Edinburgh Academy pupils suffered decades of abuse, Scottish inquiry finds

What the inquiry found

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry has found that pupils at Edinburgh Academy suffered abuse over four decades. Children were sexually abused by staff from the 1950s to the 1980s, and some also suffered physical and emotional abuse. Inquiry chairwoman Lady Smith said some boarders lived in a 'permanent state of fear' at the school in Edinburgh.

“For decades, the school failed to look at itself through a realistic and critical lens.”

Lady Smith said the institution had assumed abuse would not happen and, when it did, refused to accept it. Complaints were either disbelieved or left unresolved, and staff avoided intervention despite obvious signs of abuse. The findings were issued on 10 November 2026.

Named perpetrators

The report names four serial perpetrators. Hamish Dawson, a housemaster and senior school teacher, died in 2009. John Brownlee, a housemaster and deputy head of the junior school, was ruled by a court in 2024 to have committed 'cruel and unnatural acts' against pupils between 1967 and 1991. He was judged medically unfit to stand trial and was not sentenced, and he was 89 at the time of that ruling.

William Bain, a physics teacher, has been convicted twice of sex offences. He began his long record of abuse at Edinburgh Academy before harming children at other schools. Iain Wares, a prep school teacher, went on to abuse pupils at Fettes College and is awaiting extradition from South Africa.

Pupils' accounts

Broadcaster Nicky Campbell, who attended the school between 1966 and 1978, gave evidence to the inquiry. He described being haunted in the middle of the night by memories of his schooldays. A former pupil who gave evidence under the pseudonym Henry spent nine years at the school and told the inquiry that abuse was part of daily life. Henry said it was regarded as normal for 11-year-olds to be groomed with sweets and molested in front of other pupils, and for 10-year-olds to be kicked, hit and strangled. Henry also described a lack of pastoral care and no safeguarding.

Lady Smith also found that homophobia was rife at the academy and that racism was prevalent even in the prep school, often involving anti-English sentiment. Some pupils were abused because they were Jewish or because of their skin colour. After co-education began in the sixth form, girls were subjected to misogynistic abuse.

Response and key dates

Barry Welsh, the academy's rector, responded to the findings on behalf of the school and said it remains committed to facing up to past wrongs.

“We have a commitment to facing up to the wrongs of the past which remains unwavering.”

Edinburgh Academy has repeated its sincere apology to everyone affected by abuse at the school and says it is educating its current pupils in a caring and supportive environment. The key dates in the case are set out below.