Consultation begins on catchment changes for four Hamilton schools

The proposals affect St Mary’s Primary, St Paul’s Primary, St Peter’s Primary and Our Lady and St Anne’s Primary in Hamilton.

The plan comes as St Mary’s Primary faces increasing pressure on capacity, while neighbouring schools have room to accommodate more children.

A report to South Lanarkshire Council’s executive committee explained that while St Mary’s has 15 classrooms and a capacity of 450, its roll was 451 in September 2025, and is predicted to rise to 469 by August 2028. With further pupils expected from planned housing developments, numbers could increase to 481 by 2030 and potentially reach 527 if all known developments are completed.

By contrast, St Paul’s Primary has capacity for 180 pupils but currently has a roll of 145, predicted to fall slightly to around 140 by 2028.

The council is proposing to transfer an area currently within St Mary’s catchment to St Paul’s. The move would include a large development on the former University of the West of Scotland site, where between 345 and 365 houses are expected to be built.

The former Bell College site in Hamilton (Image: Newsquest)

The consultation also proposes removing two optional catchment areas where families can currently choose between two denominational primary schools.

The first would end the shared zone between St Mary’s and St Peter’s Primary schools, with the area becoming part of the St Peter’s catchment. Recent figures show two-thirds of families living in the area already choose St Peter’s.

A second proposal would remove the optional catchment area between St Peter’s and Our Lady and St Anne’s Primary, assigning the area solely to Our Lady and St Anne’s. Around 70 per cent of families in the area have opted for Our Lady and St Anne’s over the past two school sessions.

The proposals would not affect secondary school rolls for pupils attending St Mary’s or St Paul’s, as both schools feed into Holy Cross High School. However, pupils in the area moved to St Peter’s would now be linked to St John Ogilvie High School, while those aligned with Our Lady and St Anne’s would continue to progress to Holy Cross High.

An online consultation, which will remain open until Friday, October 23, is now underway and the local authority will also host a public meeting on Tuesday, September 22, at St Peter’s Primary from 6pm until 7pm.

If, following a period of statutory consultation, the proposals were approved, the implementation date of any catchment realignment would be for P1 enrolment in January 2027 for session 2027/2028.

South Lanarkshire Council has outlined how the proposals will affect families in the latest edition of its publication, The View.

It states: “Families with children already attending any of the affected schools and with a further sibling enrolling in P1 in respect of school sessions August 2027 through to August 2032 will have the choice for their P1 child to be granted placement in that school regardless of any catchment change.”

Executive director of education resources, Lyndsay McRoberts, said: “There are a number of reasons to look at the catchment areas of all four schools, including changes in housing patterns, population distribution, and planned developments.

“Redrawing the boundaries would support more effective management of school capacities and a more balanced distribution of pupils across the schools.”

She added: “We do of course want to hear from people who will be affected by these proposed changes, and I would encourage everyone who has children at the schools to take part in the consultation.”