Archive Photo of the Month – May

With exams underway and 150 years of girls at Hutchesons’ being celebrated, we’re revisiting the girls’ school exam results from 1911.

Leavers’ certificates were established in 1888 by the Scottish Education Department to create a consistent benchmark for school-leaving qualifications and facilitate progression to university. Examinations in six subjects were offered: English, Latin, Greek, French, German, and Mathematics.

Lower and higher grades were awarded, and you can see in the image that a 1 meant a pass at Higher Grade and a 2 meant a pass at the Lower Grade. Girls had to pass their Lower Grade exams to then be able to sit the Higher Grade exams. These were needed to go on to university, which our pupils were able to do after 1892, when Scottish universities allowed women to graduate.

In the image below, you can perhaps spot the name of Madge E Anderson, a former pupil who was the first female solicitor in Scotland and the first woman entitled to practise Law in both England and Scotland. She helped set up the first all-female law practice in the UK after she moved to London. Madge was also instrumental in helping Hutchesons’ appoint its first female principal of the Girls’ School.

School Archive:

Committed to the collection, preservation and maintenance of the records of the school, its activities and pupils, our archives hold a range of material from class registers and magazines to photographs, trophies and uniforms. Pupils are encouraged at both Primary and Secondary to engage with archive material, with the aim to provide a dynamic educational resource for pupils and our wider community.

Would you like to know more about Hutchesons’ Grammar School’s history? Contact our School Archivist, Ms Devenney, at archives@hutchesons.org with any enquiries.