17 Sets of Twins Start School in One Scottish Town

Teachers are seeing double – many times over. 

With the first day of school starting today, 17 sets of twins have been enrolled. 

The catch? They’re all from the same Scottish town of Greenock, Inverclyde, which has been aptly nicknamed “Twinverclyde".

According to New York Post yesterday, St. Patrick’s and Ardgowan Primary are two of the schools welcoming three sets of twins each into primary one this fall, marking a record year for twin intake – the second highest on record. 

“It has become an annual tradition in Inverclyde, or Twinverclyde as we’ve become known, to welcome our twins into primary one”, Graeme Brooks, the depute provost at St Patrick’s, told Southwest News Service, adding that the community is “lucky to have so many incredible schools”.

1.6 million twins are born annually around the world, according to research from Oxford that reported a record number of twin births in 2021. 

 

But Inverclyde has always been known for its high rates of twins, with 147 sets attending the local schools in the past decade. In 2015 alone, 19 pairs began school at the same time. 

 

Local Inverclyde parent Arlene Fulton is sending her 5-year-old twins Anna and Aaron to King’s Oak Primary.

 

“Seventeen sets of twins is something else, it must be something in the water”, said Arlene.