Rural secondary costs nearly £50,000 per pupil

Dalry Secondary is in a remote part of Galloway with a small school roll

The cost per pupil of a small rural secondary school in south-west Scotland is approaching £50,000-a-year.

There were 17 students at the site in Dalry at the time a study was carried out by Dumfries and Galloway Council.

The average cost at the other 15 secondary schools operated by the local authority is about £6,750-per-pupil.

The council recently agreed to put a halt to mothballing any of its secondaries in the face of a campaign to keep Dalry open.

The school sits in a relatively remote part of Galloway - about 16 miles (25km) from the nearest alternative secondary - and provides education for children from S1 to S4.

Parents have argued that the school is at the heart of the community and people could be forced to leave the area if it shut.

Figures contained in a council report highlight the challenges of providing a "high-quality service across dispersed rural communities".

The local authority has 16 secondary schools dotted across the region but none comes close to the cost-per-pupil rate of £48,021 at Dalry in 2022/23.

'Significant challenges'

The next highest figure is £9,231 at Moffat Academy while the lowest is £4,839 at St Joseph's College in Dumfries.

The costs were examined as part of a wider look at how to ensure a sustainable education provision model in years to come.

"There are significant challenges and risks for managing the school estate over the coming years," warned the report.

It highlighted changing demographics and rising revenue costs as concerns alongside the "general deterioration of underutilised facilities".

Councillors are being asked to note the contents of the report and also agree that a paper is brought back in December to outline any changes needed to reach a sustainable position.