The Nicolson Institute, Lewis
The Nicolson Institute is a secondary school for pupils in Lewis.
- Attendance
- 88%
Data last updated 25 Oct 2026
The Nicolson Institute in detail
School in Scotland
The Nicolson Institute 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.
The Nicolson Institute offers Gaelic-medium education.
In the 2025 pupil census it had 1059 pupils and 12.6 pupils per teacher.
11% of pupils are registered for free school meals, 42% of pupils have an additional support need recorded and 2% speak English as an additional language.
0% of its pupils live in Scotland's most deprived fifth of areas and 0% in the least deprived fifth (SIMD).
Attendance was 88% in 2024/25, and 39.8% 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 96% full.
95% of pupils who left in 2024/25 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.
The Nicolson Institute in its own words
In its own words: "The Nicolson Institute, established in 1873, is a non-denominational, six-year comprehensive secondary school that serves the Isle of Lewis in the Western Isles. The school occupies a large site in the heart of Stornoway and has a roll of over 1000 pupils and over 120 teaching and non-teaching staff."
Vision and values (school website)
Source: The school's own website
Getting there
There is no railway, tram or Underground station within about three miles of The Nicolson Institute.
18 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Nicolson Institute (bus park), 140 metres away.
Primary schools nearby
The primary schools closest to The Nicolson Institute are Stornoway Primary School (0.4 miles) and Laxdale Primary School (1.1 miles). In Scotland, secondary places normally follow the catchment area, and each secondary school has associated primary schools; Na h-Eileanan Siar publishes both.
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 The Nicolson Institute in December 2025.
Source: HM Inspectorate of Education (Education Scotland), Open Government Licence.
At a Glance
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
No
Special Measures
Keep up with The Nicolson Institute
Getting There
Ferry Terminals
Bus Stops
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 4
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 2
- Children hurt
- 0
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 4 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 2 serious and 2 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 Na h-Eileanan Siar is 0 (the median across 24 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
The Nicolson Institute
Questions parents ask about The Nicolson Institute
When was The Nicolson Institute last inspected?
HM Inspectorate of Education (Education Scotland) last published an inspection of The Nicolson Institute in December 2025.
What is the catchment area for The Nicolson Institute?
Scottish schools have catchment (zoned) areas, and The Nicolson Institute 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 Na h-Eileanan Siar. Na h-Eileanan Siar publishes the zone boundary.
How do I apply to The Nicolson Institute?
If you live in The Nicolson Institute's catchment zone your child is normally allocated a place automatically, and Na h-Eileanan Siar will write to you. To ask for a place here from outside the zone, make a placing request to Na h-Eileanan Siar - requests usually open in November and close in mid-March for the following August.
How many road collisions happen near The Nicolson Institute?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 4 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 2 serious and 2 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 Na h-Eileanan Siar is 0 (the median across 24 schools, same distance and years).
Where is The Nicolson Institute?
The Nicolson Institute is at Stornoway, Lewis, Lewis, HS1 2PZ.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)