The Glasgow Academy

In 1981 the school admitted girl pupils for the first time.[4]

In 1991, Glasgow Academy merged with Westbourne School for Girls,[5] adopting the distinctive purple of its uniform in the school badge and tartan. It is located in the Kelvinbridge area and has approximately 1350 pupils, split between three preparatory school sites and a senior school. The current rector is Matthew Pearce, who has held the position since 2019.

The Academy is part of a select number of schools in Scotland which are Stonewall School Champions, an LGBT initiative which provides training for staff and pupils against homophobic bullying.

The Glasgow Academy’s preparatory school is the first school in the UK to have been awarded the Diana Gold Award for Anti-Bullying.

HMIe last inspected the school in November 2008.[6]

The school has a well established house system, which divides all pupils in the school into four different Houses, each represented by a School Colour:

•      Arthur
•      Fraser
•      Morrison
•      Temple

All of the houses are named after notable alumni or previous Rectors that have influenced the Academy greatly.

In the Senior School, House assemblies are normally held once a week and are run by two teachers, one male and one female, as Head of Houses.

Senior Pupils enter a wide range of activities competing in Houses. These activities include football, rugby, hockey, debating as well as an annual House singing competition and an annual Sports Day. So far in the 2020 competitions, as of 9th March, Fraser House has won House singing and House debating and the other competitions have not yet taken place.

• Frederick Anderson, Chairman, Municipal Council, Shanghai International Settlement, 1905–06.
• John Arthur, Church of Scotland missionary to East Africa.
• J. M. Barrie, writer of 'Peter Pan'
• Laura Bartlett, British Hockey Player and Olympic Athlete [7][8][9]
• John Beattie (rugby player), rugby player for Scotland and British Lions
• James Bridie playwright, screenwriter and physician
• Jack Buchanan, Actor, Singer & Dancer.
• Sir James Caird (1864–1954), founder of the National Maritime Museum.
• Sir David Young Cameron (1865–1945), Scottish painter and etcher.
• Billy Campbell, winner of the 2009 Scottish BAFTA Best Fictional Film award for 'Life of a Pigeon'.[10]
• Sir John Cargill, Chairman of Burmah Oil Company, 1904–1943
• Jackson Carlaw, Scottish Conservative Party MSP.
• Horatio Scott Carslaw (1870–1954), Professor of Pure and Applied Mathematics at the University of Sydney.
• Archibald Corbett, 1st Baron Rowallan, politician and philanthropist.
• Douglas Crawford, Scottish National Party
• Pippa Crerar, Political Editor Daily Mirror
• Darius Campbell (born Danesh), singer-songwriter & actor
• Ryan Dalziel, professional racing driver
• Alexander Rankin McGregor Allan, motivational speaker
• Donald Dewar, Scottish Labour Party MP and MSP, first First Minister of Scotland
• Andrew Dunlop, Baron Dunlop, Conservative peer
• Walter Elliot, Scottish Unionist Party MP, Secretary of State for Scotland
• Niall Ferguson, Professor of History at Harvard University
• George MacDonald Fraser, Author [11]
• John Gardner (law), Professor of Jurisprudence, University of Oxford
• Thomas Dunlop Galbraith, 1st Baron Strathclyde, Scottish Unionist Party MP
• Group Captain Sir Louis Leisler Greig, KBE, CVO British naval surgeon, and intimate of King George VI (1880–1953)
• Sir Angus Grossart, Chairman and executive director of merchant bank Noble Grossart [12]
• Rev. Dr Andrew Harper, Scottish–Australian Biblical scholar and Principal of the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne and St Andrew's College, Sydney (also attended Scotch College, Melbourne)[13]
• Sir Michael Hirst, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party MP and Chairman
• Sir William Wilson Hunter, K.C.S.I. (1840–1900)
• Andrew Innes, rhythm guitarist for Primal Scream
• Sir Jeremy Isaacs Founder of Channel 4
• William Paton Ker, literary critic
• John Kerr, Baron Kerr of Kinlochard, diplomat and crossbench life peer
• Colin Kidd, Professor of Modern History at University of Glasgow
• Alexander Dunlop Lindsay, 1st Baron Lindsay of Birker, philosopher
• Maurice Lindsay CBE Scottish broadcaster, writer and poet (1918–2009).
• Sir James Lithgow, shipbuilder and industrialist; 1883–1952
• Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum[14]
• Robert Maclennan, Baron Maclennan of Rogart, leader of the Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Democrats
• Alan MacNaughtan, Actor
• Guy McCrone, Author and founding member of the Glasgow Citizens Theatre
• George Matheson theologian and preacher (1842–1906)
• Jim Mollison pioneer aviator (1905–1959)
• W. H. Murray, mountaineer, explorer and writer
• Robin Nisbet (1925–2013), professor of Latin literature
• David Omand Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, former senior British civil servant, visiting professor at King's College London
• Alexander Pollock, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party MP, sheriff
• James Prime, keyboard player for Deacon Blue, lecturer at the University of the West of Scotland
• William Ramsay, discovered the gas 'Argon'
• John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, founder of the BBC
• Albert Russell, Scottish Unionist Party MP, Solicitor General for Scotland
• James Scott, obsetrician and gynaecologist
• William Sharp, poet and literary biographer
• Chris Simmers, Professional Rugby Union player and Scotland Rugby League international
• Ninian Smart, scholar of religion
• Norman Stone, historian
• Iain Vallance, Baron Vallance of Tummel, ex Chief Executive of BT, Liberal Democrat politician
• Herbert Waddell Scottish rugby internationalist and president of the Barbarians (1902–1988)
• Sir James Wordie, polar explorer and geologist

• Vivien Heilbron, actress
• Fiona Kennedy, singer, actress and broadcaster
• Kate Mavor, CEO of English Heritage

MacLeod, Iain M., The Glasgow Academy 150 Years, (The Glasgow Academicals' War Memorial Trust, 1997)

• Official website
• The Glasgow Academy's page on Scottish Schools Online
• Profile on the Independent Schools Council website