Lochside Academy, ABERDEEN
Lochside Academy is a secondary school for pupils in Aberdeen.
- Attendance
- 88.6%
Data last updated 25 Oct 2026
Lochside Academy in detail
School in Scotland
Lochside 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 1205 pupils and 12.9 pupils per teacher.
31% of pupils are registered for free school meals, 55% of pupils have an additional support need recorded and 15% speak English as an additional language.
22% of its pupils live in Scotland's most deprived fifth of areas and 15% in the least deprived fifth (SIMD).
Attendance was 88.6% in 2024/25, and 42.1% 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 89% full.
92% of pupils who left in 2023/24 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.
Lochside Academy in its own words
In its own words: "Our 14,450m 2 campus merged the existing Torry Academy & Kincorth Academy following extensive engagement with both communities. We have since been on a significant improvement journey which you can read about here . We engaged stakeholders across our school community d uring the academic session 2021-22 to revisit and refresh our Vision and Values."
Vision and values (school website)
Source: The school's own website
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other state secondary schools to Lochside Academy are Harlaw Academy (2.8 miles), Aberdeen Grammar School (3.1 miles), Portlethen Academy (3.3 miles) and Cults Academy (3.6 miles).
Harlaw AcademyAberdeen Grammar SchoolPortlethen AcademyCults Academy
Getting there
The nearest railway station is Aberdeen Rail Station, about 2.8 miles away in a straight line.
4 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Langdykes Avenue (opposite), 260 metres away.
Primary schools nearby
The primary schools closest to Lochside Academy are Loirston School (0.5 miles), Charleston School (0.5 miles), Kirkhill School (1.2 miles) and Abbotswell School (1.4 miles). In Scotland, secondary places normally follow the catchment area, and each secondary school has associated primary schools; Aberdeen City publishes both.
Loirston SchoolCharleston SchoolKirkhill SchoolAbbotswell 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 Lochside Academy's reports on the inspectorate's website.
About
Lochside Academy is a co-educational secondary school in Altens, Aberdeen, run by Aberdeen City Council. Its feeder primary schools are Abbotswell School, Charleston School, Kirkhill School, Loirston School, Tullos School, and Greyhope School.
From Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
At a Glance
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
No
Special Measures
Keep up with Lochside Academy
Getting There
Bus Stops
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 1
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 0
- Children hurt
- 0
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 1 road collision in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 0 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 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
Questions parents ask about Lochside Academy
What is the catchment area for Lochside Academy?
Scottish schools have catchment (zoned) areas, and Lochside 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 Lochside Academy?
If you live in Lochside 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 Lochside Academy?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 1 road collision in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 0 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 Aberdeen City is 3 (the median across 69 schools, same distance and years).
Where is Lochside Academy?
Lochside Academy is at Wellington Circle, Altens, ABERDEEN, ABERDEEN, AB12 3LJ.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)