Here the theme of change continued. In 1965 the Scottish Education Department issued Circular 600 which heralded the introduction of comprehensive schools. The old junior and senior secondaries were replaced by schools catering for, in theory, every pupil in a given area, although the names and the buildings, such as Hillhead High School, often remained the same. The long tradition of respected Head Teachers continued with for example, Ian Valentine at Cleveden and Ken Cunningham at Hillhead. The city also decided to end the fee-paying status of schools such as Allan Glen's and the High School. Some of these schools, such as the High School, closed, others such as St Aloysius and Hutcheson's became either fully independent or were absorbed into the comprehensive system. In 1976, the High School re-emerged as a fully independent school located on Crow Road.
While the most publicised changes affected secondary schools, the city’s primary schools continued to flourish with Head Teachers such as Sister Doreen in Priesthill and Irene Stuart Smith in Barrowfield.
Glasgow lost direct control over its schools in 1974 with the formation of Strathclyde Regional Council only to see this control returned in the mid-1990s with a further round of local government re-organisation. Both city and regional councils had to respond to a rising school population in the 1960s and subsequent decline from the mid-1980s. This led to the building of new schools in the 1960s and often contentious school closures in the 1980s and 1990s. Many schools built in the 1960s did not stand the test of time and it is perhaps appropriate that the new millennium has witnessed a programme to either replace or refurbish the older schools. The new Drumchapel High School is a far cry from the city's Victorian heritage.