Merchant Maiden Hospital
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| Motto | Mitis et fortis |
|---|---|
| Established | 1694 as Merchant Maiden Hospital |
| Type | Independent day and boarding school |
| Principal | David Gray |
| Location |
Ravelston Edinburgh EH4 3NT Scotland |
| Students | 750 (approx.) |
| Gender | Girls |
| Ages | 12–18 |
| School fees | Day: £10,584 ; Boarding: £21,162 per Annum (2015) |
| Website | http: |
The Mary Erskine School, popularly known as "Mary Erskine's" or "MES", is an all-girls independent secondary school in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded in 1694 and has a roll of around 750 pupils. It is the sister school of the all-boys Stewart's Melville College (SMC) with which MES shares a coeducational nursery and junior school for pupils aged 3–11.
The majority of its pupils live in the surrounding area (Edinburgh, Lothian and Fife) but boarding facilities are available. About 3% of the pupils are boarders. The school is non-denominational but claims to have a broadly Christian outlook.
Both MES and SMC are managed by the Merchant Company of Edinburgh which is also responsible for the city's George Watson's College. In 2014 the combined Erskine Stewarts Melville school claimed to be the largest independent school in Europe.
Although the school is single sex, many activities, although not teaching, are carried out jointly with the boys from SMC. The sixth (final) year of the school is co-educational.
The school was founded as a hospital school for the daughters of Edinburgh burgesses in 1694 as the Merchant Maiden Hospital by Mary Erskine (a prominent Edinburgh banking businesswoman) and the Company of Merchants of the City of Edinburgh in the Cowgate, Edinburgh. In 1870, it was refounded by act of Parliament as a day school, renamed as the Edinburgh Educational Institution For Girls and had grown to 1,200 girl students. In 1871 it moved its premises to Queen Street, Edinburgh and became familiarly known as Queen Street School. The school was renamed again as Edinburgh Ladies' College in 1889, and to its present name, "The Mary Erskine School", in 1944.
In 1966 the school moved to Ravelston, Edinburgh and in 1977 the Mary Erskine School merged with an all-boys independent secondary school Stewart's Melville College which is located approximately one mile (2 km) from the MES campus and The Erskine Stewart's Melville Schools (ESMS) was formed. Together MES and SMC have a co-educational Junior School which caters for pupils from three to 11 years old. Nursery to Primary 3 are housed on the Mary Erskine campus, with Primary 4 to 7 on the Stewart's Melville campus. The combined sixth (final) form of both schools is coeducational.
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