Education records

Almost certainly not. By and large, a school will destroy class work done by a pupil, which does not count towards examinations, within a few years of that pupil leaving school. Normally, archives in Scotland will accession head teachers’ school log books, admission registers, and occasionally a few other types of school records, but certainly not large quantities of pupils’ class work. Sometime school magazines, where they survive, will include examples of prose, poetry and artwork.

There are a few options you can try.

School Buildings and Classroom Scenes.

Most local authority archives have collections of photographs which are likely to include photographs of school buildings and may also have some classroom scenes.

Class Photographs

Each year photographs of classes and individual pupils is carried out in most primary schools and some secondary schools. Usually a local photographer is hired by the school (or by the education authority) to take the photographs. Copy prints are offered to parents of the children. Sometimes the school keeps copy prints of group photographs of classes. The negatives and the copyright, in general, are retained by the photographer. There is no general archive of school class photographs in Scotland. Therefore, apart from the occasional class photograph which finds its way to an archive or local studies library, there are four possible sources for individual and group photographs of school pupils. The first is the family of the school pupil. The second is the school itself (but there is no guarantee that the school will have kept photographs, and even if it has, these are likely to be framed prints of group photographs). The third is a former pupil association, if one exists, which may have maintained collections of photographs. The fourth is the local photographer who did the work. In the case of recent photographs, it may be possible to track down the photographer, if the school staff remember which photographer carried out the work and the photographer is still in business. For photographic work carried out beyond the living memory of staff in the school concerned, it would be time consuming to find out the name of the photographer through the school log books (if they survive, and if the head teacher has recorded the name of the photographer – most do not). Even if the name of the local photographer was found, there is little chance that the firm will still be in existence, and even less chance that an archive will have received the firm’s negatives. If these do survive, against all odds, the collection may be listed in John Wall (ed.), Directory of British Photographic Collections (1977).

For the period prior to 1873, the most comprehensive list of schools in Scotland is contained in the questionnaires returned by schoolteachers in each parish and burgh of Scotland to the Parliamentary Education Select Committee of 1838. These form part of official parliamentary papers, series of which are held by the National Library of Scotland, the Mitchell Library, Glasgow, and some university libraries.

For the period after 1873, there are several options. Postal Directories for each county and town have, in many cases, an appendix with a list of educational establishments. In the case of cities, such as Glasgow and Edinburgh, these are subdivided by district. Many directories are available at <https://digital.nls.uk/directories/> [accessed 26 April 2024]. Francis H. Groome’s Ordnance Gazetteer for Scotland (various editions) mentions how many schools were in each place (in most cases) but does not name the schools.

If the education authority (e.g. school board, county council, etc) published a diary or annual handbook, these might be held by the local authority archive service or local studies library for the area concerned, and these usually list the schools and other educational establishments in the area. The local archives or library may have other resources or might have compiled lists of schools to help with these kinds of enquiries.

If the minutes of the school board for the area concerned survive for the period beginning 1873, it is worth looking at the minutes, as these usually contain information about the various schools in the parish run by the various churches, charitable organizations and so on, usually because the school board would, be discussing which ones to take over themselves.

The records of most private schools are held by schools themselves, but the surviving historical records of some have been deposited in the National Records of Scotland. Others, held privately, have been surveyed by the Business Archives Council (Scotland) and the National Register of Archives for Scotland.

You should

1. check the Discovery website <https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/> [accessed 26 April 2024] using the name of the school. This will tell you whether the records of the school are held by an archives service (such as the National Records of Scotland) or have been surveyed by the National Register of Archives for Scotland;
2. check if the records have been surveyed by the Business Archives Council (Scotland);
3. if the school itself still exists, check with the School Secretary or Head Teacher.

From 1873 onwards schools in Scotland fell into two categories: public schools (publicly run schools funded partly by local taxation), and private schools (funded by fee-paying pupils or by charitable or religious bodies). if you know the name of the school the pupil attended then you should

1. Look at the online catalogues of the local authority archives service which covers the location of the school. (See YSA contacts)
2. If you cannot find a reference for the school in these online catalogues, contact the relevant local authority archives service
3. If the school still exists, check with the School Secretary or the Head Teacher

If you do not know the name of the school go to the FAQ How can I find out which schools operated in a particular place at a particular time?

If the pupil went to a private school (i.e. a school funded by fee-paying pupils or by a charitable or religious body) and you know the name of the school go the FAQ Where will I find records relating to a pupil who attended a private school after 1872?

For more information about the content of school records see the Knowledge Base entries on School Admission Registers and School Logbooks.

If you know which part of Scotland someone came from, but not the name of the school(s) the pupil attended go to the FAQ How can I find out which schools operated in a particular place at a particular time?

Records created by schools themselves for this period are very rare, but some pupil records exist in the form of subscription lists (those pupils for whom school fees were paid in any given term or year). The records of most private schools are held by schools themselves, but the surviving historical records of some have been deposited in the National Records of Scotland. Others, held privately, have been surveyed by the Business Archives Council (Scotland) and the National Register of Archives for Scotland.

You should :

1. Look at the online catalogues of the local authority archives service which covers the location of the school or contact relevant the archives service. (See YSA contacts);
2. Check the Discovery website <https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ > [accessed 26 April 2024] using the name of the school. This will tell you whether the records of the school are held by an archives service or have been surveyed by the National Register of Archives for Scotland;
3. Check if the records have been surveyed by the Business Archives Council (Scotland);
4. If the school itself still exists, check with the School Secretary or Head Teacher.

Parliamentary papers are a good source of information about schools and education in Scotland. They include evidence presented to parliamentary commissions and statistical returns by the head teachers of schools. For example, schoolteachers’ returns to the 1838 Education Select Committee’s questionnaire gives information about all the schools in each parish in Scotland at that time. There is a very good guide to the contents of 19th century parliamentary papers in J. A. Haythornthwaite, N. C. Wilson and V. A. Batho, Scotland in the Nineteenth Century: an analytical bibliography of material relating to Scotland in Parliamentary Papers, 1800-1900 (Scolar Press, 1993).

Parliamentary papers are held by large reference libraries (such as the National Library of Scotland, the Mitchell Library in Glasgow, Edinburgh City Libraries, and some university libraries). Parliamentary Papers are also available online through ProQuest which is a subscription service used by university libraries and some large reference libraries.  For other options go to <https://archives.parliament.uk/online-resources/parliamentary-papers/  > [accessed 26 April 2024].

Information about university graduations and internal exams are held by individual universities.

Records of examination results are subject to the Data Protection Act 2018. Information about the Higher Leaving exam in Scotland between 1908 and 1948 are held by the National Records of Scotland under the reference ED36 and ED40. They survive in the form of bound volumes of returns by each school listing the names of the candidates, subjects, grades and marks. The volumes are arranged alphabetically by the parish or burgh in which each school was found. There is a closure period of 100 years.

There are different places to check depending on when you sat your exams.

1948-present

If you require confirmation of any formal examinations, such as O Grades, Standard Grades, National 4, National 5, Highers, Certificates of Sixth Year Studies or Advanced Highers, you should apply to the Scottish Qualifications Authority. <https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/70972.html> [accessed 26 April 2024].

1908-48

If you sat the Higher Leaving exam in Scotland between 1908 and 1948, the records are held by the National Records of Scotland under the reference ED36 and ED40. They survive in the form of bound volumes of returns by each school listing the names of the candidates, subjects, grades and marks. The volumes are arranged alphabetically by the parish or burgh in which each school was found. The records are subject to the Data Protection Act 2018, so you should make your enquiry by letter or by e-mail. <https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/> [accessed 26 April 2024].