmsdale Primary School in May 2023. Inspectors evaluated learning, teaching and assessment as satisfactory and raising attainment and achievement as satisfactory, on a six-point scale from unsatisfactory to excellent.
What is the catchment area for Helmsdale Primary School?
Scottish schools have catchment (zoned) areas, and Helmsdale Primary 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 Highland. Highland publishes the zone boundary.
How do I apply to Helmsdale Primary School?
If you live in Helmsdale Primary School's catchment zone your child is normally allocated a place automatically, and Highland will write to you. To ask for a place here from outside the zone, make a placing request to Highland - requests usually open in November and close in mid-March for the following August.
How many road collisions happen near Helmsdale Primary School?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 2 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 1 serious and 1 slight. No children aged 0 to 15 were among the people hurt. 0 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 Highland is 0 (the median across 195 schools, same distance and years).
Where is Helmsdale Primary School?
Helmsdale Primary School is at Helmsdale, Sutherland, Sutherland, KW8 6JW.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)