Glasgow school named the best in Scotland again in The Times High School League Table

The High School League Table, which covers state schools and has been compiled based on the percentage of pupils achieving the Scottish government’s ‘gold standard’ of five Highers in 2021, is published in print and online in The Times Scotland today (Wednesday).

Jordanhill School in the West End – which is unique in that is directly funded by a grant from the Scottish government rather than a local authority – has topped the table for the sixth year running.

However, the school’s pupils are increasingly drawn from the most affluent neighbourhoods.

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.

Wealth continues to play a significant role in determining school performance. The vast majority of pupils in the top ten schools live in Scotland’s most affluent neighbourhoods.

Another Glasgow school made the top 10. Glasgow Gaelic School was ranked sixth, up from 18th last year.

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.

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.”

The online, fully searchable Times Scotland’s High School League Table can be found HERE.