West Calder High School, WEST CALDER

West Calder High 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 1245 pupils and 15.1 pupils per teacher.

17% of pupils are registered for free school meals, 55% of pupils have an additional support need recorded and 12% speak English as an additional language.

6% of its pupils live in Scotland's most deprived fifth of areas and 9% in the least deprived fifth (SIMD).

Attendance was 88.9% in 2024/25, and 31.7% 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 110% full.

98% of pupils who left in 2024/25 went on to a positive destination - further or higher education, training, work or volunteering, against 95% for its "virtual comparator", a matched group of pupils with similar backgrounds from across Scotland.

The nearest other state secondary schools to West Calder High School are The James Young High School (2.6 miles), St Margaret's Academy (2.9 miles), St Kentigern's Academy (3.2 miles) and Inveralmond Community High School (3.6 miles).

The nearest railway station is West Calder Rail Station, about 450 metres away (roughly a 6-minute walk).

The primary schools closest to West Calder High School are Parkhead Primary School (0.3 miles), St Mary's RC Primary School (0.5 miles) and Bellsquarry Primary School (1.6 miles). In Scotland, secondary places normally follow the catchment area, and each secondary school has associated primary schools; West Lothian publishes both.