Mearns Academy, KINCARDINESHIRE
Mearns Academy is a secondary school for pupils in Kincardineshire.
- Attendance
- 90.5%
Data last updated 25 Oct 2026
Mearns Academy in detail
School in Scotland
Mearns 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 677 pupils and 12.5 pupils per teacher.
14% of pupils are registered for free school meals and 29% of pupils have an additional support need recorded.
0% of its pupils live in Scotland's most deprived fifth of areas and 23% in the least deprived fifth (SIMD).
Attendance was 90.5% in 2024/25, and 30.6% 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 82% full.
91% 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.
Mearns Academy in its own words
In its own words: "We have recently introduced a Values Recognition Credits and Certificates system at Mearns Academy. This system is designed to celebrate and promote our core values of Respect, Wellbeing, and Ambition, while recognising pupils who consistently demonstrate these values in their daily activities."
Vision and values (school website)
Source: The school's own website
Getting there
The nearest railway station is Laurencekirk Rail Station, about 430 metres away (roughly a 5-minute walk).
3 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Mearns Academy (after), 300 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 Mearns Academy in January 2026.
- 1.3 Leadership of changegood
- 2.3 Learning, teaching and assessmentgood
- 3.1 Ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusionvery good
- 3.2 Raising attainment and achievementgood
HMIE grades on a six-point scale: unsatisfactory, weak, satisfactory, good, very good, excellent.
Source: HM Inspectorate of Education (Education Scotland), Open Government Licence.
About
Mearns Academy is a secondary school in Laurencekirk, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. As well as Laurencekirk itself, the school also serves the surrounding villages of St Cyrus, Marykirk, Fettercairn, Auchenblae, Luthermuir, Edzell Woods and Fordoun.
From Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
At a Glance
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
No
Special Measures
Keep up with Mearns Academy
Getting There
Train Stations
Bus Stops
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
No injury road collisions were reported to the police within 500 m of the school's mapped location in 2021 to 2025.
The typical figure for schools in Aberdeenshire is 0 (the median across 163 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
Mearns Academy
Questions parents ask about Mearns Academy
When was Mearns Academy last inspected?
HM Inspectorate of Education (Education Scotland) last published an inspection of Mearns Academy in January 2026. Inspectors evaluated leadership of change as good; learning, teaching and assessment as good; ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion as very good and raising attainment and achievement as good, on a six-point scale from unsatisfactory to excellent.
What is the catchment area for Mearns Academy?
Scottish schools have catchment (zoned) areas, and Mearns 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 Aberdeenshire. Aberdeenshire publishes the zone boundary.
How do I apply to Mearns Academy?
If you live in Mearns Academy's catchment zone your child is normally allocated a place automatically, and Aberdeenshire will write to you. To ask for a place here from outside the zone, make a placing request to Aberdeenshire - requests usually open in November and close in mid-March for the following August.
How many road collisions happen near Mearns Academy?
No injury road collisions were reported to the police within 500 m of the school's mapped location in 2021 to 2025. The typical figure for schools in Aberdeenshire is 0 (the median across 163 schools, same distance and years).
Where is Mearns Academy?
Mearns Academy is at Aberdeen Road, Laurencekirk, KINCARDINESHIRE, KINCARDINESHIRE, AB30 1ZJ.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)