Scotland boasts several of the UK’s top schools, both in the private and public sectors, and thanks to the internet, it’s now possible for these schools to share their achievements online and to offer greater accessibility to staff, pupils and parents.
Parents who want to know more about choosing a school for their child in Scotland have access to the useful Parentzone resource, which offers all of the key information that they need to know about Scotland’s education system, assessment process, school inspection procedures, the Curriculum for Excellence and how to obtain additional support for their child should it be necessary. The website also makes it easy for parents to find schools in their local area and even offers advice about how they can support their child’s studies across a broad spectrum of subjects. There is even guidance about parents and children’s rights when it comes to their education, term dates and and advice about how to obtain financial support.
Top Performing Scottish Schools
The Parentzone website enables parents to search for schools by area according to a number of factors including school name, funding type, school type, postcode and even whether or not they offer Gaelic education. Schools are then listed in order of their results so it’s easy to see at a glance which are the top performing schools in a particular area. There is full information available about school results, pupil numbers, inspection reports for parents’ perusal, details about any awards gained by the institution as well as contact details for the school itself, enabling parents to quickly and easily get in touch.
Scotland’s Top Schools Online
Scotland’s top performing schools all have websites where potential students, existing students and parents can find out everything they need to know. Here we look at the top 5 publicly funded schools in Scotland at the present time and what they have to offer their local communities.
Jordanhill School
Jordanhill School in Glasgow is somewhat unusual in that it holds the unique status of being a mainstream Grant Aided school which is funded directly by a Scottish Government grant. As a community comprehensive, Jordanhill School does not select pupils by academic achievement and it serves the local areas of Jordanhill as well as some of Scotstoun and Broomhill.
Founded as long ago as 1920, Jordanhill is an all-through school offering both primary and secondary education. There are currently 462 primary aged pupils on roll and 590 secondary aged pupils. This school is well known for promoting academic excellence and it also offers thriving sport, art, music and outdoor education programmes. Offering impressive resources and an excellent learning environment, Jordanhill is proud to reflect the ethnic and cultural diversity of its city.
St Ninian’s High School
Located in East Renfrewshire, St Ninian’s High School is Scotland’s top performing Catholic school. Opened in the 1980s, this institution was the first publicly funded state school to abandon the old Standards system in favour of the new Access and Intermediate exam system. Consistently topping the list of Scotland’s highest performing high schools, St Ninian’s is oversubscribed and is extremely popular among parents in the local community of Giffnock which it serves.
Williamwood High School
Third third highest performing school in Scotland is also in the East Renfrewshire district. As a comprehensive publicly funded school, this institution has a pupil roll of around 1800 pupils and dated back to the 1930s. Williamwood holds the honour of being the first school in Scotland to ever have been awarded 5 excellent grades during an inspection and its previous headteacher was awarded the OBE for his services to education. Serving the Clarkston community, this popular school has earned an excellent reputation in the local area.
Cults Academy
Serving the Lower Deeside community, Cults Academy is a 6 year comprehensive secondary with just over 1000 pupils on roll. Some notable alumni include Scotland rugby union captain Jason White, a former Miss Scotland and Darren Ferguson, the current manager of Peterborough United. Having previously won the Sunday Times Scottish State Secondary School of the Year award due to its impressive exam results, the largest high school in Aberdeen has an excellent reputation and consistently high levels of achievement.
Mearns Castle High School
The fifth highest performing high school in Scotland is also located in East Renfrewshire, just 7 miles from Glasgow. Built during the 1970s, Mearns Castle High School consistently finds a place in Scotland’s top 5% of schools thanks to the high marks that are achieved every year by its pupils. With a pupil roll of around 1300 children, Mearns Castle High School has earned a strong reputation locally and provides an excellent level of education for its pupils, many of whom go on to great things, with notable alumni including sculptor David J Mitchell and paralympian swimmer Andrew Mullen.