Kirkwall Grammar School, Orkney

Kirkwall Grammar 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 833 pupils and 11.2 pupils per teacher.

7% of pupils are registered for free school meals, 62% of pupils have an additional support need recorded and 1% speak English as an additional language.

0% of its pupils live in Scotland's most deprived fifth of areas and 8% in the least deprived fifth (SIMD).

Attendance was 87.6% in 2024/25, and 39% 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 88% full.

90% of pupils who left in 2015/16 went on to a positive destination - further or higher education, training, work or volunteering, against 94% for its "virtual comparator", a matched group of pupils with similar backgrounds from across Scotland.

Clubs and activities named on the school's website include tennis, basketball, badminton, dance, drama, choir, chess, coding, Lego and robotics.

There is no railway, tram or Underground station within about three miles of Kirkwall Grammar School.

13 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Grammar School (opposite), 120 metres away.

The primary schools closest to Kirkwall Grammar School are Papdale Primary School (0.2 miles) and Glaitness School (0.8 miles). In Scotland, secondary places normally follow the catchment area, and each secondary school has associated primary schools; Orkney Islands publishes both.