The following quotation comes from the Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, edited by John Marius Wilson and published in 1868. This reference was found in volume II, page 410 and lists the schools in the parish at that time:

"The principal schools, additional to the parish school, are Weirhill academy, a Free church school, an Episcopalian school, 3 boarding-schools for young ladies, and 6 ordinary schools at Newton, Blainslie, Langshaw, Gattonside, Dernock, and Newstead."

Some records of the Melrose branch of the Educational Institute of Scotland (a teaching union) are held in the National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh. Their NAS reference is GD342 and they consist of minutes covering the years 1847-1940. (source: National Register of Archives).

• "A Happie and Golden Tyme" published by The National Records of Scotland looks at education in Scotland since the fourteenth century. It includes facsimile copies of original records. 20 pages long, ISBN 0 870874 15 3.
• School and Education Reports at the National Records of Scotland. 
• Schools. Pupils and Teachers in Glasgow and the West of Scotland - records at the Mitchell Library.
• Scotland Street School Museum - Scotland Street School was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh between 1903-1906 for the School Board of Glasgow. Now a museum, it tells the story of 100 years of education in Scotland, from the late 19th century to the late 20th century.

• UK Schools & Colleges Database: provides information on more than 31,000 UK state and independent Schools and Colleges, and over 29,000 UK School, College and University websites (as of June 2016).
• MissingAncestors.com (archived copy) - contains information on staff and students at Industrial/Reformatory Schools & the like during the 19th and early 20th century.
• Anguline Research Archives (archived copy) produce CDs of a number of major public school registers.
• Universities: Brief biographical details of graduates of Cambridge or Oxford Universities are provided in either Alumni Cantabrigienses by JA Venn or  Alumni Oxonienses : the Members of the University of Oxford, by Joseph Foster, respectively, which are particularly useful for C of E ministers.  They are available in various forms:
  • Hard copies are held by many public libraries, including Reading Central Library.  
  • Cambridge Alumni Database free online from Cambridge University.  See also their research guide. 
  • Alumni Oxonienses: The Members of the University of Oxford, 1500-1714 and 1715-1886 free from Internet Archive.  
  • Online subscription access from Ancestry:  Oxford University Alumni, 1500-1886  and  Cambridge University Alumni, 1261-1900.