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Ainslie Park High School
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East Pilton, Edinburgh

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Ainslie Park High School was a state secondary school in East Pilton, Edinburgh, Scotland.

The school was designed by James Stewart Johnston in the mid-1930s, but building work was delayed until after World War II and construction started in 1949.^[1] The school was originally to be called Pilton Intermediate School.^[2] From its opening in 1948 until 1965 it was a junior secondary school, meaning pupils left at the end of their third academic year. If they wished to sit O-grade examinations they had to move on to another school. The 1965/66 academic year saw the school attain senior secondary status, thereby allowing pupils to remain into fourth year to sit O-grade exams. The school subsequently expanded the academic syllabus to offer Higher examinations. The school colours were red and gold and the badge was a golden dolphin on a red background.

The first headmaster was Norman Murchison, who was also a well known commentator on post-war education; in 1968 he delivered the 14th Charles Russell memorial lecture on the subject of 'Some social aspects of modern education'.^[3] He was also involved in numerous other debates, including on the propensity for young Scots to go abroad after the war^[4] and on the delinquency level of children in early 1950.^[5] He was made the first Citizen Of The Year for the City of Edinburgh, and a lecture theatre was named in his honour at the University of Edinburgh's King's Buildings campus. He retired in June 1968 and was succeeded by Norman Chalmers.

The opening of Craigroyston Community High School and the falling birth rate since the late 1960s meant that Ainslie Park was no longer viable as a secondary school, and the building became the North Campus for Edinburgh's Telford College. The axe finally fell on Ainslie Park in 1991.^[6]

A full planning application to develop the site was submitted by Miller Homes on 21 March 2007 and was granted by the City of Edinburgh Council. The main building was the original building designed by J.S. Johnston in the 1930s' Art Deco style and was listed under category B. It was to be converted into flats while the rest was to be new build, but Miller Homes successfully appealed under test d: The repair of the building is not economically viable, and the old main building was demolished;^[7] only its façade has been retained.^[8]

• Ron Brown MP^[12]
• Frank Doran MP
• Irvine Welsh, writer^[13]
• Bert Jansch, musician^[14]
• David Rennie, footballer
• Willie Stevenson, footballer
• Graham Fitzpatrick film director, screenwriter

• Terry Christie, football manager^[15]