School Chooser

Tough School

Primary · ages 4-11MixedCouncilNon-denominational26 pupilsAlfordAberdeenshire
School Chooser ScoreNot scoredScotland doesn't publish results or inspection grades for individual schools, so we can't give its schools a score. Pupil numbers, free school meals, extra support, staffing and class sizes are below.
Pupils registered for free school meals0%P6 and above; Scotland 38%
Pupils per teacher9.0Scotland 14.1
Average class size13.0Scotland 21.0
Pupils from the poorest fifth of areas0%Scotland 15%
Pupils on roll26Census September 2025
NeighbourhoodAmong the wealthiest areasScottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020

Tough School is a council school in Alford for boys and girls aged 4 to 11. It has 26 pupils. About 0 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in Scotland.

Tough, Alford, ABERDEENSHIRE, Alford, AB33 8ES01975 520395tough.aberdeenshire.sch.ukAll details

Inspection

Schools in Scotland are inspected by HM Inspectorate of Education. Its reports grade a few areas on a scale from excellent to unsatisfactory, but the grades aren't published as a list we can use.

Results

Scotland publishes no school-level exam results as open data.

Leaver attainment and destinations for individual schools appear only on the Scottish Government's School Information Dashboard, which cannot be reproduced here. Open the dashboard and search for Tough School.

Getting a place

Catchment area

Aberdeenshire council has drawn an official catchment area for this school. You can see it on the map below; it covers about 36 square kilometres. If you live inside it, your child has the right to a place here. Families outside it can ask for a place (a placing request), which is only given if there is room.

Set your home postcode at the top of the page to see whether you live inside it.

There is no entrance test. Every address in Scotland has a catchment primary and secondary school. If you want a different school, you ask the council for a place there (a placing request).

You apply through Aberdeenshire council, not the school.

Who goes here

Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.

Pupils on roll26Census September 2025
Pupils registered for free school meals0%P6 and above. Every P1 to P5 pupil gets a free meal in Scotland
Pupils from the poorest fifth of areas0%Scotland 15%
Pupils from the wealthiest fifth of areas77%Scotland 15%
NeighbourhoodAmong the wealthiest areasIf Scotland's neighbourhoods were split into ten groups from poorest to wealthiest, this one is in group 9 (Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020)
By stage
Pupils in each year, 2025/26
The youngest year is smaller than P3, so the roll is likely to fall.
5P1
9P3
Trend
Pupils on roll
2022 to 2026
2022: 212120222023: 212120232024: 292920242025: 292920252026: 26262026
Since 2022: +5
How the school has changed
Year2025/262024/252023/242022/232021/222020/212019/20
Pupils on roll2629292121
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%
Pupils getting extra supportAdditional support needs (ASN)24.1%41.4%57.1%61.9%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language0.0%
Pupils per teacherPupil to teacher ratio9.010.48.37.57.59.211.6
Average class sizeAverage class size13.014.514.510.510.5

Staff

From the pupil and teacher census of September 2025.

Teachers2.9full-time equivalent
Pupils per teacher9.0Scotland 14.1
Average class size13.0Scotland 21.0

Nearby schools

The closest primary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.

Well aboveAboveIn lineBelowWell belowNot scored
SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
Craigievar SchoolCouncil3.2 miles37HMIE, no open dataCompare
Alford Primary SchoolCouncil3.3 miles345HMIE, no open dataCompare
Keig SchoolCouncil3.5 miles48HMIE, no open dataCompare
Monymusk SchoolCouncil4.2 miles59HMIE, no open dataCompare
Cluny SchoolCouncil5.0 miles91HMIE, no open dataCompare

Questions parents ask

Is Tough School a good school?

We don't have enough published data to score Tough School yet. Scotland doesn't publish results or inspection grades for individual schools.

How many pupils does Tough School have?

26 pupils aged 4 to 11 were on the roll in September 2025.

These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.

Contact and details

Address
Tough, Alford, ABERDEENSHIRE, Alford, AB33 8ES
Telephone
01975 520395
Website
www.tough.aberdeenshire.sch.uk
Type of school
Council school (Local authority school, local authority maintained schools)
Phase
Primary school, ages 4-11
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
Non-denominational
Local authority
Aberdeenshire
Setting
Accessible rural areas
SEED code
5230020
Medium of education
English medium only
Email
[email protected]

Where these figures come from