 The Hamilton Academy 'prep' (junior) school continued to operate until 1952.The county-wide selective intake and the academic bias of the teaching meant that Hamilton Academy achieved excellent results in competitions.In his obituary article on former Hamilton Academy pupil Sir John Inch, Sir Tam Dalyell, former Father of the House of Commons, described Hamilton Academy as a "remarkable school" with "a formidable academic reputation" and mentions the large annual intake from Hamilton Academy to the University of Glasgow with which the Academy had a particularly long and sustained relationship; a yardstick as measure of its achievements year-on-year being the number of University of Glasgow scholarships won by its students.