Our education system supports children from nursery right the way through to postgraduate study.
There are two senior secondary schools located in the main towns of Kirkwall and Stromness. Three Junior High Schools, in Westray, Sanday and Stronsay, provide education from nursery up to secondary school fourth year and the North Walls Junior High provides education from nursery up to Primary seven.
Orkney also offers baby and toddler groups and childcare for families’ pre-nursery needs.
Secondary school pupils from the West Mainland attend Stromness Grammar school, while those from the East Mainland and the isles attend Kirkwall Grammar School. Pupils from the Outer North Isles stay in the Papdale Halls of Residence during the week, returning home at weekends.
Located in Kirkwall, Orkney College is one of the partner colleges making up the University of the Highlands and Islands. It delivers a wide range of higher education, degree and postgraduate degree learning options in addition to the traditional base of further education.
Stromness is home to the Orkney Research and Innovation Campus, which includes Heriot-Watt’s Orkney campus – the International Centre for Island Technology – recognised as a world leader in research, training and consultancy, with particular expertise in renewable energy, marine science and environmental resources.
The campus also includes the Orkney wing of Robert Gordon University and a host of related businesses including environmental consultancies, scientific divers and Orkney’s hyperbaric chamber.
Orkney Islands Council also offered evening classes over the winter months covering a range of subjects from drama to upholstery.