Parents speak out as Scotland's only School of Sport faces closure

Parents and alumni have spoken out as Scotland’s only School of Sport faces closure after failing to secure funding.

A report on the Glasgow School of Sport (GSOS), based at Bellahouston Academy, was due to be presented at a council meeting on Thursday but was withdrawn for “clarification and consideration”.

It outlined that no new pupils were recruited to the school for 2024/25, while the city council and operators Glasgow Life sought funding from other local authorities and the Scottish Government.

The requests proved unsuccessful, with Sportscotland, Scottish Institute of Sport and other national governing bodies also unable to financially support the programme.

It has been recommended that a sports bursary programme be created to provide financial support for Glasgow’s talented sports performers in lieu of schooling.

Parent Lauren Murphy told STV News there was a lack of clarity around the proposals: “It’d be nice to know what that means for each pupil? We’re not really sure.”

“This school’s been going for 25 years, and it seems such a shame that in the year that we’re going to host the Commonwealth Games, we decide to shut Scotland’s only School of Sport. It just seems ironic.”

Rose Whittle, whose son represents Scotland in the National Junior Swimming Team, said: “Meeting with the parents really is a key thing to get feedback from us. What do we need? What do we want?

“Will this plan that they’ve thought up without consulting us will it actually work for us? Because we’re not just numbers, we’re people. We have children.

“Our children are the people who are impacted. It’s their futures, really, that is the issue.”

In her report, Bailie Annette Christie, the city convener for culture, sport, and international relations, stated that Glasgow Life’s cost of operating GSOS in 2023/24 was £767,900, which was not included in the service fee from Glasgow City Council.

Only 37% of the school’s pupils live within the Glasgow City Council area, with the other 63% coming from 12 other Scottish local authority areas.

This equates to Glasgow spending around £380,000 on the education of non-Glasgow pupils each session.

Alumni include Commonwealth Games silver medalist Kirsty Gilmour and Olympic, European, World, and Commonwealth medallist swimmer Michael Jamieson.

Speaking to STV News, Kirsty Gilmour said she found the news difficult to read and described the school as the “perfect world” to start her sports career.

“The school of sport was so formative for me. I never really considered being anything other than a full-time professional athlete, and it was just it was perfect.

“It let me do that with my school studies. I went straight to university and then into professional sports.

“It was just the perfect little world for me to have my formative years in, and the fact that that might go away and not be there for the people that it’s also the perfect fit for is really sad.

Glasgow School of Sport opened in 1998 and has 65 pupils who specialise in athletics, badminton, gymnastics, hockey, or swimming.

Pupils specialise in one sport, with entry to GSOS available to young people by selection only.

They undertake a programme of dedicated sports coaching within their academic school week.

A spokesperson for Glasgow Life said: “We have heard the feedback from families and want to do more to engage with the school community.

“We’re discussing next steps with Glasgow City Council and will update parents and stakeholders as soon as we can.”