THE decision not to build a big enough high school for all the pupils that will go there has been described as a "gamble".

An £85 million replacement for Inverkeithing High will open in Rosyth in August 2026 and Fife Council have already admitted that the capacity will be exceeded for the first two years.

Alan Paul, Head of property services, said: “The replacement school is being built to accommodate the same number of pupils as the existing Inverkeithing High School, which is 1,735.

“Although the projection roll for the new school is expected to exceed the planning capacity for the first two years (2026 and 2027), the school roll is predicted to fall significantly from then."

He continued: “During the period where it’s estimated there may be more pupils, the school will use the flexible accommodation throughout the building, including the dedicated community facilities."

Inverkeithing councillor David Barratt has criticised this decision.

He told the Press: "For the first one to two years, they're expecting the school roll to be reaching its peak and then it will decline. 

"So for the first couple of years they’re going to rely on the community use provision to provide their teaching capacity which is ridiculous.  

"It undermines the community use for a start, but secondly, it just feels like it is a gamble in terms of an assumption that the school roll is going to decrease but will it decrease to the level that they expect?"

He believes that while the school roll is predicted to fall, Inverkeithing is a growing community and that new families will move to the area - especially as new housing is built. 

Cllr Barratt added: "All the new housing in the area, is that accounted for? Yes, there's an ageing population in Dalgety Bay but what were family homes in the 80s and 90s, large houses with only a couple of people in them?

"People retire, they move on, they die and younger families with children move in, and that leads to an increase in the school roll and whether they've fully accounted for that, I'm not convinced. It just feels like a mistake to me and we’ll be proven right or wrong on that in a few years time. 

"To build a brand new school and to immediately be relying on teaching in temporary classrooms is very odd."