Jordanhill School in Glasgow has once again been named the best high school in Scotland by The Times' annual High School League Table.
The table, which covers state schools, has been compiled based on the percentage of pupils achieving the Scottish government’s “gold standard” of five Highers in 2021. It is published in print and online in The Times Scotland today (22 June 2022).
Jordanhill School, located in the west end of the city, is directly funded by a grant from the Scottish Government rather than a local authority, making it unique in the country. It is has topped the table for the sixth year running.
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However, The Times has revealed the increasing number of pupils drawn from affluent neighbourhoods around Glasgow.
In 2016, 66% of Jordanhill pupils were from areas deemed very affluent under the Scottish government’s five-point scale known as the Scottish index of multiple deprivation. A further 15% were from the second most affluent cohort, 7% were middle-class while 13% were deemed deprived or very deprived.
Very affluent pupils increased to 80% last year, 10% were middle class and the number of deprived pupils was so small the government has redacted the figure as publication would risk identifying the children.
Meanwhile, East Dunbartonshire is now level with East Renfrewshire as the local authority with the highest performing schools, with 69% gold standard pupils in both councils.
Bearsden Academy in East Dunbartonshire was placed second in the league table, followed by St Ninian’s High School in East Renfrewshire.
Williamwood High School was named the fourth best school in the country followed by the Glasgow Gaelic School at number six. Gryffe High School in Renfrewshire was placed at number eight and Bishopbriggs Academy in East Dunbartonshire at number 10.
Mark McLaughlin, education correspondent at The Times Scotland, said: “The Scottish Government claims it ‘does not do league tables’ but this is disingenuous. It discloses an annual school-by-school breakdown of the proportion of pupils who earn qualifications at each level of the curriculum – a league table in all but name.
“By publishing this information in an accessible and fully searchable guide, we seek to empower parents with information around the performance of their local schools.
“Five Highers is a good measure of success, but not the only measure. For that reason, The Times has also published the socioeconomic profile of the top and bottom schools, which shows some punch above their weight.”
View the full top 10 of The Times Scotland School League Table below
2021 position |
School |
Council |
2020 |
2021 |
Number of leavers |
2020 position |
1 |
Jordanhill School |
Grant aided |
86% |
91% |
103 |
1 |
2 |
Bearsden Academy |
East Dunbartonshire |
76% |
81% |
212 |
6 |
3 |
St Ninian’s High School |
East Renfrewshire |
80% |
78% |
293 |
2 |
4 |
Cults Academy |
Aberdeen City |
76% |
78% |
170 |
7 |
5 |
Williamwood High School |
East Renfrewshire |
76% |
77% |
285 |
8 |
6 |
Glasgow Gaelic School |
Glasgow City |
65% |
76% |
59 |
18 |
7 |
Dunblane High School |
Stirling |
79% |
75% |
165 |
4 |
8 |
Gryffe High School |
Renfrewshire |
80% |
74% |
170 |
3 |
9 |
Boroughmuir High School |
Edinburgh City |
76% |
73% |
210 |
9 |
10 |
Bishopbriggs Academy |
East Dunbartonshire |
74% |
73% |
222 |
10 |
The online, fully searchable Times Scotland’s High School League Table can be found here.
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