Scottish Inquiry Uncovers Decades of Systemic Failure at Prestigious Edinburgh School
The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry has delivered a damning verdict on Fettes College in Edinburgh, finding that children were "wholly failed" by the prestigious boarding school where abuse flourished over four decades. Lady Smith, who chairs the inquiry, revealed in her report published on Wednesday that pupils suffered sexual, physical and emotional abuse from the 1950s onwards, with the school's leadership repeatedly failing to implement adequate protections.
Systemic Abuse and Institutional Failures
Lady Smith's investigation uncovered a disturbing pattern of abuse that spanned generations at the Edinburgh institution. "Children were sexually abused, they were physically abused, and they were emotionally abused," she stated unequivocally in her findings. The inquiry identified that members of staff sexually abused children from the 1950s until the 1980s, with perpetrators including a former headmaster and teachers who exploited their positions of authority.
The report highlights how complaints were systematically ignored, creating what Lady Smith described as a "culture of silence" where victims feared retribution and social ostracism if they spoke out. "Had complaints been listened to and acted upon at the outset, many children would have been saved from abuse," she noted, adding that "the suffering they still endure, over 50 years later in the 2020s, could all have been prevented."
Leadership Failures and Dangerous Appointments
Particular scrutiny falls on former headmaster Anthony Chenevix-Trench, who previously led Eton College before his appointment to Fettes. Lady Smith revealed that Fettes appointed him despite Eton expressly disclosing concerns about his fitness for leadership, including problems with alcohol, excessive corporal punishment, and inappropriate attraction to young blond teenagers. "He was in fact a man who was unfit to be appointed to lead a school," the report concludes, highlighting how prestige was prioritised over pupil safety.
Another named perpetrator, Iain Wares, who also taught at Edinburgh Academy, currently resides in South Africa where extradition proceedings to return him to Scotland are ongoing. The inquiry heard evidence of physical abuse perpetrated both by teachers and other pupils, with disturbing initiation rituals including one incident in the 1980s where a boy was hung upside down out of a third-storey window by his ankles.
Racism and Discrimination Within School Culture
The report extends beyond abuse to document systemic discrimination that persisted well into the 21st century. Lady Smith found that racism was "prevalent at Fettes well into the 21st century," with mocking of non-British pupils and staff normalised into the 1990s. Shockingly, mock slave auctions of prefects to raise money for charity continued into the first decade of the 2000s.
After the school became co-educational in 1983, girls were treated as "second-class citizens," according to the findings. The report describes a "sexualised culture" that existed both before and after co-education was introduced, with the school environment failing to protect vulnerable pupils from multiple forms of harm.
School Response and Contemporary Safeguarding
Fettes College has issued an unreserved apology to those affected by the historical abuse. Lady Morag Wise, chairwoman of the governors at Fettes, stated: "We apologise unreservedly to those who suffered abuse at the school. There can be no excuse for the behaviour that we heard about at the inquiry hearings." She acknowledged that "many young people were failed by those in positions of authority at Fettes, who could and should have acted differently."
The school insists that "the culture of safety and welfare at our school now is unrecognisable from the past," pointing to positive findings from Education Scotland and the Care Inspectorate in 2025 inspections. However, Lady Wise emphasised that "we must never be complacent, and we are united in our resolve to ensure that the mistakes of the past are never repeated."
Broader Implications and Historical Context
The Fettes findings form part of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry's boarding schools case study, which aims to raise public awareness of abuse in care settings. The inquiry considers evidence up to December 2014 that remains within living memory of survivors. In 2022, a former pupil abused by a teacher at Fettes was awarded £450,000 in damages, highlighting the lasting consequences of the school's failures.
Notable former pupils include ex-prime minister Sir Tony Blair, who attended Fettes but has not been involved in the inquiry. The school, originally boys-only until 1972 when it began accepting female day pupils, became fully co-educational in 1983. Lady Smith's report serves as a stark reminder of how prestigious institutions can harbour abusive environments when accountability systems fail, with consequences that continue to affect survivors decades later.
