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Merchiston Castle School

Merchiston Castle School is the only boys boarding school in Scotland. The school is best known for its excellent sport, with particular strengths being rugby, athletics, golf and tennis. Golf and tennis even have their own specialist academies. Merchiston does consistently well academically, too. with 40% at A*/A grades at A-Levels. Part of the school's great appeal is surely its location at the doorsteps of exciting university town Edinburgh.

Von Bülow Education placed 1 pupils here in 2024.

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The Essentials

Number of pupils: 360
Percentage of boarders: 70%
Percentage of international pupils: 20%
Av. class size: senior school - 15 / 6th Form - 10
Closest international airport: Edinburgh Airport, 30mins by car
Fees per term for 2024/2025: £14,085

http://www.merchiston.co.uk

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What we think

A great school especially but not exclusively for sporty boys.

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The Details

The Academics:

A-Levels and GCSEs on offer. Merchiston Castle School is non-selective yet achieved very respectable 14% A*-grades at A-Levels and 50% 9-7 grades at GCSEs in 2023. This is in no small part due to the good pupil-to-teacher ratio of 1:9, as well as very dedicated teachers and a highly supportive, specifically to boys' needs adapted learning environment.

The school offers German, Spanish, French, Latin and Greek.

The SEN provision is strong with good support for boys with dyslexia and dyscalculia.

Boarding:

70% of boys board. Four boarding houses are available, all very modern and cozy. Senior boys get single rooms, 6th-formers even with en suite bathrooms!

Exeats exist, but are not compulsory.

Strengths:

Merchiston Castle School provides the boys with a top-notch learning and pastoral environment. Very supportive, engaging and friendly teachers and houseparents ensure the boys do well academically and personally. The results really speak for themselves here!

Merchiston Castle School is known for its great sports. 90% of boys play competitive games across 16 sports including rugby (especially strong!), tennis, golf, hockey, football and cricket. The school sports highly successful Tennis and Golf Academies.

We love the school's art and design departments. Boys really learn the creative arts here and produce some stunning art, prototypes of furniture, even electric cars!