Exclusive:Private school head 'could weep' over Edinburgh schools' chronic overcrowding
There is a dispute about the impact of private school fee rises on the state sector but the overcrowding in Edinburgh is a unarguable problem
The head of a prestigious Edinburgh independent school said she ‘could weep’ at overcrowding in the city’s secondaries.
Lisa Kerr, principal of George Watson’s College, said the capital’s councillors are in denial at the knock-on impact of Labour’s VAT introduction.
Her comments come after The Scotsman reported pupils are eating lunch in toilets to avoid overcrowding at two sought-after state schools.
Deputations from parent councils at Boroughmuir and James Gillespie’s high schools told the education committee of intolerable conditions for pupils.
Ms Kerr said: “I could have wept, because it's just not a surprise and we've been saying this for years.
“Ultimately we have been warning about this for years.
“The UK government, the Scottish government, the City of Edinburgh Council, everyone seems to be putting politics before pupils.
“That's what I find so distressing in this. VAT on school fees sounded like it was going to be fair, but it just hasn't worked, and all the things that we predicted would happen have happened.”
Edinburgh’s education chiefs say overcrowding is not being exacerbated by an influx from the independent sector.
However, the Scottish Council of Independent Schools (SCIS) says that is the wrong metric to consider.
Fewer pupils are enrolling in private schools at the classic S1 and P1 entry points with rolls across Edinburgh down by 11 per cent.
“The council has been hiding behind this idea of the big influx,” Mrs Kerr added.
“The issue is about pupils just not joining the sector.
“And to be clear, this is not the bottom of the curve for us, and not the peak of demand for state schools.
“We know that parents continue to sacrifice a huge amount to ensure no disruption to their children's education, but it's as those children go through our schools, others will continue to be unable to join.
“The situation is only going to get worse and it is awful to have been proved right on this.”
Mrs Kerr said that, while the focus is on the two South Edinburgh secondaries, she has spoken to colleagues in other state schools experiences similar pressures.
She claims that a local primary school is planning to have 40 pupils in one primary one class with two teachers due to a lack of space.
Councillor James Dalgleish, the Education, Children and Families Convenor for Edinburgh City Council, said it was “inaccurate” to blame capacity issues on the introduction of VAT.
“Our data shows that the anticipated influx into our schools from the independent school sector hasn’t materialised,” he said.
“Between January 2025 and January 2026, 76 pupils transferred into a number of council schools.
“The increase in demand for places in these schools comes from higher school rolls in the primary sector in the past few years impacting into the secondary sector – a pattern we have seen across the city.”
Mr Dalgleish said places at Boroughmuir and James Gillespie’s are in demand but added there is “ample space across our secondary schools, including at nearby Tynecastle High School”.
On Wednesday Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called education secretary Bridget Phillipson a "spiteful class warrior" for taxing private school fees.
The row escalated as she claimed the additional funds were to pay for more teachers in state schools "but the number of teachers has gone down”.
Mrs Kerr said it is now time for politicians to rethink the tax-raising measure.
She said: “I just hope that we are now at a position where we've actually got evidence that something that sounded fair isn't working, and therefore when something isn't working, the grown-up thing to do is to change your approach, not double down on something that, against every measure of evidence, has not worked.”
Watson’s has set up a three-year affordability strategy for its fees as well as making efficiency savings across the school.
Its bursary scheme is supporting pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Mrs Kerr added: “It's actually easier if you're from a disadvantaged background, to get into Watson's than into one of the top performing state schools in Edinburgh.”
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