Almost a third of Lothian primary schools have not been inspected for a decade or more

Politicians have branded the issue an ‘outrage’.

Almost a third of primary schools in the Lothians have gone for ten years or more without an inspection from Education Scotland, new figures have revealed.

The figures, obtained by the Scotsman and Edinburgh Evening News by FOI request, show that 62 schools in the region, some 28 percent, have not had an inspection for at least a decade.

This includes 12 schools in East Lothian, seven in Midlothian, 21 in West Lothian and 22 in Edinburgh.

Leith Primary School has not been inspected in 10 years.

Labour MSP Daniel Johnson labelled the figures an ‘outrage’.

“It points to a clear lack of oversight and leadership from a Scottish Government that has said time and time again that education is their top priority,” he said.

East Lothian has the highest percentage of schools in this bracket.

Those which have gone the longest without an inspection are in Edinburgh; Juniper Green and Sciennes schools have not been inspected for 14 years.

Buckstone Primary School has not been inspected in 12 years.

Campie, Humbie and Windygoul Primary Schools in East Lothian have not been visited for 13 years, nor have St Ninian’s in West Lothian or Sacred Heart in Midlothian.

There are 11 schools which have not been inspected for 12 years, including East Lothian’s Saltoun and Longniddy schools, and Moorfoot and St Andrew’s in Midlothian.

Scottish Conservative shadow education secretary Jamie Greene said: “This is incredible negligence from an SNP government which just doesn’t care about education.

Clovenstone Primary School has not been inspected in 11 years.

“So much can change in the course of 10 years, yet the Scottish Government seems blind to this.

“These revelations show there will be thousands of pupils who went through their entire primary school journey without a single inspection taking place.

“For a government which claims education is a top priority, this is inexcusably poor.”

A spokesperson from Education Scotland said: “Schools are selected for inspection each year on a proportionate basis, using a sampling approach and predetermined set criteria rather than a cyclical approach.

“In Scotland, overall responsibility for the quality of education and securing continuous improvement sits with the local authority.

"There is a three-level approach to evaluating and improving education: schools have a responsibility to evaluate their performance; local authorities have responsibility for the quality of education in their area; and the third level is scrutiny activity carried out by HM Inspectors of Education.”

Spokespersons for East Lothian and West Lothian councils said they had no involvement in determining which schools are selected for inspection.

A spokesperson for East Lothian council added: “While school inspections are important as external validation for our school communities, we carry out regular, rigorous quality improvement visits and school reviews of our schools.

"This is part of our commitment to continuous improvement and providing the best quality education and learning experiences for children and young people.”