How full is your Fife school? Viewforth High is one of 10 over capacity

Search our table to find out how full your primary or secondary school is.

By Cheryl Peebles

September 8 2023, 6:00am

Viewforth High School has more pupils than its building was designed for. Image: Google Maps.

Ten Fife schools have more pupils than the buildings are designed for.

And a further seven are near their maximum roll.

Viewforth High School already has 108 more pupils than the 600 it should, despite moving to a new building only seven years ago – and hundreds of new houses are being built in its Kirkcaldy catchment area.

Wormit Primary School is at 122% capacity in statistics released by the Scottish Government this week, but has recently had several modular classrooms added.

You can find out how full your Fife school is by searching for it in our table below.

Wormit Primary School has new huts to accommodate pupils. Image: DC Thomson.

Others Fife schools which are full are Pitreavie, Capshard, St Margaret’s, Coaltown of Balgonie, Kettle and Duloch primary schools and Auchmuty and Balwearie high schools.

Seven schools are above 95% capacity. They are Beath, Woodmill and Inverkeithing high schools, Madras College, and Strathkinness, Carnegie and Kirkcaldy West primary schools.

Madras College building in Bell Brae. — Madras College new building in St Andrews. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson.

Fife Council has set aside money for an extension to Auchmuty High School, in Glenrothes.

And both Viewforth High School and the new Madras College, which opened two years ago and also has extensive house building in its catchment area, were designed with space to expand if necessary.

Madras College: Why wasn’t it built bigger and will it be extended?

Why is Viewforth High among the most overcrowded schools in Scotland?

The capacity of a school is based the size of available teaching space, rather than the entire building.

Statistics released by the Scottish Government are based on a pupil census conducted in September 2022.

Fife Council head of education and children’s services, Shelagh McLean, said: “We continually monitor the capacity of our schools and work to manage the challenges that rising school rolls can bring from time to time.

“Some flexibility is built into our modelling to help us manage pupil numbers and in some settings we can reconfigure the existing space in schools to create additional classroom spaces.

“Where that’s not possible we may consider temporary modular accommodation or a permanent extension to the school building.”

Use our table to check how full your child’s Fife school is: