Current status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 26 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) primary and (b) secondary schools have been (i) built and (ii) refurbished in each local authority area since 2007.
For the years 2010-11 to 2024-25 the Scottish Government’s school estates data collection makes a distinction between schools built and those refurbished, while for the years 2007-08 to 2009-10 no such distinction was made in the data collection.
Table 1 provides statistics on the number of schools built/refurbished by sector in each local authority between 2007-08 and 2009-10.
Statistics on the number of schools built by sector and local authority since 2010-11 are provided in Table 2, while Table 3 provides the corresponding statistics for refurbished schools.
Across all years, only schools where the total cost of the works (build or refurbishment) was £500,000 or more for primary schools or £1 million or more for secondary and special schools are included.
TABLE 1 - Built/Refurbished 2007-08 to 2009-10 | ||||
Local Authority | Primary | Secondary | Special | Total |
Aberdeen City | 5 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
Aberdeenshire | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
Angus | 11 | 2 | 0 | 13 |
Argyll and Bute | 5 | 3 | 2 | 10 |
City of Edinburgh | 8 | 6 | 3 | 17 |
Clackmannanshire | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
Dumfries and Galloway | 9 | 6 | 0 | 15 |
Dundee City | 6 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
East Ayrshire | 6 | 2 | 1 | 9 |
East Dunbartonshire | 1 | 7 | 0 | 8 |
East Lothian | 5 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
East Renfrewshire | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Falkirk | 5 | 4 | 0 | 9 |
Fife | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 |
Glasgow City | 17 | 0 | 1 | 18 |
Highland | 9 | 8 | 1 | 18 |
Inverclyde | 5 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
Midlothian | 11 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
Moray | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Na h-Eileanan Siar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
North Ayrshire | 2 | 6 | 0 | 8 |
North Lanarkshire | 10 | 4 | 0 | 14 |
Orkney Islands | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Perth and Kinross | 6 | 4 | 1 | 11 |
Renfrewshire | 8 | 5 | 0 | 13 |
Scottish Borders | 5 | 3 | 0 | 8 |
Shetland Islands | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
South Ayrshire | 6 | 3 | 0 | 9 |
South Lanarkshire | 20 | 17 | 2 | 39 |
Stirling | 8 | 5 | 1 | 14 |
West Dunbartonshire | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
West Lothian | 2 | 6 | 0 | 8 |
All authorities | 180 | 110 | 12 | 302 |
TABLE 2 - Built 2010-11 to 2024-25 | ||||
Local Authority | Primary | Secondary | Special | Total |
Aberdeen City | 8 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
Aberdeenshire | 6 | 4 | 0 | 10 |
Angus | 5 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
Argyll and Bute | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
City of Edinburgh | 1 | 5 | 1 | 7 |
Clackmannanshire | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Dumfries and Galloway | 8 | 3 | 0 | 11 |
Dundee City | 11 | 2 | 1 | 14 |
East Ayrshire | 12 | 2 | 4 | 18 |
East Dunbartonshire | 5 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
East Lothian | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
East Renfrewshire | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
Falkirk | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Fife | 2 | 8 | 1 | 11 |
Glasgow City | 21 | 0 | 2 | 23 |
Highland | 11 | 4 | 2 | 17 |
Inverclyde | 2 | 4 | 1 | 7 |
Midlothian | 7 | 2 | 0 | 9 |
Moray | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
Na h-Eileanan Siar | 5 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
North Ayrshire | 7 | 2 | 0 | 9 |
North Lanarkshire | 9 | 5 | 2 | 16 |
Orkney Islands | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
Perth and Kinross | 12 | 2 | 0 | 14 |
Renfrewshire | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
Scottish Borders | 6 | 2 | 1 | 9 |
Shetland Islands | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
South Ayrshire | 9 | 3 | 1 | 13 |
South Lanarkshire | 77 | 0 | 4 | 81 |
Stirling | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
West Dunbartonshire | 8 | 4 | 1 | 13 |
West Lothian | 5 | 3 | 3 | 11 |
All authorities | 257 | 73 | 28 | 358 |
TABLE 3 - Refurbished 2010-11 to 2024-25 | ||||
Local Authority | Primary | Secondary | Special | Total |
Aberdeen City | 13 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
Aberdeenshire | 22 | 7 | 1 | 30 |
Angus | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Argyll and Bute | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
City of Edinburgh | 25 | 1 | 0 | 26 |
Clackmannanshire | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Dumfries and Galloway | 27 | 8 | 0 | 35 |
Dundee City | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
East Ayrshire | 7 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
East Dunbartonshire | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
East Lothian | 14 | 5 | 0 | 19 |
East Renfrewshire | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
Falkirk | 11 | 1 | 0 | 12 |
Fife | 28 | 2 | 0 | 30 |
Glasgow City | 109 | 6 | 11 | 126 |
Highland | 43 | 4 | 0 | 47 |
Inverclyde | 10 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
Midlothian | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Moray | 11 | 2 | 0 | 13 |
Na h-Eileanan Siar | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
North Ayrshire | 15 | 1 | 0 | 16 |
North Lanarkshire | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
Orkney Islands | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Perth and Kinross | 9 | 3 | 0 | 12 |
Renfrewshire | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
Scottish Borders | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Shetland Islands | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
South Ayrshire | 12 | 1 | 0 | 13 |
South Lanarkshire | 18 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
Stirling | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
West Dunbartonshire | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
West Lothian | 11 | 2 | 2 | 15 |
All authorities | 432 | 48 | 17 | 497 |