Your School
While it may obvious that schools are either urban or rural, the status of your school may not be so clear. The Government proposes that “rural schools” are those located in the rural categories of the Scottish Government’s Urban/Rural classification (i.e., the 3 categories in bold below)
| Large Urban Areas | Settlements of over 125,000 people. |
| Other Urban Areas | Settlements of 10,000 to 125,000 people |
| Accessible Small Towns | Settlements of between 3,000 and 10,000 people and within 30 minutes drive of a settlement of 10,000 or more. |
| Remote Small Towns | Settlements of between 3,000 and 10,000 people and with a drive time of between 30 and 60 minutes to a settlement of 10,000 or more. |
| Very Remote Small Towns | Settlements of between 3,000 and 10,000 people and with a drive time of over 60 minutes to a settlement of 10,000 or more. |
| Accessible Rural | Settlements of fewer than 3,000 people and within 30 minutes drive of a settlement of 10,000 or more. |
| Remote Rural | Settlements of fewer than 3,000 people and with a drive time of between 30 and 60 minutes to a settlement of 10,000 or more. |
| Very Remote Rural | Settlements of fewer than 3,000 people and with a drive time of over 60 minutes to a settlement of 10,000 or more. |
This would mean that schools in settlements of under 3,000 people would be classified as "rural schools". It is a straightforward and easy to understand system and as it is updated every couple of years it takes into account changes in population.
As it stands, there would be around 1,000 "rural schools" of which around 900 would be primary, 90 secondary and 10 special. This would mean 41% of primary schools, and 23% of all secondary schools, would be "rural schools". This map shows which parts of Scotland are considered ‘rural’ according to the classification.
