These are the best performing state high schools in Renfrewshire, according to the latest data available.
Each school has been measured on the percentage of pupils who received the Scottish Government’s educational “gold standard” of five Highers, or their equivalent, in 2024 – based on data published by the Scottish Government on its own website.
The top performing school in Renfrewshire this year in terms of academic attainment was Gryffe High School in Houston - which was ranked as the nineteenth best performing school in Scotland. Three other secondary schools in Renfrewshire completed the top 100 list for the country with Paisley Grammar School, Park Mains High School and Trinity High School all being ranked within the top 100 best schools in Scotland.
These Higher result tables do not reflect schools or rank them in terms of ‘best to worst’ as that would fail to take into account factors such as the support offered to children with complex needs, the effort and quality of the teaching staff, working conditions for said staff, quality of the student experience, the funding the school receives from Renfrewshire Council, or whether or not the school is serving an underprivileged and disadvantaged area within the local authority.
Throughout our coverage, we use ‘Highers’ as a term to mean both Highers and equivalent qualifications at SCQF level 6 and above, such as Skills for Work Higher awards.
You can find the full list of Glasgow secondary school rankings here.
1. Gryffe High School
Gryffe High School in Houston tops the list in Renfrewshire with 65% of pupils achieving at least five Highers. They rank as the 19th best performing secondary school in Scotland. Photo: Google Maps
2. Paisley Grammar School
The first entry on the list from Paisley is Paisley Grammar School with 55% of pupils leaving school with five or more Highers. The school is ranked as Scotland's 40th best performing school. | Google Maps
3. Park Mains High School
Park Mains High School completes the top three best performing schools in Renfrewshire as 44% of pupils gained at leave five Highers or more in 2024. Overall, Park Mains High School ranks as the 90th best performing school in the country. | Park Mains High School
4. Trinity High School
Trinity High School has a success rate of 39% of pupils gaining five or more Higher qualifications. Trinity was the 99th best performing high school in Scotland. | Trinity High School