Queen Margaret Academy, Ayr
Queen Margaret Academy is a secondary school for pupils in Ayr. It has a Roman Catholic religious character.
- Attendance
- 87.7%
Data last updated 25 Oct 2026
Queen Margaret Academy in detail
School in Scotland
Queen Margaret 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 760 pupils and 10.7 pupils per teacher.
21% of pupils are registered for free school meals, 59% of pupils have an additional support need recorded and 8% speak English as an additional language.
32% of its pupils live in Scotland's most deprived fifth of areas and 8% in the least deprived fifth (SIMD).
Attendance was 87.7% in 2024/25, and 43.7% 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 95% full.
91% of pupils who left in 2018/19 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.
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other state secondary schools to Queen Margaret Academy are Kyle Academy (1.1 miles), Ayr Academy (1.2 miles), South Ayrshire Council Virtual School (1.9 miles) and Prestwick Academy (4.2 miles).
Kyle AcademyAyr AcademySouth Ayrshire Council Virtual SchoolPrestwick Academy
Getting there
The nearest railway station is Ayr Rail Station, about 1.4 miles away in a straight line.
9 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Queen Margaret Academy (opposite), 70 metres away.
Primary schools nearby
The primary schools closest to Queen Margaret Academy are Kincaidston Primary School (0.4 miles), Forehill Primary School (0.6 miles), Alloway Primary School (1.3 miles) and Holmston Primary School (1.3 miles). In Scotland, secondary places normally follow the catchment area, and each secondary school has associated primary schools; South Ayrshire publishes both.
Kincaidston Primary SchoolForehill Primary SchoolAlloway Primary SchoolHolmston Primary 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 Queen Margaret Academy's reports on the inspectorate's website.
About
Queen Margaret Academy is a Roman Catholic secondary school in the south of Ayr in southwest Scotland. Queen Margaret Academy is the fifth largest secondary school in South Ayrshire, with a total of 680 pupils enrolled at the school in 2023–2024.
From Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
At a Glance
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
No
Special Measures
Keep up with Queen Margaret Academy
Getting There
Bus Stops
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 6
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 3
- Children hurt
- 2
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 6 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 3 serious and 3 slight.
2 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 2 on foot.
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 South Ayrshire is 2 (the median across 50 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 Queen Margaret Academy
What is the catchment area for Queen Margaret Academy?
Scottish schools have catchment (zoned) areas, and Queen Margaret 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 South Ayrshire. South Ayrshire publishes the zone boundary.
How do I apply to Queen Margaret Academy?
If you live in Queen Margaret Academy's catchment zone your child is normally allocated a place automatically, and South Ayrshire will write to you. To ask for a place here from outside the zone, make a placing request to South Ayrshire - requests usually open in November and close in mid-March for the following August.
How many road collisions happen near Queen Margaret Academy?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 6 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 3 serious and 3 slight. 2 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 2 on foot. 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 South Ayrshire is 2 (the median across 50 schools, same distance and years).
Where is Queen Margaret Academy?
Queen Margaret Academy is at 33A Dalmellington Road, Ayr, Ayr, KA7 3TL.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)