James Gillespie's High School, Edinburgh

James Gillespie's 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.

James Gillespie's High School offers Gaelic-medium education.

In the 2025 pupil census it had 1829 pupils and 14.5 pupils per teacher.

8% of pupils are registered for free school meals, 47% of pupils have an additional support need recorded and 18% speak English as an additional language.

3% of its pupils live in Scotland's most deprived fifth of areas and 62% in the least deprived fifth (SIMD).

Attendance was 91.7% in 2024/25, and 24.9% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).

The 2026 school estate survey rated its buildings' condition as good (A) and their suitability for teaching as good (A); the school was 94% full.

97% of pupils who left in 2023/24 went on to a positive destination - further or higher education, training, work or volunteering, against 98% for its "virtual comparator", a matched group of pupils with similar backgrounds from across Scotland.

From the headteacher's welcome: "We are situated in the centre of Edinburgh and have been a fully comprehensive, non-denominational high school since 1973. We deliver courses at every level up to Advanced Higher and pride ourselves in supporting all learners to achieve at the highest level possible."

On phones, the school says: "If a phone is seen or heard anywhere on school premises without explicit staff permission, it is handed in to the office immediately."

The nearest other state secondary schools to James Gillespie's High School are St Thomas Of Aquin's High School (0.4 miles), Boroughmuir High School (0.6 miles), Tynecastle High School (1.2 miles) and Drummond Community High School (1.7 miles).

The nearest tram or metro stop is West End - Princes Street (Edinburgh Trams), about 0.9 miles away in a straight line.

13 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Lauderdale Street (after), 110 metres away.

The primary schools closest to James Gillespie's High School are James Gillespie's Primary School (0.1 miles), Bruntsfield Primary School (0.4 miles), Sciennes Primary School (0.5 miles) and Canaan Lane Primary School (0.5 miles). In Scotland, secondary places normally follow the catchment area, and each secondary school has associated primary schools; Edinburgh City publishes both.