Kilmarnock Academy

School in East Ayrshire, Scotland

Kilmarnock Academy (Scottish Gaelic: Acadamaidh Chille Mheàrnaig), formerly Kilmarnock Burgh School, is an 11–17 co educational state funded secondary school in Kilmarnock, Scotland, currently serving in its third location on Sutherland Drive in the New Farm Loch area of the town. Previous sites for Kilmarnock Academy include Green Street, erected in 1876, and Elmbank Drive, erected in 1898. The school can be traced back to the 1630s when it was known as 'Kilmarnock Burgh School'. In 2022, it was ranked as the 233rd best performing state school in Scotland, an increase from 247th in the 2021 league table rankings. Kilmarnock Academy is one of a few schools in the UK, and the first school in Scotland, to have educated several Nobel laureates: Alexander Fleming, discoverer of penicillin, and John Boyd Orr, 1st Baron Boyd Orr, for his scientific research into nutrition and his work as the first Director General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Kilmarnock Academy thus matches Eton College in the number of Nobel laureate graduates. The current head teacher is David Rose who was appointed in June 2015 on an acting basis, and was made permanent Head Teacher of Kilmarnock Academy (the newly formed school following merger with James Hamilton Academy) in April 2017.

From 1945, it was a state co educational grammar school. It became a comprehensive school in 1968 and fees were abolished for students attending Kilmarnock Academy in 1945 following World War II. For the first time since opening, Kilmarnock Academy appointed its first woman Head Teacher, Carole Ford, who served in the position from 1997–2011.

Kilmarnock Academy can trace its history back to the local burgh school founded in the 1630s and the first school to bear the name was established in 1807. A Kilmarnock Academy operated from Green Street in Kilmarnock, before being relocated to Elmbank Drive to accommodate increased demand for places at the school. In 1898, the school officially moved from Green Street to Elmbank Drive.

A new replacement Kilmarnock Academy opened on North Hamilton Street on August 1876, replacing the former Kilmarnock Academy on Green Street. The foundation stone for the new Kilmarnock Academy was laid on 20 November 1875, with the building designed by William Railton. This report put forward the case for educational provision at the schools coming to an end in term 2016/2017 (however, as of January 2017, this has run over time and projected now for 2018 completion), and the named educational establishments merge into one campus. In 2016, the decision was made to house these schools on the newly formed William Mcilvanney campus, named after the late William McIlvanney who was born in Kilmarnock and best selling crime author. The secondary provision will remain as Kilmarnock Academy, whilst the primary provision is renamed as James Hamilton Primary and Early Childhood Centre. On 12 October 2016, Deputy First Minister of Scotland in his capacity of Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, John Swinney, visited the site of the construction for the new school where he laid the foundation stone for the new structure. CentreStage moved from their former James Little Street premises, and opened on the Elmbank Drive site in August 2021.

The following list is of rectors of Kilmarnock Academy. In recent years, the term 'rector' has been phased out to introduce the title of 'head teacher'. Bryan Paterson held the post from August 2011 until June 2015, becoming head teacher at Trinity Academy, Edinburgh. Carole Ford was the first woman to serve as head teacher, from 1997–2011, and remains the only female to have taken up the position.