St Mary's Music School

Scotland's only Specialist Music School

Our School

St Mary’s Music School is one of five Government-supported specialist music schools in the UK and the only one of its kind in Scotland. We offer a world class standard of music and academic education to musically gifted children aged 9-19 years in an inspiring, inclusive and supportive environment We are also the Choir School of St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral in Edinburgh. St Mary's Music School is coeducational, non-denominational and we attract day and boarding pupils from across Scotland, the rest of the UK and internationally.

Childrens' music classes

In addition, we run a long-established programme of Saturday Music Classes for children aged 4-14 during term time, enabling some 150 local children to discover the wonders of music through Choir, Kodaly Classes, Theory as well as Instrumental lessons.

A school for instrumentalists, composers and choristers

The Choir School was opened in 1880 to educate the choristers for the newly built St Mary’s Cathedral Links to the Cathedral remain strong and have evolved over the years so that the choir is open to girls as well as boys.

Since 1972 the school has also educated young instrumentalists, composers and singers. Appropriately for Scotland’s specialist music school, we attract a number of pupils who perform on traditional instruments such as bagpipes, accordion and clarsach The School is currently preparing for its 50th Anniversary celebrations which will take place in a concert in the Queen's Hall, Edinburgh and feature commissions by Dame Judith Weir and Sir James MacMillan as well as performances by pupils, both past and present.

Excellent academic results

The School’s academic results are exceptional, supported by very small classes sizes, bespoke timetables and individual attention. There is a strong focus on music, languages, mathematics and science. In 2021 over 85% of SQA grades awarded resulted as Grade A with a percentage pass rate of 100% across all levels. In December 2022, St Mary's Music School was rated the best performing independent school in Scotland for Highers and Advanced Highers by the Sunday Times.

Bright futures

The majority of pupils choose to go on to study at top conservatoires in the UK and abroad, whilst others opt for university. In recent years pupils have progressed to study music at Royal College of Music, Royal Academy of Music, Sibelius Academy, Helsinki, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Royal Northern College of Music, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, BIMM, Oxford, Cambridge, University of Durham, University of St Andrews, University of Edinburgh

St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh Spring Concert

March 29th 2023

Rosslyn Chapel

Coronation Concert

May 5th 2023

Perth Concert Hall

Lunchtime Chamber Music Concert

June 5th 2023

The Queen's Hall, Edinburgh

50th Anniversary Concert

June 26th 2023 www.stmarysmusicschool.co.uk/Events