Aberdeen parents question Council's refusal to consider Catholic secondary school

A parent-led campaign is calling on Aberdeen City Council to properly consider the establishment of a Catholic secondary school in the city, so that children attending its three Catholic primary schools can continue their learning beyond the primary stage.

Aberdeen is Scotland's third largest city, yet the local authority offers no Catholic secondary provision.

The campaign has the full backing of Scotland's Catholic bishops, including the local Bishop of Aberdeen. It has also received the support of the Scottish Catholic Education Service, the Church's representative on the city's Education Committee, and the leadership of the Parent Councils from Aberdeen's three Catholic primary schools.

The Council's Education and Children's Services Committee has repeatedly called for further discussions with parent bodies and the Church about this issue. However, a slim majority of elected members voted down further discussions. This despite eighty-two per cent of respondents to the Council's 2024 consultation supporting a new Catholic secondary school in the city.

Catholic families firmly believe the proposal deserves to be properly and carefully considered, with parents given a meaningful say in local education provision. They are also asking the Council to explain its continued resistance to even examining the proposal.

Local Parent Councils are leading a campaign to bring together the voices of local families and make the case for a wider consultation.

The registration deadline has been extended to Friday 16 October.

Parents have written the following Open Letter to the press:

Dear Sir/Madam,

We wish to call your attention and that of your readers to the refusal of Aberdeen City Council to engage with the Catholic community on the matter of a Catholic secondary school in the city.

In September of 2024 and again in September of 2025, the Education and Children's Services Committee of Aberdeen City Council, which includes church, parent and teacher representatives as well as elected members, voted in favour of establishing a group consisting of representatives from the Catholic Church and the Council to investigate the possibility of providing a Catholic Secondary in Aberdeen. On both occasions the convenor of the ECSC referred the matter to a meeting of the full Council where the ruling LibDem/SNP Partnership used their slim majority to have the decisions of the ECSC overturned. This was despite the fact that the City Council's 2024 extremely flawed consultation on the issue showed that 82% of respondents were in favour of a Catholic secondary.

As recently as September 15th of this year the Education and Children's Services Committee again voted to take forward the matter of a Catholic secondary and this time the convenor announced that he would refer the committee's decision to the Finance and Resources Committee with a view to having it overturned.

The case for a Catholic secondary in Aberdeen is compelling. The Catholic population of Aberdeen is similar in size to that of Dundee; indeed there are more school-aged Catholics in Aberdeen than in Dundee. Dundee has two Catholic secondaries and ten Catholic primaries. Aberdeen has three Catholic primaries and no Catholic secondary. Similar comparisons between Aberdeen and Edinburgh and between Aberdeen and Glasgow demonstrate that Aberdeen is an outlier in its failure to provide for Catholic education.

Of course, it is not only Catholic families who wish to send their children to Catholic schools. All over Scotland thousands of families who are not Catholics send their children to Catholic secondaries attracted by their distinctive ethos and mission. In September of 2024 inspectors from Education Scotland reported on their visit to St Joseph's RC Primary in Aberdeen: "Across the school children are motivated to learn in a highly inclusive and diverse learning environment . This is underpinned by the strong Catholic ethos where every child is supported to make very good progress in their learning."

The Church and parent groups would welcome the opportunity to work in partnership with Aberdeen City Council to extend this quality provision into the secondary sector for the benefit of the whole community of Aberdeen.

We would be grateful for your help in publishing this letter to inform all the parents of Aberdeen that they can register an interest in a Catholic Secondary by following the link: https://form.jotform.com/261192155489363.

This portal will remain open until Friday 16th October.

This open letter is co-signed by:

+ Hugh Gilbert
Bishop of Aberdeen

+ John Keenan
President of the Bishops' Conference of Scotland

JJ Welsh
Chair of St Joseph's Parent Council

Tony Steppie
Chair of Holy Family School Parent Council

Stanley Anyadioha
Secretary of St Peter's Parent Council

Barbara Coupar
Director, Scottish Catholic Education Service (SCES)

John Murray
Catholic Church Representative
Education and Children's Services