Friday March 20th 2026
Fountainhall Primary School, Scottish Borders
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Paul Kelly
Councillors will next week be asked to agree the launch a public consultation over the permanent closure of a rural Borders village school with only one pupil.
Fountainhall Primary School is a non-denominational school, with capacity for 50 pupils, located in the very small village of Fountainhall in the north-west of the Borders on the Gala Water.
The school was mothballed in June 2025 after its roll fell to one pupil from 24 pupils in 2020/21.
When members of Scottish Borders Council meet on Thursday, March 26, they will be recommended to approve a consultation to be launched on Monday, August 24 and to last until October 12.
A report to members states: “Officers worked with parents of the pupil to assess options and decided to mothball the school for up to one year due to the educational and operational challenges of such low numbers and the roll falling to one.
“An undertaking was given to council as the time of mothballing to review the mothball status and consider viability, to consider whether a statutory consultation for permanent closure should be progressed.
“The review concluded that statutory consultation on permanent closure is favoured, given declining numbers and community preferences.
“Most families already use other schools out with the catchment, and most survey participants favoured merging Fountainhall Primary into the Heriot Primary School catchment, preferring to support a single small rural primary in the area rather than two neighbouring schools that might face challenges with enrolment numbers.
“There is community support clear within the survey for setting up Early Learning Centre (ELC) provision at Heriot primary which is under consideration.
“Officers believe a proposal to close Fountainhall primary and ELC and rezoning to Heriot Primary offer educational benefits, but a full statutory consultation is required under legislation, to enable full robust engagement on this option.”
It is believed permanent closure would result in a net saving of £93k a year.
Tweet Share on Facebook
