Kirkcaldy - Education

Education

The first school to be established in the town was Kirkcaldy Burgh School in 1582 with the help of the local minister, Dr David Spens. Until premises were found, pupils were taught in the minister's house. Notable pupils include Robert Adam and Adam Smith. The school was located at Hill Street before being replaced by Kirkcaldy Grammar School on St Brycedale Avenue in 1843. A Government list of 1872 described the school as being of 'higher class'. A new building for the school was gifted to the town in 1893 by Michael Barker Nairn, a linen manufacturer. Other schools were established in the town, including girls schools, subscription schools, and apprentice schools. The passing of the Education (Scotland) Act in 1872 replaced voluntary education in the town with a school-based education for all children aged 5 to 13.

Kirkcaldy has four secondary schools and twelve primary schools. Other educational facilities include a private school and a school for children with learning difficulties. Kirkcaldy High School, the oldest secondary school, serves pupils living in the north of the town and has occupied a site on Dunnikier Way since 1958. Balwearie High School opened as a junior secondary school in 1964 and was upgraded to a high school in 1972. The school serves pupils living in the western end of the town and neighbouring Kinghorn and Burntisland. Viewforth High School, which opened in 1908, was also initially a junior secondary school, but upgraded to a high school in 1980. A new secondary school for the east of Kirkcaldy will eventually replace the ageing Viewforth High School. Two possible locations are on Windmill Road and at Randolph Playing Fields. The school is expected to be completed in 2019. St Andrews RC High School, which opened in the late 1950s is one of two Roman Catholic secondary schools in Fife. This caters to pupils living in the eastern half of Fife, from St Andrews to Burntisland and Lochgelly.

Further education is provided by Adam Smith College which has two campuses in the town: St Brycedale Campus on St Brycedale Avenue and the Priory Campus on Victoria Road. The college was created in 2005 from a merger between Fife College of Further and Higher Education, based in Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes College. The University of Dundee also have a campus in the town which specialises as a School for Nursing and Midwifery. Originally built by the Fife Health Board for the use of Fife College, this campus was taken over by the University in 1996.