Submitted by Bill Fernie
24th August 2026
Highland Council has now formally launched its statutory consultation on proposals to replace Thurso High School and reorganise primary school provision in the town.
The consultation concerns the proposed relocation of Thurso High School, Pennyland Primary School and Miller Academy Primary School to a new education campus based around the existing Thurso High School site and the proposed Community Point of Delivery.
The statutory consultation began on Wednesday 19 August 2026 and will close on Wednesday 30 September 2026. During this period, parents, pupils, staff and members of the wider community can submit views to Highland Council.
The key opportunity for people to hear the proposals, ask questions and make their views known in person will be the public meeting on Thursday 27 August 2026 at Thurso High School, starting at 7pm. Highland Council has confirmed that the meeting will form part of the formal consultation process.
There will also be a drop-in session at Thurso High School from 2pm to 5pm on Thursday 27 August, giving people an opportunity to examine the site proposals before the evening public meeting.
The proposal is significant. It would create a new secondary school for Thurso, together with a new primary school of up to 16 classes. Pennyland Primary and Miller Academy Primary would cease operating at their existing locations and their provision would be transferred to the new setting. Early Learning and Childcare would also be incorporated into the new primary provision.
Mount Pleasant Primary School is not proposed for closure and would remain as a standalone English-medium primary school serving its existing catchment. However, the consultation does include the proposed relocation of Gaelic Medium Education currently provided at Mount Pleasant to the new primary school.
It is important to stress that the consultation is not simply about the design of a new school building. The statutory process is asking people to comment on a proposed reorganisation of education provision, including the discontinuation of education provision at Pennyland and Miller Academy and its replacement within a new primary school alongside the new secondary school.
The proposed development forms part of Highland Council's wider £100 million investment in Thurso, centred on a Community Point of Delivery intended to bring education and other community facilities together. The Council says the existing school estate presents significant problems in terms of condition, suitability, accessibility and the ability to support modern education.
The Council has already undertaken an earlier, informal consultation. More than 500 people participated through drop-in events and an online survey during the December 2025/January 2026 engagement, with the findings published in April 2026. That earlier exercise was intended to help shape the proposals now being put through the formal statutory process.
Following the end of the consultation on 30 September, the representations received, together with a note of the public meeting, will be considered as part of the statutory process. Education Scotland will also be involved before a final recommendation is brought back to Highland Council. The Council currently expects a final recommendation to reach the Education Committee in early 2027.
For anyone in Thurso with an interest in the future of local education, the most important dates are therefore:
19 August 2026 – statutory consultation opens.
27 August 2026, 2pm–5pm – drop-in session at Thurso High School to view the proposals.
27 August 2026, 7pm – public meeting at Thurso High School.
30 September 2026 – statutory consultation closes.
The full consultation material is available through Highland Council's school consultation pages, where the Council is also providing the facility for people to submit their comments.
When will it open -
Bill Fernie estimates -
I would currently put the likely timetable roughly like this:
2026: statutory consultation and public meeting.
2027: consideration of consultation responses and Education Scotland involvement, followed by the Council's decision.
2027–28: detailed design, planning, business case development and procurement.
2028–29: construction could potentially begin, assuming funding and approvals are in place.
2030: possible opening if everything proceeds unusually smoothly.
2031/32: probably a more realistic expectation — and importantly, this is broadly consistent with the Council's own published earliest operational date of 2031/32.
I would be cautious about assuming an early opening. The £100 million is described as an investment allocation, rather than necessarily being a fixed final construction price. The Council itself describes the Thurso project as part of a £2.1 billion, 20-year investment programme, with the £100 million supporting the wider Community Point of Delivery.
And construction costs have a habit of moving considerably between an initial business case and the point at which a major project actually goes to tender. Inflation in construction, changes to specifications, ground conditions, utilities, planning requirements and the cost of borrowing can all affect the final programme.