Education Scotland: Top performing Scottish schools named in latest 'Parent Power' league tables

New secondary school rankings for 2023 published by The Sunday Times

The top performing secondary schools in Scotland have been named in new league tables.

The Parent Power list, published by The Sunday Times, found that Jordanhill School in Glasgow had retained the highest ranking in the nation among state schools.

It was followed by Bearsden Academy in second place, St Ninian’s High School in Giffnock in third, and Woodfarm High, Thornliebank, which moved up from eighth last year to fourth.Another riser was Douglas Academy, Milngavie, up from 11th last year to fifth, while Cults Academy in Aberdeen was in sixth spot, and Edinburgh’s Boroughmuir High was in seventh.

At Jordanhill School, in Glasgow City, 89 per cent of pupils left with at least five Highers in 2022. This is 19 percentage points better than its virtual comparator.

The rest of the top 10 was made up of three East Renfrewshire schools – Mearns Castle High, Williamwood High and Eastwood High.

Meanwhile, the guide named McLaren High School at Callander as its Scottish Secondary School of the Year 2024, for its “persistent drive to raise attainment levels while championing the wider talents and ambitions of its pupils”.

Marc Fleming, head teacher at the school, told The Sunday Times: “Our school size lends itself very well to staff knowing young people really well as individuals and building on their unique talents and skills, and getting the very best out of them, whether that be academic achievement, sporting achievement or achievement across the wider life of the school.”

Under the system, state secondary schools are ranked on outcomes for students who left school in the summer of 2023, based on the proportion of students gaining five or more Higher examinations at grades A to C.

This is double-weighted and added to the proportion of students gaining five or more National 5 passes and the proportion gaining two or more Advanced Highers.

The Scotsman published league tables for 2022 earlier this year, including an interactive table.

In the independent sector, Dollar Academy, in Clackmannanshire, was crowned the Scottish Independent School of the Year 2024, in recognition of its “consistently high attainment and its commitment to pupils’ personal development and wellbeing”.

Ian Munro, rector of Dollar Academy, said: “Dollar is special in so many ways. We offer the widest range of academic subjects in the country, which are complemented by a full and varied co-curricular programme, and our spacious and very green campus is a calming and inspiring place to be.

"For me, however, the best thing about Dollar is the people who make up our community.”

A top 10 of Scottish private schools, based on Higher results, put St Mary’s Music School in Edinburgh as number one, followed by the Glasgow Academy, George Heriot’s School in Edinburgh, the Mary Erskine School in Edinburgh and the High School of Glasgow.

The others on the list were Hutchesons’ Grammar School, Glasgow, St Margaret’s School for Girls in Aberdeen, Dollar Academy, St Columba’s School, Kilmacolm, and George Watson’s College, Edinburgh.

Among the schools sitting A-Levels, St Leonards in St Andrews knocked Fettes College off the top spot, with the Edinburgh school moving to second, followed by Merchiston Castle School, also in the capital, and Strathallan School near Perth.