When it comes to excellent state secondary schools, it turns out families in the Glasgow area are well-served.
For schoolchildren across Scotland, the long-awaited summer holidays are now here. But before they know it, they’ll be headed back to class for the start of the new, 2025/26 school year – set to begin around August 14 in Glasgow. Many will be starting at a new high school for the first time, or will formally begin working towards important qualifications like their National 5s and Highers.
With this in mind, we recently explored Scotland’s highest achieving state-funded schools when it comes to maintaining consistently high levels of students securing key qualifications. To do this, we looked at the percentage of each school’s students that earned five or more Higher qualifications each year from 2018/19 to 2022/23 , taking note of those that made the top 25 across all five years. This was based on the Scottish Government’s breadth and depth of information data - as well as some supplementary information from independent data site Scotland’s Data on a Map.
While some high-achieving schools came close, just a few schools nationwide managed to achieve a place in the top 25 for all of the five most recent years available. The Greater Glasgow area was home to an impressive portion of them - 9 out of the 14 total.
Here are the local schools that have been proven to maintain high standards of excellence:
1. Jordanhill School
At the top of the list is this all-through school in the western Jordanhill area, which is funded directly by the Scottish government. As well as being Glasgow’s top performer in the most recently-available year, it has been in 1st place nationally for at least five years in a row. In the 2022/23 school year, 89% of its students attained five or more Highers. | Google
2. Bearsden Academy
This is a secondary school in Bearsden, East Dunbartonshire, to the northwest of the Greater Glasgow area. Over the last five available years, it has an average place of about 3.4 in the top 25. In the 2022/23 school year, it came in 2nd nationally, with 81% of its students who sat their Higher exams attaining five or more of them. | Google
3. Mearns Castle High School
Mearns Castle is a state secondary school in Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire - just southwest of Glasgow city proper. Over the last five available years, it has an average place of about 6.6 in the top 25. In the 2022/23 school year, it was 3rd nationally, with 80% of its students attaining five or more Highers. | Google
4. St Ninian's High School
St Ninian’s is a Catholic state secondary school in Giffnock, East Renfrewshire, again to the southwest of the Greater Glasgow area. Over the last five available years, it has an average place of about 3.4 in the top 25. In the 2022/23 school year, it was 4th in Scotland overall, with 79% of its students attaining five or more Highers. | Google