Aberdeen pushes for first Catholic secondary school in 50 years

Campaigners in Aberdeen are intensifying efforts to establish a Catholic secondary school, marking a significant shift in the city's education landscape after five decades without one. According to BBC News, parents and church leaders have launched a coordinated push for the council to seriously consider the proposal, with the matter now scheduled for full council consideration on 9 December 2026.

The campaign reflects growing demand from Aberdeen's Catholic community, which has expanded substantially. The city's Roman Catholic population has risen by more than 7,000 people over the past 20 years and now comprises approximately 8.6% of the population. Three Catholic primary schools currently operate in the Granite City, yet families seeking Catholic secondary education must look elsewhere or travel significant distances.

The last Catholic secondary school in Aberdeen closed in the mid-1970s. The Convent of the Sacred Heart, a boarding school for girls, shut its doors in 1971, followed by the secondary department at St Peter's Roman Catholic School in 1975. Across Scotland, the broader picture shows contraction: the number of publicly-funded Catholic schools has declined from 421 in 1997 to 358 currently.

Among those championing the cause is JJ Welsh, a parent who sends his two sons to St Joseph's Primary. Welsh relocated to Aberdeen from South Lanarkshire in 2007 and works in the oil and gas sector. Though he acknowledges that construction of a new school within the next 15 years remains unlikely, he insists the conversation must happen.

There's an assumption that denominational schools are only for children that have been baptised and are Catholic. People from outwith are sending their children to a faith school, it's about the ethos.

Welsh recognises the council faces competing pressures.

We have just been asking for a discussion. It comes back down to a democratic point.

Elizabeth Spencer, whose daughter Charlotte is 10 years old, has been campaigning since 2024 to bring a Catholic secondary school to Aberdeen. She described the emotional toll of repeated deferrals at council meetings.

I had a panic attack. I felt completely hopeless because of this going back and forth.

Spencer is currently exploring options for her daughter's secondary education, including schools located more than 65 miles away in Dundee.

I am just asking for them to listen to us. I feel completely abandoned by everyone, but I am adamant about her following my faith.

What do church leaders say?

The Bishops' Conference of Scotland has thrown its weight behind the campaign. The organisation stated it was

united in its support for a new Catholic secondary school in Aberdeen

, adding that

wherever reasonably possible, parents and families should have the opportunity to choose Catholic secondary education.

According to The Tablet, the Scottish Bishops' Conference publicly backed the campaign, saying Aberdeen families should have the opportunity to choose Catholic secondary education where reasonably possible.

Archbishop William Nolan of Glasgow, president of Catholic education, raised the question of equity.

Catholic secondary schools are widely available across Scotland. The absence of any plans for Catholic secondary education raises important questions about the rights and entitlements of Catholic families in Aberdeen. These are questions we would urge the council to address.

A Diocese of Aberdeen consultation portal remains open for parents to register their interest in a Catholic secondary school.

What does the council say about funding?

Aberdeen City Council education convener Martin Greig has emphasised the financial constraints facing the authority.

The focus is on the urgent challenge of using the council's very limited funding to deal with the serious problems of our inadequate school estate.

Greig stressed that the council has a

clear responsibility to ensure that pupils had the best possible learning environment

and that it was

vital to prioritise investment to allow modernisation across the city.

The council is currently investing £29 million in the refurbishment of St Peter's RC School to improve primary education provision. A spokesman for Aberdeen City Council refuted claims that it had not engaged in discussions about secondary denominational education, though the authority has previously cited funding limitations and concerns about meeting minimum pupil roll thresholds as obstacles.

What happened in previous council decisions?

The campaign has faced repeated setbacks in the council chamber. In 2024, Aberdeen councillors rejected a bid to create a working group to investigate establishing a new Catholic secondary school. A report from council officials noted that a consultation suggested it was unlikely the school would meet the minimum roll threshold of 1,000 pupils. However, according to The Tablet, in the council's 2024 consultation, 82% of 1,321 respondents supported a Catholic secondary school, indicating substantial public backing despite official concerns about viability.

The pattern of deferrals has frustrated campaigners. In 2024 and 2025, the education committee voted to establish a council-and-Church group to investigate the proposal, but both decisions were overturned by the full council. In September 2026, the finance and resources committee agreed to move the item regarding Catholic secondary school provision to the next full meeting of the council, after it had already been deferred from the education committee.

According to the Press and Journal, on 15 September 2026, the education committee backed further engagement on the proposal, but the issue was referred onward rather than resolved. A campaign portal for parents to register interest was open until 16 October 2026; campaigners reported that it had received hundreds of responses, demonstrating sustained community interest in the initiative.

What is the broader context for Catholic education in Scotland?

The Aberdeen campaign reflects wider challenges facing the Catholic Church in Scotland. The 2022 Census revealed that, for the first time, a majority of people in Scotland identified as non-religious. Just over 13% of the population identified as Catholic, representing a decline of more than 117,000 people in a single decade. The Church has responded to these demographic shifts with significant restructuring; it emerged recently that the Catholic Church was to halve the number of parishes it has in Glasgow and Dunbartonshire as part of a major reorganisation.

Yet Aberdeen presents a contrasting picture. The 2022 Census found more than 19,000 Roman Catholics living in the city—a rise from approximately 12,000 two decades earlier. This growth in the local Catholic population forms the foundation of the campaign's argument that Aberdeen warrants secondary provision comparable to that available in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Perth and Stirling.

What happens next?

The full council is scheduled to consider the matter on 9 December 2026. This meeting represents a critical juncture for the campaign, as it will determine whether the council commits to a formal consultation process or continues to defer the decision. Campaigners have called on the council to conduct a

meaningful consultation

into the prospect of establishing a Catholic secondary school, framing the issue as one of democratic representation and educational choice for Aberdeen's Catholic families.