The Glasgow Academy

This article is about the school. For the concert venue sometimes known by the same name, see O2 Academy Glasgow.

The Glasgow Academy is a coeducational private day school for pupils aged 3–18 in Glasgow, Scotland. In 2016, it had the third-best Higher level exam results in Scotland.^[2] Founded in 1845, it is the oldest continuously fully private school^[3] in Glasgow.

The Glasgow Academy
Location
Colebrooke Street Glasgow , G12 8HE Scotland
Information
Type	Public School Private day school
Motto	Serva Fidem (Keep Faith)
Religious affiliation(s)	Church of Scotland
Established	1845; 180 years ago (1845)
Founders	Members of Free Church of Scotland
Local authority	Glasgow City Council
Chair	Jane Gotts
Rector	Matt Gibson
Gender	Mixed
Age	3 to 18
Enrolment	1660
Houses	Arthur   Fraser   Morrison   Temple
Charity Number	SCO 15638
Campuses	Kelvinbridge, Milngavie & Newlands[1]
Website	www.theglasgowacademy.org.uk

History

In May 1845, William Campbell of Tullichewan convened a meeting in the Star Hotel in George Square with Free Church ministers to discuss establishing "an Academic Institution in the City". As a result of this meeting, The Glasgow Academy was formed.^[4]

The Scottish Rugby Union was founded on Monday 3 March 1873 at a meeting held at The Glasgow Academy.^[5]

The school war memorial was designed by former pupil Alexander Nisbet Paterson in 1922.^[6]

In 1981 the school admitted girl pupils for the first time.^[7]

In 1991, Glasgow Academy merged with Westbourne School for Girls,^[8] adopting the distinctive purple of its uniform in the school badge and tartan. It is in Kelvinbridge and has approximately 1350 pupils, split between three preparatory school sites and a senior school.

The Glasgow Academy's preparatory school is the first school in the UK to have been awarded the Diana Gold Award for Anti-Bullying.^[9]

In 2024, The Glasgow Academy was awarded the Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award by the Ministry of Defence.^[10]

The current rector is Matt Gibson, who has held the position since 2025.^[11]

HMIe last inspected the school in November 2008.^[12]

Notable alumni

See also: Category:People educated at the Glasgow Academy

• Frederick Anderson, Chairman, Municipal Council, Shanghai International Settlement, 1905–06.
• John Arthur, Church of Scotland missionary to East Africa.
• J. M. Barrie, writer of Peter Pan
• Laura Bartlett, British hockey international and Olympic athlete^[13][14][15]
• John Beattie (rugby union), rugby union player for Scotland and British Lions
• James Bridie, playwright, screenwriter and physician
• Jack Buchanan, actor, singer & dancer
• Sir James Caird (1864–1954), founder of the National Maritime Museum.
• Sir David Young Cameron (1865–1945), Scottish painter and etcher.
• John Traill Cargill, Chairman of Burmah Oil Company, 1904–1943
• Jackson Carlaw, Scottish Conservative Party MSP
• Horatio Scott Carslaw (1870–1954), Professor of Pure and Applied Mathematics at the University of Sydney.
• Archibald Corbett, 1st Baron Rowallan, politician and philanthropist.
• Douglas Crawford, Scottish National Party MP
• Pippa Crerar, Political Editor of the Daily Mirror
• Darius Campbell (born Danesh), singer-songwriter & actor
• Donald Dewar, Scottish Labour Party MP and MSP, first First Minister of Scotland
• Ronald Drever, Professor of Physics at Caltech and part of the team that first detected gravitational waves
• Andrew Dunlop, Baron Dunlop, Conservative peer
• Walter Elliot, Scottish Unionist Party MP, Secretary of State for Scotland
• Niall Ferguson, Professor of History at Harvard University
• Alexander Forrester, cricketer and cricket administrator
• George MacDonald Fraser, author^[16]
• John Gardner (law), Professor of Jurisprudence, University of Oxford
• Thomas Dunlop Galbraith, 1st Baron Strathclyde, Scottish Unionist Party MP
• Group Captain Sir Louis Leisler Greig, KBE, CVO British naval surgeon, and intimate of King George VI (1880–1953)
• Sir Angus Grossart, Chairman and executive director of merchant bank Noble Grossart^[17]
• Rev. Dr Andrew Harper, Scottish–Australian Biblical scholar and Principal of the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne and St Andrew's College, Sydney (also attended Scotch College, Melbourne)^[18]
• Sir Michael Hirst, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party MP and chairman
• Sir William Wilson Hunter, KCSI CIE (1840–1900)
• Andrew Innes, cricketer
• Jeremy Isaacs, founder of Channel 4
• William Paton Ker, literary critic
• John Kerr, Baron Kerr of Kinlochard, diplomat and crossbench life peer
• Alexander Dunlop Lindsay, 1st Baron Lindsay of Birker, philosopher
• Maurice Lindsay CBE Scottish broadcaster, writer and poet (1918–2009).
• Sir James Lithgow, shipbuilder and industrialist; 1883–1952
• Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum^[19]
• Robert Maclennan, Baron Maclennan of Rogart, leader of the Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Democrats
• Alan MacNaughtan, actor
• Guy McCrone, author and founding member of the Glasgow Citizens Theatre
• George Matheson theologian and preacher (1842–1906)
• Jim Mollison pioneer aviator (1905–1959)
• W. H. Murray, mountaineer, explorer and writer
• Robin Nisbet (1925–2013), professor of Latin literature
• David Omand Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, former senior British civil servant, visiting professor at King's College London
• Alexander Pollock, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party MP, sheriff
• William Ramsay, Nobel laureate (Chemistry 1904), discovered the gas 'Argon'
• John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, founder of the BBC
• Albert Russell, Scottish Unionist Party MP, Solicitor General for Scotland
• James Scott, obstetrician and gynaecologist
• William Sharp, poet and literary biographer
• Chris Simmers, professional rugby union player and Scotland rugby league international
• Ninian Smart, scholar of religion
• Norman Stone, historian
• Euan Stubbs, cricketer
• Iain Vallance, Baron Vallance of Tummel, ex-Chief Executive of BT, Liberal Democrat politician
• Herbert Waddell Scottish rugby internationalist and president of the Barbarians (1902–1988)
• William Walker, cricketer, cricket administrator, and British Army officer
• Sir James Wordie, polar explorer and geologist

Notable alumnae of Westbourne School for Girls

See also: Category:People educated at Westbourne School for Girls

• Vivien Heilbron, actress
• Fiona Kennedy, singer, actress and broadcaster
• Kate Mavor, CEO of English Heritage
• Jacqueline Lee, Chair, Association for Heritage Interpretation, Founder Artemis Scotland.

Bibliography

MacLeod, Iain M., The Glasgow Academy 150 Years, (The Glasgow Academicals' War Memorial Trust, 1997)