63NORTH & SCOTLANDPUBLICPHOTOGRAPHS: ANDY THOMAS AT CALCOT PHOTOGRAPHY
tatler.com Tatler School Guide 2020an EPQ or the school’s academic
enrichment programme known as
the Super-curriculum) and the
BTEC programme, and the results
speak for themselves – last year,
94 per cent of the upper sixth went
on to their first-choice university.
Giggleswick excels in the arts: the
recent production of Les Misérables
gave the West End show a run for
its money while the art and DT
departments prepare students for
impressive careers in architecture
and design. Set on the edge of a
national park, Giggleswick offers
climbing and caving, and the
whole school takes part in the
annual Three Peaks Challenge.
A real community feel pervades the
school with 38 per cent day stu-
dents and 19 per cent international,
including lots of Forces families.
Everyone adores the food and
there’s always ‘more than enough
for hungry teenagers’.GLENALMOND
COLLEGE
Glenalmond, Perthshire
PH1 3RY
Website glenalmondcollege.co.uk
Head Hugh Ouston, MA, since
January 2019; previously an
independent education consultant
Pupils 348. Day: 52 boys, 35 girls;
boarding: 149 boys, 112 girls
Faith Scottish Episcopal Church
Ages 13–18 Term Fees Day: £7,501;
boarding: £11,502 Oxbridge 8%
Registration No deadline; £100 fee
Admission CE or school’s own exam
Alumni Robbie Coltrane, Labour
peer Lord Falconer of Thoroton,
founder of EAT Niall MacArthur
Located in 300 acres of Scottish
countryside, Glenalmond offers a
hearty boarding school experience:
pupils chop wood, shoot, kayak,
climb and ski. Unsurprisingly,
there is plenty of sporting success
(one pupil is on the Scotland
Tetrathlon and the GB Pentathlon
team) and a recent £1 million
injection into the sports facilities
has upped the ante even further –
a golf pro has even been hired to
lead the new golf academy. The
fresh air and fierce competition
(along with the four-year-oldPREP Head Robert McVean
Pupils 130 day and boarding:
74 boys, 56 girls Ages 6–12 Te r m
Fees Day: £5,350; boarding: £8,650
The old myth of ‘cold showers and
early morning runs’ was dispelled
long ago at this rural co-ed with a
nurturing spirit and an extraordi-
narily broad curriculum. That said,
pupils are encouraged to leave
their comfort zones as they find
their niche and forge lifelong
friendships. Occupying a 200-acre
woodland campus between the
Highlands and the golden beaches
of the Moray coast, Gordonstoun
was the original bastion of the now
de rigueur ‘character education’
and was the birthplace of the D of E
Award. Head Titus Edge, ‘an ener-
getic old boy’, safeguards this
unique ethos while moving with
the times, and Principal Lisa Kerr
oversees the business side of things.
‘They make a very impressive
team,’ remarked the researcher.
Whether skiing in Canada, acting
in a production of Homer’s
Odyssey or playing in a concert in
Kazakhstan, these pupils are ‘doers’
and various enriching initiatives,
from working with the local Fire
Service to manning the school’s 80-Learning Project that shows that ‘it’s
cool to work’) has clearly sparked
academic endeavour: more than
half of last year’s GCSE pupils
achieved A* and A grades and
25 per cent managed a clean sweep
of A*s and As. Music, particularly
singing, is a key part of school life:
every Junior is in Cantores (the
junior choir) for a year, and the
Chapel choir has sung all over the
country. Next April, Dr Michael
Alderson, currently Deputy Head at
Durham School, will take up the
role of Head – he’ll certainly be
kept busy with the myriad sporting,
musical and outdoor events.GORDONSTOUN
Elgin, Moray IV30 5RF
Website gordonstoun.org.uk
Head Titus Edge, BA, since 2017;
previously Head of the senior school
Pupils 405. Day: 37 boys, 29 girls;
boarding: 210 boys, 129 girls Ages
13–18 Term Fees Day: £9,050;
boarding: £12,750 Oxbridge
Occasional Registration Two years
before entry; no fee Admission
School’s own exam, interview and
previous school’s report Alumni The
Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of
Wales, rower Heather Stanningfoot yacht, instil a profound sense
of responsibility. The majority of
last year’s leavers went on to their
first-choice university and roughly
10 per cent now choose to study at
US universities – Gordonstoun is
the only SAT centre in the north
of Scotland. Lunchtime and after-
school clinics offer extra support
and pastoral care is on point.
Gordonstoun’s focus on wellbeing,
alongside its academic and sport-
ing success, render the fees ‘money
very well spent’.KILGRASTON
SCHOOL
Bridge of Earn, Perthshire
PH2 9BQ
Website kilgraston.com
Head Dorothy MacGinty, BEd,
since 2015; previously Head of St
Francis’ College, Hertfordshire
Pupils 210 girls: 130 day, 80
boarding Faith RC Ages 12–18
Term Fees Day: £6,060; boarding:
£10,345 Oxbridge Occasional
Registration No deadline; £100 fee
Admission Previous school’s report
and interview Alumnae Jockey
Lucy Alexander, author Linda
Strachan, Mairi Gougeon MSP
PREP Head Dorothy MacGinty
Pupils 60 girls, day and boarding
Ages 5–12 Term Fees Day:
£4,740; boarding: £7,905
Head Dorothy MacGinty’s enthu-
siasm for the sciences is clearly
contagious: two thirds of leavers
went on to study STEM subjects at
university last year. Visitors are very
impressed by the new Science
Centre and by the new Highers
options in psychology and comput-
ing science. Sixty-seven per cent
achieved A–B in Advanced Highers,
way above the national average, and
no mean feat for a non-selective
school. The majority of leavers gain
places at their chosen university, pri-
marily in Scotland. Kilgraston is the
only Catholic girls’ boarding school
in Scotland and although the Head
believes strongly in ‘all girl lessons’,
it’s not an entirely testosterone-free
zone thanks to regular socials with
boys from Merchiston. Around half
of the girls board and most have
their own study bedrooms. ]Oxbridge interview advice, internshipopportunities and informal career chats areon offer at Fettes’ ‘Lifting the Lid’ eventsGORDONSTOUN10-19-Schools-Guide-PublicNorthScotland.indd 63 14/08/2019 23:58