Latest news with #SecondarySchoolLeagueTable
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 .
Press and Journal
27-04-2025
- General
- Press and Journal
Aberdeen Grammar ‘one of top 10 high schools in Scotland' as prestigious list revealed
Aberdeen Grammar School is one of the top high schools in Scotland, according to The Sunday Times. The city's oldest school is 9th in the newspaper's 2025 Secondary School League Table and the only institution north of the central belt to make the cut. Aberdeen Grammar rose from 15th place in 2024, thanks to a 10% rise (64% to 74%) in the percentage of pupils achieving the Scottish government's 'gold standard' of five highers. Cults Academy has risen from 15th place in 2024 to 11th place in 2025; last year, the Aberdeen school fell out of the top ten. Banchory Academy is 32nd on the list with 58% of pupils achieving five highers or more, Westhill Academy is 33rd, and Oldmachar Academy is 59th. Jordanhill School in Glasgow was named Scotland's top-performing high school for the eighth year running. It is the only grant-aided institution in Scotland and advocates for others to follow its unique funding deal, which gives it independence from council control. In Highland, Plockton High School is at 26th place on the list, with Mallaig High School in 37th place. Glen Urquhart High School is in 80th place, Gairloch High School in 91st, and Millburn Academy in 93rd. Inverness Royal Academy is in 153rd place on the list, and Inverness High School is in 338th place. Lochaber High School is in 316th place, with 21% of pupils achieving five highers or more. In Moray, Elgin Academy was the highest achieving school, taking 141st place with 39% of pupils achieving five Highers. In second place was Speyside High School, ranked 203rd, while Milne High School was ranked 231st. Oban High School is in 79th place with 46% of pupils achieving five highers or more, while Tiree High School is 353rd on the list with only 1% of pupils achieving the benchmark. Shetland's Mid Yell Junior High School and Sandwick Junior High School are ranked 351st and 352nd. Brae High School is in 88th place, and Anderson High School is in 158th. In Orkney, the top-performing school is Stromness Academy, taking the 144th slot with 39% of pupils achieving five highers or more, with Kirkwall ranked 171. A full searchable performance table for Scottish secondary schools is available on The Sunday Times website.
