Pupils Suffered Dreadful Abuse at Edinburgh Academy Over Decades, Inquiry Finds

Pupils at Edinburgh Academy suffered dreadful abuse over decades, the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry found in findings issued on Tuesday, November 10, 2026.

The inquiry, chaired by Lady Smith, found that children at the school were sexually abused by staff over four decades, from the 1950s to the 1980s, and that pupils also endured physical and emotional abuse. The evidence the inquiry heard on the school covered mainly the years from 1954 to 1995. Claims of abuse were made against 20 teaching staff, and nearly 50 witnesses gave evidence about the school.

Boarders lived in fear, inquiry found

Some boarders at the school lived in a permanent state of fear, the inquiry found. It found that the school ignored complaints and focused on protecting its reputation. Lady Smith said: "For decades, the school failed to look at itself through a realistic and critical lens."

The findings are historical. No new offence is alleged in the findings themselves, which rest on evidence heard by the inquiry over a long-running examination of care settings in Scotland.

Teachers named in the findings

Lady Smith named Hamish Dawson, a housemaster and senior school teacher who died in 2009, and John Brownlee, a housemaster and deputy head of the junior school, as perpetrators. In 2024, a court ruled that Brownlee, then 89, had committed cruel and unnatural acts on pupils between 1967 and 1991, but was medically unfit to stand trial.

The report also names prep school teacher Iain Wares, who went on to abuse pupils at Fettes College and is awaiting extradition from South Africa. It names physics teacher William Bain, who has twice been convicted of sex offences.

Former pupil gave evidence

Broadcaster Nicky Campbell, who attended the school between 1966 and 1978, gave evidence to the inquiry. He said one teacher had abused children on an industrial scale.

The school apologised in 2023 for brutal and unrestrained historical abuse at the school. The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry was set up in October 2015 and considers evidence up to December 17, 2014. Its findings on Edinburgh Academy were issued on November 10, 2026, after evidence from nearly 50 witnesses and claims against 20 members of teaching staff spanning the period mainly from 1954 to 1995.