State-of-the-art £75m super school 'on track for completion'

The new Paisley Grammar School – expected to cost almost £75m – is “on track for completion” in the summer of 2026.

The state-of-the-art community campus, which will be built next to the former Chivas administration building in Renfrew Road, will replace the existing school in Glasgow Road.

An initial delivery date of December 2025 was targeted but this timeline was considered to be “extremely tight” and created an “unacceptable risk” to aspects of the project.

A report to this week’s education and children’s services policy board said the programme was on course for the revised date of August 2026.

“Paisley Grammar School Community Campus is on track for completion in summer 2026,” the document said.

“Renfrewshire Council’s ambition for the young people of Paisley Grammar School and its wider community is to provide a campus which enables new learning in flexible, innovative spaces; a campus which is an exemplar for sustainability in learning, design, and the future Renfrewshire Council learning estate.

“The campus will create opportunities for, and connections with, the wider community, and it will deliver an environment which is inclusive, safe and engenders a culture of respect, building on the tradition and values of Paisley Grammar School.”

The construction phase of the project is scheduled to begin in March 2024.

Earlier this year, Julie Calder, head of education, confirmed the facility would be designed to accommodate a maximum of 1,350 pupils.

“The current roll at the moment is 1,017,” she told the board in January.

“Given recent events, I hope you understand that we considered it prudent to revise the roll projections.

“Having done so, we’re confident that – taking account of the pupils currently in Paisley Grammar who will move to the new school, all the pupils who are in associated primary schools and developments – the school should be designed to accommodate a potential maximum of 1,350 pupils.”

Councillors will be asked to note the latest update on the project at Thursday’s board meeting.