Council decision to close rural Aberdeenshire school rejected by review panel

Plans to close a rural school have been rejected after a review panel found Aberdeenshire Council did not properly assess the impact on the adjoining nursery.

Tullynessle Primary School near Alford was mothballed in 2024 after its pupil roll fell to just 13, and it was expected that numbers would continue to decline.

However, the adjoining nursery was expected to welcome 14 children from August 2024 and was considered “well attended”.

In April 2026, the council approved plans to close the primary school permanently.

At the time, the council said the nursery’s future would be dealt with separately and had not been a consideration in the closure.

Scottish Ministers criticised the council’s decision to consider the school and the nursery through separate processes and stated that they “did not consider this approach to be viable”.

In a letter calling in the decision, Scottish Ministers stated: “Ministers note that in the consultation Aberdeenshire Council has taken the position that Tullynessle School and the nursery are separate entities, and the proposal to close the school would not affect the nursery provision.

“Accordingly, the consultation proceeded on the basis that the nursery and school should be considered through separate processes.”

“The Scottish Ministers do not consider this approach to be viable.”

Following this, a review of the council’s decision was ordered and undertaken by the Schools Closure Review Panel.

In its ruling the panel said the council was not legally required to treat the closure of the school as a closure of the nursery as well.

However, the nursery was still a “material consideration” due to its close links with the school and the school’s closure had an impact on the nursery.

The panel stated: “It is apparent that the school and Tullynessle ELC were interlinked: the latter was mothballed on account of the former.

“Whereas the panel considers that the school and Tullynessle ELC are, respectively, different stages of education, in the panel’s view that does not make the latter invisible to the consultation process about closing the former.

“In the panel’s view, the impact on the ELC provision ought to have been considered at each relevant stage of the proposal.”

The panel concluded that by excluding the nursery from the proposals, the council had “failed to take proper account of a material consideration”.

After taking into account all the evidence submitted, the panel refused consent on the council’s closure plans.

However, the panel did not rule out a possible future closure.

A council spokesperson said: “We note the decision of the School Closure Review Panel regarding Tullynessle Primary School.

“The panel has referred the proposal back to Aberdeenshire Council for a fresh decision.

“We will now carefully consider the decision and determine our next steps.”