The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry has delivered a damning verdict on Fettes College in Edinburgh, finding that children were "wholly failed" by the prestigious institution where abuse flourished unchecked for over four decades. The inquiry's comprehensive report, published this week, details a harrowing pattern of sexual, physical and emotional abuse that persisted from the 1950s onwards at the boarding school.
Systemic Failures and Shameful Protection Lapses
Lady Smith, who chaired the inquiry, stated unequivocally that children could have been readily protected but were instead left vulnerable to predators. "It is shameful that did not happen," she declared in her findings. The report emphasizes that had complaints been properly listened to and acted upon from the outset, numerous children would have been spared from suffering that continues to affect survivors more than fifty years later in the 2020s.
Lady Smith's investigation revealed that members of staff sexually abused children from the 1950s until the 1980s, with perpetrators including a former headmaster. The inquiry found that children were physically abused both by teachers and by other pupils, while emotional abuse created lasting trauma for many former students.
Culture of Silence and Normalised Cruelty
A disturbing "culture of silence" prevailed at Fettes College, where victims feared retribution and social ostracism if they dared to complain about their treatment. This environment allowed abuse to continue unchecked for generations. Lady Smith documented numerous examples of institutionalised cruelty, including an incident during an 1980s initiation ceremony where a boy was hung upside down out of a third-storey window by his ankles.
The report also described how it was "not uncommon to find boys hanging by their underpants from coat hooks and unable to get down, put there by other boys they had annoyed." This culture of bullying and humiliation was embedded within the school's social structures.
Racism and Gender Discrimination Revealed
Beyond the physical and sexual abuse, the inquiry uncovered systemic racism that persisted at Fettes well into the 21st century. Lady Smith highlighted that "mocking by staff and pupils of anyone who was not British was normalised into the 1990s." Shockingly, the school permitted mock slave auctions of prefects to raise money for charity, a practice that continued into the first decade of the 2000s.
After Fettes transitioned from a boys-only boarding school to co-educational status beginning in 1972 and becoming fully co-educational by 1983, the inquiry found that girls were treated as "second-class citizens." A "sexualised culture" existed both before and after the introduction of co-education, creating additional vulnerabilities for students.
Leadership Failures and Appointment Scandals
The inquiry scrutinised the appointment of former headmaster Anthony Chenevix-Trench, who had previously served as head of Eton College. Lady Smith revealed that Fettes appointed Chenevix-Trench despite Eton expressly disclosing that he had lost the trust of senior masters, had a drinking problem, and demonstrated a propensity to beat boys excessively.
"He was in fact a man who was unfit to be appointed to lead a school," Lady Smith concluded. The report further noted that Chenevix-Trench was "attracted to young blond teenagers at Eton," a predilection known to the provost of Eton College at the time of his appointment to Fettes.
Ongoing Legal Proceedings and Recent Compensation
The inquiry identified multiple perpetrators, including Iain Wares, who also taught at Edinburgh Academy and currently resides in South Africa. Extradition proceedings to return Wares to Scotland are ongoing as he faces allegations of abuse.
In 2022, a former pupil who suffered abuse by a former teacher at Fettes College was awarded £450,000 in damages, highlighting the lasting consequences of the school's failures. This substantial compensation award underscores the severity of the harm inflicted upon students.
School Response and Contemporary Safeguarding
Fettes College has issued an unreserved apology to those affected by the 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."
The school acknowledges that "many young people were failed by those in positions of authority at Fettes, who could and should have acted differently." However, the institution insists that "the culture of safety and welfare at our school now is unrecognisable from the past," citing positive findings from Education Scotland and the Care Inspectorate in their 2025 inspections.
Lady Wise emphasized that while the school has implemented substantial reforms, "we must never be complacent, and we are united in our resolve to ensure that the mistakes of the past are never repeated."
The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry continues its vital work of raising public awareness about the abuse of children in care settings, considering evidence up to December 2014 that remains within living memory of survivors. The Fettes College case study forms part of the inquiry's broader examination of boarding schools across Scotland, seeking to ensure such systemic failures are never repeated in any educational institution.
