Scotland's only School of Sport in Glasgow faces closure after funding failure

Scotland’s only school dedicated to sporting excellence could close and be replaced by a bursary scheme after failing to secure funding.

A report on the Glasgow School of Sport (GSOS), based at Bellahouston Academy, is set to go before the council’s administration committee on Thursday.

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.

With no alternative funding having been secured, discussions are ongoing with national governing bodies on how to support the sport performance of GSOS pupils if the school were to close.

A transition period is proposed for pupils until the end of 2026, after which they will have the opportunity to continue studying at Bellahouston while their sporting efforts shift to “excellence programmes” delivered by the governing bodies of each sport.

The report recommends developing a sports bursary programme to provide financial support for Glasgow’s talented sports performers.

Education Services and Glasgow Life would develop this for launch in June 2026, coinciding with the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.

In her report, Bailie Annette Christie, the city convener for culture, sport, and international relations, states 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.

Glasgow School of Sport opened in 1998 and has over 1,100 pupils, 65 of whom specialise in athletics, badminton, gymnastics, hockey, or swimming.

Pupils specialise in one sport, with entry to GSOS available to young people by selection only. Pupils undertake a programme of dedicated sports coaching within their academic school week.

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

A spokesperson for Glasgow Life said: “The current School of Sport model was introduced more than 25 years ago and was designed to meet the needs of pupils from across Scotland at the time.

“Since then, national funding for governing bodies of sport has improved the support they offer prospective athletes considerably, offering multiple pathways to elite sports competition.

“In considering whether Glasgow School of Sport offers the appropriate model in the wider national context, we have also proposed a new way to support young athletes from Glasgow to achieve their full potential.”