Hopetoun HouseSun 16 Nov

Hopetoun House from the west
Credit: Crawford Lindsay

British Schools Orienteering Championships

Last updated: Tue 18 November, 2025

National event

Explanation of event types

Local events are usually low key and in the 'localised' area, ideal for newcomers to try the sport and Training events are non competitive and used for training and coaching, aimed at members of the club, but they can attract people from neighbouring clubs, and are often ideal for newcomers to try the sport. Regional events attract participants from around the local Region, National events are high quality competitions that will attract people from far away, Major events are Major Events such as a British Championships. Virtual events are where there are no physical controls being used. Your presence at a control is registered using an App on your mobile phone, normally the free MapRun App.

Results

The results are available here

Routegadget is available here

Officials' Reports

Controller's Report - Terry O'Brien BEM (STAG)

It was a pleasure to be able to play a very small part in this project and I thank Janet for asking me to be involved back in late 2023.

The ESOC Core team - Janet, Jayne, Emma A., Martin and Margaret - worked well in tandem with the Estate and with the help of friends from within ESOC, ELO, FVO, INT and TAY delivered an impressive event.

Thanks also to Emma P. and Derek, the Hopetoun House Rangers for their support.

Martin deserves your thanks as the BSOC is a real challenge to plan. 4 White, 4 Yellow, 4 Orange, 4 Light Green and 2 Green courses were required all within a very safe but limited area and his efficiency made my role straightforward.

Based on previous events/results at Hopetoun House, we agreed to increase the length of the courses for the older competitors but this still proved a little short.

Since its inception back in 1987 @ Sutton Park, the BSOC has been held 4 times in Scotland - 1989 Glasgow, 1996 Pitlochry, 2011 Linlithgow and now 2025 Edinburgh and I have been fortunate to have an involvement in all these projects.

When STAG hosted the BSOC in 1989 900+ travelled to Glasgow and some 36 years on, just over 300 competed at Hopetoun House. On Sunday one of ESOC's helpers asked me 'Where are all the Mini-buses? I just smiled; we live in changing times.

Like so many others I still believe in the benefits and rewards which accrue from having Orienteering within a Schools' curriculum and just like I have found with STAG, the merit of offering an experience which adds to the common good of society should never be underestimated despite the chances of further engagement in mainstream Orienteering being unlikely.

I do hope that your students have taken away pleasant memories from their visit and your journeys home were safe and uneventful.

In summary, a grand day out at a superb location, delivering the sport we all love never fails to give me immense pleasure

Kind regards

Terry

T.O'Brien BEM

(A retired PE Teacher since 2019).

Planner's Report - Martin Caldwell (ESOC)

It was a privilege to plan the British Schools Championship courses and a challenge to create 18 interesting, varied and demanding routes within a limited space. I spent many hours looking around the place to establish suitable locations, but I cannot imagine a nicer place to do so.

The cooperation of the Hopetoun House Rangers and all the estate team was invaluable. Jayne's core team and a host of volunteers kept everything running smoothly and I thank Terry O'Brien for his insight as controller, which made a great difference.

When competition day arrived, it was amazing to see the tremendous enthusiasm and determination of all the runners in this beautiful setting. They should all be very proud to have completed their tricky courses.

Best regards,
Martin

Overview

All pre-event and entry information (entries open now) is on the BSOA website here and there is a news item with details of who (schools or individuals) can enter on the SOA website here

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Pre-event Information

Location Info

Near: South Queensferry
Lat,Lng: 55.9954,-3.4519
OS Grid Ref: NT095790
Postcode: EH52 6QH
What3Words: ///fiery.invents.withdraw

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Nearest A&E Hospital

Please refer to the Important Event Information panel

NHS Urgent care search

Miscellaneous

Coming for the weekend? There is an FVO Local event at the nearby Beecraigs Country Park (open to all) on Saturday 15th. Event webpage here