'Boy' Went Back To Old School Aged 30 After Fooling Teachers

The remarkable story of a student who managed to go back to his school as a grown up is the subject of a new film.

My Old School tells the tale of Brian MacKinnon, who attended Bearsden Academy in Glasgow - twice.

The first time around was perfectly legitimate, but the second time he was 30 years old, enrolling under the guise of Brandon Lee, a supposed Canadian student whose mum had died in a car crash, prompting him to be sent to live with his grandma in Scotland.

In reality, he had already studied at the school in the '70s, obtaining good enough grades to study medicine at Glasgow University.

After failing his exams twice, he dropped out of the course; however, 10 years later, he had a change of heart. It was at this point he hatched his bizarre plan to start over at Bearsden Academy once again - and remarkably, he pulled it off.

Furthermore, he managed to keep up the ruse for two years, obtaining five grade-A highers, a glowing reference, and a place at Dundee University to study medicine.

But his luck ran out when his true identity was outed in 1995, with his story splashed across the front pages of national newspapers.

The bizarre tale is being retold by director Jono McLeod, who went to school with MacKinnon.

The film features an interview with MacKinnon, however he didn't want to appear on camera, so the film uses animations, with actor Alan Cumming lip-syncing his words.

In a promotional video, McLeod said: "My Old School is all about my old school – that's Bearsden Academy – the high school in a fairly well-to-do suburb of Glasgow, Scotland.

"The film combines live action interviews with my former classmates and two teachers alongside animated re-enactments.

"In 1993 when we were 16 years old, my classmates and I welcomed a new kid. His name was Brandon, he came from Canada. And when he arrived he was a bit of a geek.

"But over the course of two years, he managed to climb the social ladder of high school life and become pretty popular. That was until the secret to his success was revealed. When he was unmasked."

MacKinnon now reportedly lives a reclusive lifestyle, but in a rare interview in 2015, he said: "I always intended to come clean once I graduated.

"I am sure somewhere would have hired me once I had proved myself. There are no regrets."

Featured Image Credit: Alamy

Topics: UK News, Weird, Education

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey