WHAT? WHERE?

Hugging the southern edge of the Highlands, around an hour from Edinburgh and Glasgow, sits Glenalmond College, a handsome purpose-built, co-ed boarding and day school for pupils aged 12-18 years old, dating back to 1847. An Episcopalian Christian school that welcomes all faiths (and none), it sits in over 300 stunning acres, with the River Almond running right through the school grounds. There’s an inevitable emphasis on outdoor learning, sport for all abilities and spirit here and no surprise too, being so rural, that 80% of the 350 pupils are boarders.

The school is academically non-selective, offering small class sizes with an average of 16 in the GCSE year groups, and smaller still in Sixth Form in certain subjects. The classes have a roughly equal split of boys to girls, though the girls are edging it slightly since Glenalmond recently took in some of the pupils from the now closed Kilgraston school. A merger this year with Craigclowan School and Nursery, just under 30 mins away, means there’s a direct Prep feeder school for Glenalmond though accepts pupils from the rest of the UK and overseas.

FACILITIES

/SPORTS

Glenalmond’s 300 acres have been put to good use with the usual roll call of rugby and cricket pitches, two full-size astroturf for hockey which the national teams have trained on, a 25m indoor swimming pool, a nine-hole James Braid golf course plus an Indoor Golf Hub (Muddy tried it – fun) and tennis courts. Rock climbing, which is actually a games option here, and cross country are both accessed within 30 minutes with sailing twice a week in the summer term on Loch Earn, St Fillans, using the school’s fleet of Toppers, Lasers, a race-rigged Wayfarer and an International 420 and RIB.

Rugby, hockey and cricket are the main sports for boys, and hockey, lacrosse and tennis for the girls with netball on the horizon for 2026 although niche sports are also welcomed – the school currently has the U16 British Slalom Skiing Champion and Scotland Cross Country runner. There’s a renewed emphasis on competitive sport here, with a new rugby and hockey director both now ensconced and success with the U18 boys’ rugby first XV reaching the final of the National Plate Finals.

The Glenalmond invitation cross-country run, which last took place in 2019, is being reinstated for 2025, and there’s a brand new mountain-biking trails (the kids’ idea, implemented pretty quickly by the Head), opened by U23 World Champion Charlie Aldridge an OG (Old Glenalmond), as former pupils are referred to. All that said, the overarching vibe with Glenalmond sport is having a go and getting involved – the sport for all ethos is very much alive here.

Pupil on the mountain bike trail at Glenalmond College

Adventure, outdoors activities and generally having a stab at things seems to be the modus operandi of Glenalmond with all manner of character-building activities in the calendar, from the two year compulsory CFF for third and fourth formers, and the tough 8 mile charity ‘Heartbreak Run’ on the Last Sunday of Michaelmas term, to the Scottish Island Peaks Challenge which is a long standing tradition with Glenalmond one of only a few schools which participate with a youth team.

Picture by Graeme Hart. Copyright Perthshire Picture Agency

There’s also orienteering, equestrian opportunities (sure, bring up your pony), and clay pigeon shooting where the school has serious form – both junior boys and senior girls are British Schools Champions.

CREATIVE ARTS

MUSIC

No surprise in a school with a relatively bijou cohort that the message is ‘music for all’; according to the cheerful Director of Music, choir is the most popular musical activity at Glenalmond, even though 80% of the kids in choir can’t read music, which shows how confident the kids are here to get involved. Certainly the chapel is central to the school – a beautiful facility for worship but also reflection, with short services, chapel talks or assemblies held from Monday – Saturday for the whole school like its popular annual Choral Day, inviting Scottish and Northern English school pupils for a day of singing, ending in a joint Evensong.

Glenalmond College music room with grand piano and musical instruments — A stylish mid-century music room/performance space

Around 50% of pupils play an instrument here, and 10% play two, so there is skill as well as enthusiasm, with the usual orchestras and chamber groups, plus a pipe and drum band. There are demos and free lessons offered for various instruments to recruit new talent to the orchestra, and a smart Recital Hall for performances.

DRAMA

Drama is well supported though perhaps not yet exploited here, although the new Head of Drama is intent on changing that – the recent production of Little Shop of Horrors encouraged all the pupils to give it a go, and there were Year 3s acting alongside Upper Sixths . There are two productions each year – one for Seniors, one for Juniors, and a weekly stagecraft club for those interested in the technical /design side of theatre.

ART

Bring on the masterpieces! Glenalmond College absolutely nails it with its award-winning art offering, no doubt helped by its passionate, humorous, slightly eccentric art teachers who, on the day I was reviewing, had dressed up in full sporran regalia – a normal occurrence I’m told. The art rooms are roomy and light, including dedicated studio space for each Sixth Form student and a separate Upper Sixth space.

two men in sporrans and kilts in art room teachers

The Head of Art and the Artist in Residence are both practising artists themselves and the enthusiasm is rubbing off – the current cohort for GSCE is an impressive 40 pupils, with 11 taking it for A-level in the Lower Sixth. Facilities include a digital photography studio, digital drawing tablets with Adobe suite throughout, screen printing facilities with a printing press for print work plus a kiln for 3D work. The offering feels inventive with students using onion skins for dye-making and chalks made from the oyster shells the kids collect in the grounds.

GENERAL FACILITIES

Other facilities worth mentioning are the lovely library and chapel, both set in the heart of the college, the huge Hogwartsian dining room with its rafters, the mountain bike trail professionally designed in the grounds with external events and competitions in the pipeline and the bee hives, installed in August 2024 to teach the children bee-keeping.

ACADEMICS

Glenalmond offers an English school curriculum in Scotland with GSCES and A level along with alternative highers’ and BTEC. It’s a non-academic entry system, reflected in its average GSCE and A level results – for 2024 the school achieved 90% 9-4 grades in GSCE and around 60% of A level grades achieved A* – B. If you have a child of strong academic ability you’ll want to know that there’s an invitation-only academic extension group known as the William Bright Society to push the smartest kids and for 2024 Glenalmond had seven applicants to Oxbridge. Over 40% of the A level students in 2024 went on to Russell Group universities including Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow and York.

Glenalmond College Commemoration Day 2024 Picture by Graeme Hart. Copyright Perthshire Picture Agency

The Head is also eager to develop more real-world learning, entrepreneurialism and problem solving – there’s talk of adding to to the existing BTEC in Countryside Management. Subject choices for GSCE and A level are largely traditional. For GCSE French and Spanish are the main languages here (German, Arabic and Russian can be studied but not as a GSCE) along with the likes of 3D Product Design, Product Design (minus the 3D) and Latin. The curriculum for A level students is broader, choosing between 22 A level subjects and 14 Highers – all the usual contenders as well as Business, Politics, 3D Design, Drama and Music.

PASTORAL

Picture by Graeme Hart. Copyright Perthshire Picture Agency

With its emphasis on outdoor learning and play and enjoyment, set in such a lovely location, Glenalmond perhaps has a natural pastoral edge against more overtly competitive schools. Chapel here provides a spiritual focus for pupils – not necessarily religious (the Sixth Former who assists the Chaplain cheerfully told me he’s an atheist!) but it’s a place of retreat and calm.

One of Glenalmond’s big advantages for its pastoral provision is its size – that much vaunted idea amongst schools that ‘every child is known’ is a hell of a lot easier to deliver when your head count is 350. Even so, there are all the usuals of 24/7 on-site medical centre with four nurses, a counsellor and a member of staff trained in medical health. As a boarding school, much emphasis is placed on the support and care of the house master/mistress. All pupils have a house-based tutor group and that tutor, who sees each pupil three times a week, is also a first port of call for any concerns the kids may have.

BOARDING

A sturdy 75% of pupils board here, important for creating the buzz and hum of a normal ‘home’ life. The pupils can board from 11 onwards, and flexi is an option though a lot of effort is put into the seven day a week boarding programme that includes everything from kayaking on lochs, pizza nights, trips to the theatre and ceilidhs. Saturday morning lessons and sport in the afternoon are compulsory here, and day pupils are also expected to attend.

Glenalmond College common room boarding — One of the boarding house common rooms

The seven boarding houses (four for boys, three for girls) are in pretty good nick with between 38-60 pupils in each boarding house, with 27% international students in the mix. All day pupils are assigned a day room in a house to make sure they feel part of the boarding school community and most flexi board from time to time. The Upper Sixth have their own bedrooms, and some of the Lower Sixth too depending on availability, with the Senior Prefect in the house getting his or her own bathroom. The kids have to strip their own beds, put their own washing on and sort their own envelope corners – pleasing to see that amongst all the privilege and beauty here that they are also taught that in the real world beds don’t miraculously make themselves.

SEND

Due to its non-selective intake. Glenalmond understands its role in supporting those children who need extra scaffolding, and pupils are well supported at the admissions process stage by the Learning Support team when pupils are assessed to make sure their needs are understood. Tweaks to classroom strategies is the first call but small group support and one to one lessons are also in the arsenal. In Form 3 and Form 4, there’s extra literacy and numeracy support for those who need it, as well as help for wellbeing concerns such as anxiety. The school also provides alternative access arrangements for exams where necessary – anything from reader, scribe, or typing assistance.

THE HEAD

Glenalmond College head teacher mark mortimer in a suit on a bridge — Mark Mortimer, mid walk with me to the river

Mark Mortimer became Warden at Glenalmond in January 2023 after headships at Bryanston and Warminster and he’s made quite the mark already – beneath the jovial exterior is a man who has clear ambitions and swiftly exercises them (8 years in the armed forces will do that for you).

Charismatic and with keen sense of humour (not many men would walk down to the river with me in their suit shoes), he’s charmed the children by listening and acting fast on their feedback by introducing congratulatory hot chocolate and pastries for those pupils known as ‘Solasta’ (“to shine” in Gaelic) to celebrate those who done something brilliant that week. He’s now focused on bolstering Glenalmond’s academics without losing the USP of the school of education being fun. Aside from his teaching, Mortimer plays the saxophone, has rowed the Atlantic twice, run the Marathon des Sables across the Sahara and has cycled across the Arctic Circle. Seriously, is there a man more suited to life in the Scottish Highlands?

QUIRKS

Plenty. Not many schools have a river running through the grounds and the River Almond is a fisherman’s paradise with brown trout and salmon (and yes, of couse, there’s a fishing club).

River Almond Glenalmond College painted rock frog — The River Almond, with painted ‘frog’ rock

The Friday singing assembly is known as ‘Congers’ with a tiny ‘Pavarotti’ cup as the prize for the House that sings the best /loudest – it’s super competitive and the kids I talked to seemed to love it. Scottish culture is worn loud and proud here – tartan is worn as part of the formal /Sunday school uniform, reeling is popular with the kids, and there’s a Pipes & Drums band have been in existence since the 1870s with no sign of abating.

Glenalmond College pupils playing bagpipes — Picture by Graeme Hart. Copyright Perthshire Picture Agency

You want more? The Heartbreak Run challenge started in 2016 and now involvees pupils, staff, parents and OGs, who finish by running down the front drive of the College, whilst a more recent addition is the Moncrieff Centre, basically the Sixth Former’s club, which has a carefully monitored licensed bar that serves alcohol with food on Saturday nights.

And one more thing – Glenalmond College offers the Mountain Training Skills Awards – only one of two schools in the UK to run it, offering winter mountaineering (thanks to the expert maths and outdoors learning teachers!) and Munro bagging, where pupils can hike to the summit of the Scottish mountains. Not many schools can say that.

EDUCATION SCOTLAND REPORT

The last inspection was pre-Covid in 2019 so pretty much useless I’m afraid. But here it is if you want to take a look for historical interest.

MOBILE PHONE POLICY

Pupils have no access to mobile phones during three periods of every school day: academic lessons (8.30am to end of Games or the final lesson, including Saturday morning), prep times (7pm – pm), and overnight (9.45am – 8am). On Saturdays, pupils can access their phones from 4pm until the evening roll call. On Sundays, pupils can access their phones after Chapel until the start of prep.

The mobile phone policy was implemented at the start of this academic year – apparently challenging to start with, but College has already experienced some benefits by doing this – the concept of more chatting and less reliance on phones has been embraced by pupils and staff, which is a positive start.

TRANSPORT

Glenalmond offers an extensive school bus service, currently operating across seven different routes, picking up and dropping off pupils daily. The routes span an hour’s driving distance from the College, from Crieff to Aberfeldy, to Dundee, Perth and Fife, as well as Auchterarder and beyond.

FEES

Glenalmond College rugby pitch with clouds

Ouchy, but what price for this view? For day pupils, term fees (including VAT) are £6,830 (Second Form) rising steeply to £11,060 from Third Form to Upper Sixth. For boarders, it’s £11,660 per term (Second Form) rising to £18,125 for Third Form to Upper Sixth. Through bursaries (fee assistance), the College is able to support families who would benefit from a Glenalmond education but would otherwise not be able to afford it. The College also offers a number of Scholarships to prospective and current pupils, who show outstanding ability in their chosen field, these are awarded purely on merit. . https://www.glenalmondcollege.co.uk/admissions/fees-scholarships-bursaries

WORD ON THE GROUND

Glenalmond College kids lying on a munro

Mark Mortimer has been a popular appointment, seen by parents as the man with a plan. The children I talked to told me they feel heard and that everything is just ‘bigger and better’ with him around.

THE MUDDY VERDICT

Glenalmond College boy running up stairs in chapel

GOOD FOR: Pupils who love the outdoors and will appreciate the opportunities offered to them with Glenalmond’s magnificent location. The emphasis on enjoying school and trying new experiences will appeal to those fed up with the sharp-elbowed approach of more super-academic, competitive schools.

NOT FOR: Glenalmond’s location is its USP but also perhaps its Achilles heel for parents who want their children closer to the cultural action. The small student numbers may feel limiting to pupils who prefer to swim in a larger loch for their secondary schooling.

WANT TO SEE FOR YOURSELF? Be my guest! The next official Open Day is Sat 22 March 2025 but the school is pretty relaxed, promising that any day at Glenalmond College is an Open Day.

Glenalmond College, Glenalmond, Perth, Perthshire, PH1 3RY. Tel: 01738 842000.

Glenalmond College, Scotland

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