“The series of inspections were as follows: January 2015 Education Scotland and Care Inspectorate, May and June 2015 Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland, December 2015 Care Inspectorate, February 2016 Education Scotland, June 2016 Care Inspectorate, September 2016 Care Inspectorate and November 2016 Education Scotland. Prior to this, between 1998 and 2015, the school was inspected regularly by HMIE/Education Scotland and The Care Inspectorate.”—Andrew Hunter, SCAI Witness Statement (17 November 2020)
At some point during this investigative archive project, it occurred to me that it would be important to include all existing Merchiston Castle School inspection reports. This would allow us to see what kinds of bodies inspected and inspect the school, what archived historical inspection material is available for different eras, and what the inspection bodies had to say about the school during what we now know—through hindsight—were its darkest days. This was not to be a simple task.
This list of 34 inspection reports or related correspondence from all bodies, including the school itself, has been compiled over a period of two years and represents the entirety of Merchiston Castle School inspection reports that I’ve been able to locate—from any source—both live websites and internet archives of reorganized (broken URLs) or dead websites (domain name changes due to inspection body name change or change in inspection body).
This was an unannounced inspection which took place onsite on 18 November 2025 between 12:00 and 19:30, 19 November between 08:50 and 19:30, 20 November between 08:50 and 14:00, 24 November between 08:50 and 19:30 and 25 November between 07:50 and 14:00. The inspection was carried out by six inspectors from the Care Inspectorate
Pupil comment: “We are forced to go to chapel. The teachers say it is not solely for Christianity and any religion is welcome, but they sing Christian hymns and pray to the Christian god. I’d rather not go to chapel.”
All of the detail that is not present here is readily accessible to staff. Why not just have it ready to go in copy and paste format for official reports like this? The reports ask the same questions each time? The school calendar exists already and doesn’t change too much. This report does not put on the record how life at the school is organized, either hour by hour or day by day.
Merchiston Castle School, where the day pupil fees are £21,495 per year, requires additional support according to Education Scotland. The school’s Board of Governors with its newly appointed Chair, Gareth Baird, is to work with the Independent Schools Link Inspector to make further improvements and monitor progress. The latest inspection report demands that the school works on ensuring that pupils feel able to report concerns in a safe environment.
An adventure island owner accused of abusing boys told a court there was “nothing devious” about him changing his appearance before an identity parade. Torquil Johnson-Ferguson, of Solwaybank, Chapel Knowe, Canonbie, in Dumfriesshire, had his long hair cut before the line-up his trial at Oban Sheriff Court was told earlier.
A recent inspection at Merchiston Castle School in Colinton has confirmed that improvements already identified by the school now need urgent attention according to the report issued today by Education Scotland. In October 2014, Education Scotland and the Care Inspectorate carried out a short notice care and welfare inspection at the school.
The school had recently reviewed their child protection policies and procedures. A governor will be nominated as the Child Protection Representative on the governing board in the near future.
“Around a third of pupils expressed concerns about the safety of their belongings, lack of quiet places, the toilet facilities and the lack of privacy when showering or changing.”
