Glasgow city council commissioned a modern sports centre to be built directly next to Holyrood, known as Holyrood Sports Centre. The school has exclusive access during the day to all the facilities, with the centre being open at night to the public. The sports centre features a full size synthetic floodlit pitch, three seven-a-side pitches, changing rooms, inside gym hall and shower accommodation. In addition, an open plan gym which can be split into two separate halls, a dance studio and a modern extensive fitness suite. These facilities are used by all pupils for physical education and are an addition to the swimming pool and gymnastics hall. In 2012, the school was selected as the Glasgow base for the Scottish Football Association's Performance Schools, a system devised to support the development of the best young talented footballers across the country (there are seven such schools across Scotland). As of 2018, the dedicated coach for the young players at Holyrood is Joe McBride. Year groups Malawi partnership The school has established a close partnership with Mary's Meals, which saw former deputy head, Tony Begley, resign from his position to take up a new role as the education co-ordinator of this non-profitable charity. The school has also been at the forefront of fundraising for Malawi as well as Mary's Meals which involves under 30 pupils travelling to areas close to Blantyre, Malawi to reconstruct, renovate and build schools. A team of 36 young people was chosen for 2013 after a successful five years of the project and planned to continue the work in Malawi, led by previous head teacher, Thomas McDonald. The school has so far raised in excess of £200,000 for Malawi. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 Malawi, and subsequently 2021 Malawi projects had to be cancelled. Admissions The school has a roll of approximately 2,000 pupils and 150 teachers, making it one of the largest state comprehensive schools in Europe. Notable former pupils Arts & media Frankie Boyle, comedian James Boyle, broadcaster: head of BBC Radio Scotland and controller of BBC Radio 4, chairman of the Scottish Arts Council Charlie Burchill, Scottish musician and composer, best known as the guitarist of Simple Minds Des Clarke (b. 1981), comedian Bob Crampsey, Scottish association football historian, author, broadcaster and teacher (including history teacher at Holyrood in the 1970s) Tony Curran, actor Fran Healy, British singer, songwriter and musician, lead singer