Rowanfield Special School, Edinburgh
Rowanfield Special School is a special school for pupils in Edinburgh.
- Attendance
- 90.4%
Data last updated 25 Oct 2026
Rowanfield Special School in detail
School in Scotland
Rowanfield Special 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 57 pupils and 4.8 pupils per teacher.
100% of pupils have an additional support need recorded and 11% speak English as an additional language.
Attendance was 90.4% in 2024/25, and 28.3% 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 poor (C).
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other special schools to Rowanfield Special School are Oaklands School (0.4 miles), Westfield Secondary (Previously Gorgie Mills Special School) (1.8 miles), Pilrig Park School (2.6 miles) and Royal Blind School (2.8 miles).
Oaklands SchoolWestfield Secondary (Previously Gorgie Mills Special School)Pilrig Park SchoolRoyal Blind School
Getting there
The nearest tram or metro stop is Murrayfield Stadium (Edinburgh Trams), about 1.4 miles away in a straight line.
11 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Drylaw School (before), 60 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 Rowanfield Special School in August 2023.
- 2.3 Learning, teaching and assessmentgood
- 3.2 Raising attainment and achievementsatisfactory
HMIE grades on a six-point scale: unsatisfactory, weak, satisfactory, good, very good, excellent.
Source: HM Inspectorate of Education (Education Scotland), Open Government Licence.
At a Glance
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
No
Special Measures
Keep up with Rowanfield Special School
Getting There
Bus Stops
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 18
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 6
- Children hurt
- 5
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 18 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 6 serious and 12 slight.
5 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 2 on foot, 1 on a bicycle and 2 in a vehicle or otherwise.
5 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 Edinburgh City is 12 (the median across 140 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
Questions parents ask about Rowanfield Special School
When was Rowanfield Special School last inspected?
HM Inspectorate of Education (Education Scotland) last published an inspection of Rowanfield Special School in August 2023. Inspectors evaluated learning, teaching and assessment as good and raising attainment and achievement as satisfactory, on a six-point scale from unsatisfactory to excellent.
What is the catchment area for Rowanfield Special School?
Scottish schools have catchment (zoned) areas, and Rowanfield Special School 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 Edinburgh City. Edinburgh City publishes the zone boundary.
How do I apply to Rowanfield Special School?
If you live in Rowanfield Special School's catchment zone your child is normally allocated a place automatically, and Edinburgh City will write to you. To ask for a place here from outside the zone, make a placing request to Edinburgh City - requests usually open in November and close in mid-March for the following August.
How many road collisions happen near Rowanfield Special School?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 18 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 6 serious and 12 slight. 5 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 2 on foot, 1 on a bicycle and 2 in a vehicle or otherwise. 5 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 Edinburgh City is 12 (the median across 140 schools, same distance and years).
Where is Rowanfield Special School?
Rowanfield Special School is at 67c Groathill Road North, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH4 2SA.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)