Scottish Borders

65 schools · 55 primary · 8 secondary

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Schools

13,257

Pupils

967

Teachers (FTE)

Open jobs

Scottish Borders is one of Scotland's 33 local authorities (councils), responsible for 65 state schools — 55 primary, 8 secondary and 1 special, educating around 13,257 pupils with 967 full-time-equivalent teachers. In 2024-25, Scottish Borders spent around £7,778 per primary pupil and £9,859 per secondary pupil — above the Scotland averages of £7,606 and £9,338. In 2024-25, 97% of school leavers went on to a positive destination (above the Scotland average of 95.7%), and 39.5% left with five or more Highers (Scotland average 40.8%). Schools in Scottish Borders are inspected by Education Scotland on a six-point scale. Browse every school by town, view pupil and staffing data, or compare schools side by side.

Education spending in Scottish Borders

Gross council expenditure per pupil/place, shown against the Scotland average (2024-25).

£7,778

per primary pupil

▲ 2%vs Scotland (£7,606)

£9,859

per secondary pupil

▲ 6%vs Scotland (£9,338)

£11,646

per pre-school place

▼ 3%vs Scotland (£12,055)

Source: Local Government Benchmarking Framework (Improvement Service), 2024-25, under the Open Government Licence. A higher figure is typical of rural and island councils, where smaller schools cost more per pupil to run — it does not by itself mean better-resourced classrooms.

School outcomes in Scottish Borders

How this council's schools compare to the Scotland average (2024-25). Higher is better.

97%

Positive destinations

▲ 1.3 ptsvs Scotland (95.7%)

68.8%

5+ at National 5

▲ 0.2 ptsvs Scotland (68.6%)

39.5%

5+ Highers

▼ 1.3 ptsvs Scotland (40.8%)

73%

Primary literacy

▼ 1.5 ptsvs Scotland (74.5%)

79.8%

Primary numeracy

▼ 0.5 ptsvs Scotland (80.3%)

92.1%

Attendance rate

▲ 1.1 ptsvs Scotland (91%)

61.7%

Parents satisfied

▼ 7.3 ptsvs Scotland (69%)

Source: Local Government Benchmarking Framework (Improvement Service), 2024-25, under the Open Government Licence. Outcomes are council-wide averages and reflect each school's intake and catchment, not just its teaching.