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Daily Record
27-04-2025
- General
- Daily Record
Scotland's best secondary schools ranked in 2025 league table as full list revealed
Scotland's best secondary schools have been unveiled in the Times and Sunday Times Scotland High School League Table . And the top spot may come as no surprise to those who have been following the league table for years. Jordanhill School has been named the best high school in the country for the ninth year in a row, according to the ranking. The west end of Glasgow institution has extended its lead in the line-up for nearly a decade on the trot. A record 94% of pupils leave the school with the Scottish Government's 'gold standard' of five Highers or equivalents. The school is directly funded by the Scottish Government and is independently governed. This is different from other schools which are funded by councils. Jordanhill surpassed its closest rival by 10 points. The ranking also revealed that Greater Glasgow has the highest concentration of elite-performing schools in Scotland, accounting for eight of the top ten places in The Sunday Times Secondary School League Table. John Anderson, rector of Jordanhill School, told the Sunday Times : 'We are delighted for our pupils who have worked incredibly hard to achieve such well-deserved success. 'We are very fortunate to benefit from a fantastic team of teaching and support staff, and our parents are great supporters of the school.' East Renfrewshire and East Dunbartonshire have reinforced their position as Scotland's education powerhouses. They occupy seven of the remaining top ten spaces, with more than 77% of pupils scoring the gold standard. Mearns Castle, Woodfarm, St Ninian's and Williamwood in East Renfrewshire, as well as Douglas Academy, Bearsden Academy and Boclair Academy in East Dunbartonshire, join Jordanhill among the top eight schools in Scotland . The top eight schools lie on a 19-mile route stretching across the River Clyde. Jordanhill sits within the Glasgow City boundaries but is more than 30 percentage points clear of Hyndland Secondary, the top performing council run school in Glasgow, which did not reach the top 20 this year. Conversely, Drumchapel High, just a 10 minute drive from Jordanhill , sits near the bottom 20, with just 14 per cent of pupils attaining the gold standard, throwing up Greater Glasgow's extremes of wealth and deprivation. Elsewhere, Aberdeen Grammar School has shot into the top ten, rising to ninth place from 15th in 2024, with a ten point rise in gold standard pupils to 74 per cent. Over on the east coast, Boroughmuir Academy in Edinburgh props up the top ten, down from fifth place, despite dropping just 2 points to 74 per cent gold standard. Wester Hailes High School in Edinburgh was among Scotland's weakest performing schools, scoring less than five per cent for the third year running. Keir Bloomer, chair of the Commission on School Reform think tank, said: 'Scotland needs to focus on raising standards for all, rather than simply on narrowing the attainment gap... 'Jordanhill may or may not be a better school than Wester Hailes but it certainly has a more privileged intake. It does benefit from the freedom of action that its form of governance allows and we need to look again at the way that schools are run. This includes ensuring that smaller and less affluent schools get the support they require.' Langholm Academy, near Gretna at the border with England, is Scotland's most improved school, with 40 per cent scoring the gold standard, up from less than 5 per cent last year. 1. Jordanhill School, Glasgow 2. Mearns Castle High School, East Renfrewshire 3. Woodfarm High School, East Renfrewshire 4. St Ninian's High School, East Renfrewshire 5. Douglas Academy, East Dunbartonshire 6. Bearsden Academy, East Dunbartonshire 7. Boclair Academy, East Dunbartonshire 8. Williamwood High School, East Renfrewshire 9. Aberdeen Grammar School, Aberdeen 10. Boroughmuir High School, Edinburgh The full list can be viewed here .
Glasgow Times
27-04-2025
- Business
- Glasgow Times
Glasgow's Jordanhill School named best in Scotland
Figures, published by The Sunday Times, rank high schools based on the percentage of pupils who achieved the gold standard of five Highers or equivalents in 2024 and 2025. (Image: Image of Jordanhill School in Glasgow) Jordanhill School, in the West End of the city, has taken home the top spot for the eighth year in a row. The school, which is directly funded by the Scottish Government and is independently governed, as opposed to other schools which are funded by councils, surpassed its closest rival by 10 points and achieved a record 94 per cent of gold standard students in 2025 - according to The Scottish Sun. Schools in East Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire nabbed 10 spots within the top 20 list, with Strathaven Academy in South Lanarkshire coming 20th on the list. Mearns Castle High School in East Renfrewshire came second and Woodfarm High School in East Renfrewshire came in at third. The attainment gap between the country's richest and poorest pupils remains wide. For example, Drumchapel High sits at 334th place, just two miles from Bearsden Academy, where 78 per cent of students attained the gold standard. Keir Bloomer, chair of the Commission on School Reform think tank, said: 'Scotland needs to focus on raising standards for all, rather than simply on narrowing the attainment gap. 'In any case, tables such as this say nothing about the gap or, indeed, the quality of schools. 'They simply confirm the huge impact of socioeconomic circumstances on attainment. 'Jordanhill may or may not be a better school than Wester Hailes but it certainly has a more privileged intake. It does benefit from the freedom of action that its form of governance allows and we need to look again at the way that schools are run. This includes ensuring that smaller and less affluent schools get the support they require.' A Scottish government spokesman added: 'The Scottish government is providing direct investment in Scotland's education system and is providing £4.3 billion in this year's budget. This includes continued funding in the £1 billion Scottish Attainment Challenge as part of our key priority to close the poverty-related attainment gap. 'As a result of sustained investment, Scotland has record level of literacy and numeracy in schools, the lowest attainment gap since records began for literacy in primary schools and record number of young people entering work, training, college and university.'
