Record entry for 2026 Scottish Schools Pipe Band Championships

Kilmarnock, Scotland – March 8, 2026 – Fifty-one bands and 10 quartets from 172 schools across Scotland gathered at the William McIlvanney Campus for the 2026 Scottish Schools Pipe Band Championships, the largest entry yet over the 12 times the event has been held.

George Watson’s College was the big winner, taking the Juvenile and both Novice Juvenile events.

Entries to the popular Freestyle event had to be limited, and Strathmore Schools eventually won the £1500 first prize.

The new Glasgow Schools Pipe Band, a collective group of state-run schools in Scotland’s largest city, competed for the first time, as did bands from Ellon Academy, Irvine Schools, Oban High School and Taynuilt.

Stirling & District Schools was presented with the Eilidh MacLeod Endeavour Award for “exceptional dedication and resilience in young musicians” for their support of suicide prevention charity, Back Onside. The school’s pipers and drummers busked outdoors during the winter to raise funds for the cause. The award commemorates MacLeod, an ambitious  14-year-old piper from the Isle of Barra who was killed in the bombing at a concert in Manchester on May 22, 2017.

The championships are organized by the Scottish Schools Piping & Drumming Trust, which was started in 2015 “to break down barriers to participation by providing free instrument loans, tuition grants and internship programs.” The SSPDT currently supports schools in 27 of Scotland’s 32 local authorities.

The Scottish Schools Championships is a rare pipe band contest not sanctioned by the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association and employs several judges not accredited by the association.

The event was sponsored by Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, the William Syson Foundation, and piping’s biggest contributor, the William Grant Foundation.

Juvenile
1st George Watson’s College (£500)
2nd Dollar Academy (£400)
3rd George Heriot’s School (£300)
Judges: Don Bradford, Alvis Kerr (piping); Paul Brown (drumming); Peter Snaddon (ensemble)

Novice Juvenile A
1st George Watson’s College (£400)
2nd North Lanarkshire Schools (£300)
3rd Renfrewshire Schools (£250)
4th Dollar Academy (£200)
5th St Columba’s School (£100)
Judges: Barry Donaldson, Grant Walker (piping); Alex Dudgeon (drumming); Ross Walker (ensemble)

Novice Juvenile B
1st George Watson’s College (£400)
2nd Glasgow Academy (£300)
3rd Skye Youth (£250)
4th The Edinburgh Academy (£200)
5th Kintyre Schools (£100)
Judges: Barry Donaldson, Grant Walker (piping); Alex Dudgeon (drumming); Ross Walker (ensemble)

Junior A
1st Fettes College (£350)
2nd Morrison’s Academy (£250)
Judges: Barry Donaldson, Grant Walker (piping); Alex Dudgeon (drumming); Ross Walker (ensemble)

Junior B
1st High Life Highland (£350)
2nd Gordonstoun (£250)
3rd Erskine Stewart’s Melville Schools (£200)
4th Merchiston Castle Schools (£100)
5th South West Scotland Piping and Drumming Academy (£50)
Judges: Don Bradford, Alvis Kerr (piping); Paul Brown (drumming); Peter Snaddon (ensemble)

Junior C
1st Isle of Bute Schools (£300)
2nd Perth & Kinross Schools (£200)
3rd The High School of Glasgow (£150)
4th Madras College (£100)
5th Strathmore Schools (£50)
Judges: Don Bradford, Alvis Kerr (piping); Paul Brown (drumming); Peter Snaddon (ensemble)

Open Quartets
1st East Dunbartonshire Schools ‘A’ (£300)
2nd Angus Schools (£200)
3rd Kinross High School (£150)
4th Hermitage Academy ‘A’ (£100)
5th East Dunbartonshire Schools ‘B’ (£50)
Judges: Fraser Allison, Kirsty Lawson

Freestyle
1st Strathmore Schools (£1500)
2nd Sgoil Lionacleit (£1400)
3rd Beira and High Life Highland (£1300)
4th Sgoil Bhagh a’Chaisteil (£1200)
5th TBC (£1100)
Judges: Kathleen McInnes, Lorne MacDougall, Anna Smart, Craig Munro