Scottish primary school rankings 2023: The top 20 Primary Schools in Scotland ranked by The Sunday Times - featuring 4 schools from Glasgow
Glasgow and the surrounding area featured prominently in the rankings
The best performing primary schools in Scotland for 2023 have been ranked, listed, and released by the Sunday Times at the end of last month.
Nearly three quarters of the primary schools featured in the top 20 are from Glasgow - with four schools making the coveted list released by The Sunday Times.
This is matched by North Lanarkshire, who also have four schools in the top 20 Scottish primary school league tables - with two schools from Wishaw!
Three schools from Inverclyde also feature in the top 20 of The Sunday Times Primary School League Table 2023 - while a Paisley school is the highest ranked primary school across all of Scotland.
The schools were ranked on four key areas reading, writing, numeracy, listening and talking.
Each primary school was given a score out of 400 drawing together the percentage of pupils up to standard in each comparable metric.
Many of the schools featured in the top 20 are from socially deprived areas, making their placement on the list all the more impressive.
This list does not definitively rank the primary schools of Scotland as ‘best to worst’ - as that would fail to take into numerous social, financial, and other factors that come into the overall qualiy of education.
GlasgowWorld launched our own league of Scottish High Schools last month, you can find the article featuring the best performing high schools in Glasgow in terms of academic attainment here.

1. St Catherine’s Primary School
St Catherine’s Primary School in Paisley comes in first place across the whole of Scotland in the Times primary school league tables. Photo: Third Party

2. Wishaw Academy Primary School
Over in Wishaw, Wishaw Academy takes second place in the Scottish primary school league tables. Photo: Third Party

3. St Aidan’s Primary School
Also in Wishaw, St. Aidan’s Primary School in the Coltness district comes in third place. Photo: Third Party

4. St Mary’s Primary School
St Mary’s Primary School in Inverclyde is the highest ranked Primary School in Inverclyde and the fourth highest ranked in Scotland by the Times.