George Watson's College is a co-educational private day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh.

The initial roll consisted of 11 boys, aged 9–10 years; by 1749 there were 30, while in 1842 pupils numbered 86, this figure being maintained until the end of the Hospital system in 1870.

[6] Research in 2020 revealed that there is a strong likelihood that part of George Watson's fortune was acquired in the transatlantic slave trade.

[7][8] The college states that they are "moving forward in the acknowledgement of aspects of our heritage which have previously been ignored",[7] and have conducted discussions with parents pupils and others on the "important and troubling questions about George Watson".

When the infirmary sought to expand in 1871, the school moved a short distance west to the former Merchant Maiden Hospital building in Archibald Place.

The new building, facing Colinton Road, was designed by James B Dunn, in the neo-classical style, built in sandstone and was opened by Prince George (later Duke of Kent) on 22 September 1932.

[6] In 1967, the Merchant Company announced its plan to combine the two Watson's Colleges to form a single co-educational campus in Colinton Road.

According to the Sutton Trust, the school is placed first in Scotland and joint 29th in the United Kingdom for the number of the nation's leading people produced.