Glenalmond College

History

Trinity College, Glenalmond, was founded as a private school by the former Prime Minister, William Gladstone and James Hope-Scott. The land for the school was given by Lord Glenalmond, who for the rest of his life, in company with his wife Margaret, took a keen interest in its development and success. It was established to provide teaching for young men destined for the ministry of the Scottish Episcopal Church and where young men could be brought up in the faith of that Church. It was originally known as The Scottish Episcopal College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Glenalmond. The school opened its doors on 4 May 1847 to fourteen boys (though one boy, Lord Kerr, later Marquess of Lothian and Secretary for Scotland, arrived a day early). The first Warden (headmaster) was Charles Wordsworth.

The Edinburgh architect John Henderson worked on the project in 1841–51; later the firm were to be re-employed with his son George Henderson in charge on rebuilding work after a fire in 1893. In 1955 Basil Spence was engaged to alter the chapel.

In 1983, the school's name was changed to Glenalmond College. Until 1990 Glenalmond was an all-boys school. Girls were initially admitted into the sixth form only, and the school became fully co-educational in 1995.

There are seven boarding houses split by gender: Goodacre's, Home, and Lothian are for female students, while Matheson's, Patchell's, Reid's and Skrine's are for male students.

Controversy

In 2007, the school received media attention after pupils reportedly created a spoof video that featured them "hunting" "chavs" (a derogatory term for lower class teenagers in use in the UK) on horseback and with rifles. The school condemned the video. Later, the school was the subject of a documentary broadcast on BBC 2 in Autumn 2008. Pride and Privilege chronicled a year in the life of Glenalmond and followed a number of pupils and teachers.

Ownership Change

In June 2025, Glenalmond College was acquired by 35 Education, a London-based company backed by Qatari investor Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiyah and academic Prof. Basak Akdemir. The purchase aims to secure the school's financial future and expand its global presence. While some raised concerns over Qatar’s human rights record, school leaders emphasised that the deal had strong internal support and would preserve Glenalmond’s ethos and traditions.

Notable alumni

• Robbie Coltrane – actor
• Andrew Dunlop, Baron Dunlop – Conservative peer
• Johnie Everett – cricketer
• Christopher Geidt – Queen's private secretary
• Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia, current head of the House of Hohenzollern
• Andrew Gordon – historian
• Ronald Gordon – cricketer and soldier
• Dougie Hall – rugby player
• Alister Jack - Conservative Peer and Former Secretary of State for Scotland
• David Leslie – rugby player
• Alastair Mackenzie — actor
• Richard Simpson – Labour Member of the Scottish Parliament and former Justice Minister
• Brian Stewart — diplomat and spy
• Andrew Macdonald — Film Producer
• Kevin Macdonald — Film Director
• Rob Wainwright — rugby player

References

References

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