Secondary School Survey Scotland 2022

Secondary School Survey Scotland 2022

Scotland’s Secondary School League Tables 2022

There is an updated version of this post based on new data based on  2023-23 exam results which were published early 2024:  Scotland’s Secondary School League Tables

Scotland’s secondary schools ranked according to pupil attainment in the higher examinations for school year 2020-21.  Schools were ranked based on the number of students gaining a pass in five or more highers, the gold standard measure according to the Scottish Government’s education department (Education Scotland).  For full methodology see below.  Data was obtained for 346 secondary schools.  Of there 81 schools had 50% or more of their pupils achieving passes in five or more highers and 15 schools had 70% or more pupils reaching this gold standard.  In contrast, only 19 schools had less than 20% of pupils obtaining 5 or more higher awards representing 3.7% of the total school roll.  A table containing schools’ results for six years which can be downloaded is at the bottom of the page.

Contents:

 

Catchment Area Map Showing Rank Bands and School Locations

Catchment areas

Catchment areas are shown for local authority non-denominational schools only.  Scotland’s best performing schools (band 1 the top 20% by Rank) are located in areas coloured in dark green and the lowest attainment schools (band 5 the bottom 20% by Rank) in deep purple areas (Figure 1). The hover tool within the area gives the names of schools associated with each area, their ranks and the percentage of pupils awarded 5 or more highers.

Notes on School Catchment Areas
Some local authorities do not make schools’ catchment areas available (areas on the map that are not coloured) and the catchment areas for catholic schools are not available.  Catchment areas for the outer Hebrides, Orkney or Shetland Isles are complicated because of local arrangements whereby a number of island primary schools feed into secondary schools offering S1 and S4 year groups before moving on to “mainland” schools offering S5 and S6 year groups.  Orange zones depict areas where there is no direct link between the location and a specific school, i.e. where pupils have a choice of secondary school or where the secondary school accommodates pupils until stage S4 and they then move on to another secondary school to study for highers.

School Locations

Individual schools are shown on the map black circles (red for catholic schools).  If you click on the school marker a pop-up will appear with additional information: the school name, 2022 rank, percent attaining 5 highers or more, school roll,  number of FTE teachers and the school address.

Navigation

  • The bands are in layers (openstreetmap box) and each attainment band can be selected individually using the check boxes.
  • Zoom in to an area using the +/- button
  • Drag the map to move around when zooming.  Drag down to see Shetland

Figure 1: Catchment Area Map Showing Rank Bands and School Locations


 

Schools That Have Improved Substantially Over Five Years

A number of secondary schools have improved their ranking over the previous five years and deserve mention.  Table 1 shows schools that have improved their ranking by 100 or more positions since 2015-2016.

 

 

Table 1: schools that have improved their rank by 100 or more over the previous five years
Table 1: Schools that have improved their rank by 100 or more over the previous five years

Performance Over Five Years By Local Authority

Schools are managed by Local Authorities at the local level.  In order to determine any relationship between the Local Authority and school performance the five year movement in Rank was calculated for each school and used to determine the average movement within a Local Authority.  The results are shown in Table 2.  Fourteen LAs showed a five year improvement.  Shetland Islands (91) achieved the highest five year average movement, albeit based on only two schools, followed by Renfrewshire, West Lothian and Glasgow City (72, 70 and 36 respectively).

Table 2: Local Authority secondary school performance over previous five years
Table 2: Local Authority secondary school performance over previous five years

Impact of Deprivation on Pupil Attainment

Deprivation in a school’s catchment area has impact on the overall performance (in terms of the percentage of pupils achieving passes in five or more highers) and this was analysed using the 2022 data.  The Scottish Government publishes data showing the percentage of pupils from the most deprived areas (SIMD analysis 20% most deprived areas) and these were crossmatched with the schools’ rank bins used in this web page.  Figure 2 shows the results of the analysis.  In the chart the x axis (categories) shows each of the school ranking split into bins.  Each bin represents 69 schools except bin 1 which has 70 schools.  The y axis shows the percentage of pupils resident in one of 20% most deprived areas (in 5% increments).  The size of the dot depicts the number of schools for each deprivation increment. Note that deprivation score of * represents a school where the percentage of pupils from deprived areas is not given.  This is usually because of low numbers and is an approach commonly taken with official data to preserve the anonymity of individuals where the data arises from low numbers.  There is a clear pattern whereby the highest achieving schools (Bin_1) are populated by pupils predominately from the least deprived areas (note cluster for Bin_1 mainly around the lowest percentages for deprived SIMD 2020 zones, ) and, in contrast,  poorer performing schools have greater percentage of pupils coming from more deprived areas (see school attainment Bin_5 which shows a wide spread of data including many schools with high percentage of pupils from deprived zones).

Fig 2: Impact of deprivation within catchment area on a school's pupil attainment
Figure 2: Impact of deprivation within catchment area on a school’s pupil attainment – 2022

 


 

Performance Table for all Secondary Schools:  Six Years’ Data

Download performance table for all secondary schools

Table 3: Performance over six years

Rank
20202021		 Schoolname % 5 And Above
20202021		 Rank
20152016		 Rank
20162017		 Rank
20172018		 Rank
20182019		 Rank
20192020
1 Jordanhill School 91 1 1 1 1 1
2 Bearsden Academy 81 8 8 8 5 6
3 St Ninian's High School 78 2 2 3 4 3
4 Cults Academy 78 4 7 18 15 8
5 Williamwood High School 77 3 3 5 9 7
6 Glasgow Gaelic School 76 16 6 10 8 19
7 Dunblane High School 75 15 11 2 3 4
8 Gryffe High School 74 6 12 7 10 2
9 Boclair Academy 73 19 15 11 31 28
10 Bishopbriggs Academy 73 11 9 12 11 10
11 Woodfarm High School 73 17 17 28 17 31
12 Boroughmuir High School 73 7 4 6 6 9
13 Eastwood High School 71 23 22 32 14 17
14 The Royal High School 70 24 73 36 41 35
15 Mearns Castle High School 70 5 5 4 2 5
16 Douglas Academy 69 10 10 9 7 14
17 Lenzie Academy 68 28 16 17 16 13
18 Turnbull High School 67 22 21 26 19 21
19 North Berwick High School 66 18 14 30 13 39
20 Linlithgow Academy 65 9 26 21 23 11
21 The James Young High School 65 61 68 78 26 18
22 St Thomas Of Aquin's High School 65 37 38 100 20 44
23 Hyndland Secondary School 64 42 25 33 27 43
24 Balfron High School 64 12 13 13 21 20
25 Banchory Academy 64 30 18 14 18 41
26 Braes High School 62 151 103 141 91 62
27 Currie Community High School 62 73 57 35 72 51
28 Firrhill High School 62 55 107 49 35 32
29 Monifieth High School 62 64 30 40 57 50
30 Madras College 62 50 89 61 39 86
31 James Gillespie's High School 62 13 19 50 12 15
32 Strathaven Academy 61 25 41 15 22 30
33 Aberdeen Grammar School 61 14 24 16 36 22
34 Glen Urquhart High School 61 46 29 158 101 27
35 Notre Dame High School 60 89 59 39 34 25
36 Peebles High School 60 20 28 20 67 40
37 Balerno Community High School 60 41 80 34 37 56
38 St Margaret's Academy 59 65 67 52 43 24
39 Earlston High School 59 43 91 47 29 16
40 Largs Academy 58 29 32 59 61 23
41 West Calder High School 57 109 170 51 24 12
42 Tarbert Academy 57 153 180 42 214 38
43 Moffat Academy 57 35 20 229 30 26
44 Kinross High School 57 63 37 86 60 79
45 Armadale Academy 56 190 171 170 148 89
46 Dalziel High School 56 53 49 25 47 47
47 Kirkintilloch High School 56 219 92 22 179 161
48 St Ninian's High School 56 31 84 82 25 48
49 Grove Academy 56 36 86 74 59 66
50 Broxburn Academy 55 75 133 67 68 210
51 Trinity High School 55 225 129 130 132 94
52 The Community School of Auchterarder 55 91 136 58 78 52
53 Dunbar Grammar School 55 94 82 91 75 80
54 Knox Academy 55 59 74 65 98 120
55 Mallaig High School 55 265 33 283 76 55
56 Whitburn Academy 54 96 220 121 46 82
57 Paisley Grammar School 54 92 200 105 114 68
58 Kelso High School 54 112 47 162 215 272
59 Webster's High School 54 71 85 124 150 113
60 Mearns Academy 54 148 144 54 136 132
61 Our Lady's High School - Cumbernauld 53 39 27 37 54 45
62 St Kentigern's Academy 53 231 188 97 71 69
63 St Andrew's and St Bride's High School 53 78 53 29 84 49
64 Breadalbane Academy 53 93 63 137 85 101
65 Craigmount High School 53 82 55 41 62 65
66 Wallace Hall Academy 52 27 196 72 48 53
67 Marr College 52 84 39 104 55 33
68 Westhill Academy 52 72 50 24 134 29
69 St Joseph's College 52 50 96 134 44 34
70 Alford Academy 52 33 48 98 111 105
71 Ullapool High School 52 97 168 77 106 160
72 Inveralmond Community High School 51 137 99 110 50 61
73 Larbert High School 51 79 76 69 56 107
74 Shawlands Academy 51 209 187 154 115 205
75 Hermitage Academy 51 62 62 62 52 87
76 St Benedict's High School 50 261 126 288 181 108
77 Prestwick Academy 50 118 52 89 69 95
78 Biggar High School 50 40 71 99 45 182
79 St Maurice's High School 50 142 77 64 51 42
80 Arran High School 50 127 31 112 92 196
81 Duncanrig Secondary School 50 152 114 119 73 103
82 St Matthew's Academy 49 222 201 183 165 164
83 Gleniffer High School 49 173 152 131 86 133
84 McLaren High School 49 37 23 23 40 70
85 Stirling High School 49 69 97 115 126 93
86 Holy Cross High School 49 100 56 84 28 77
87 Chryston High School 48 136 147 211 129 117
88 Perth High School 48 80 137 106 95 74
89 Dyce Academy 48 270 118 279 175 184
90 St Mungo's RC High School 48 122 131 68 77 111
91 Queen Margaret Academy 47 216 124 116 66 106
92 Kyle Academy 47 48 35 56 58 58
93 Inverurie Academy 47 198 113 197 264 135
94 Calderglen High School 47 111 134 200 139 90
95 Millburn Academy 47 47 75 79 103 145
96 Aboyne Academy 47 44 110 57 49 37
97 Ellon Academy 47 85 161 108 183 98
98 Hamilton Grammar School 47 180 60 83 81 200
99 Anderson High School 46 77 87 94 74 81
100 Crieff High School 46 104 143 95 200 59
101 Inverkeithing High School 46 67 83 70 90 142
102 Fortrose Academy 46 26 34 135 33 75
103 Kemnay Academy 46 171 190 45 94 129
104 Bathgate Academy 45 227 127 181 166 67
105 Clydeview Academy 45 32 36 38 32 64
106 Stonelaw High School 45 135 202 148 279 178
107 Queensferry Community High School 45 146 104 46 118 116
108 Cardinal Newman High School 45 147 185 87 112 85
109 Belmont Academy 45 70 78 103 143 97
110 Portobello High School 45 140 112 169 109 144
111 Mackie Academy 45 49 69 31 96 73
112 Gairloch High School 45 285 285 76 213 223
113 Deans Community High School 44 197 198 167 89 122
114 St Thomas Aquinas Secondary School 44 128 155 96 42 139
115 Lanark Grammar School 44 125 186 140 152 188
116 St Margaret's High School 44 138 146 133 203 214
117 Johnstone High School 44 204 213 174 272 217
118 Milne's High School 44 177 215 93 178 78
119 Woodmill High School 44 223 243 151 83 191
120 St Luke's High School 44 21 44 44 38 71
121 Lasswade High School Centre 43 220 195 85 79 84
122 Renfrew High School 43 210 111 187 108 204
123 Greenfaulds High School 43 103 159 100 120 100
124 Oban High School 43 166 135 244 237 123
125 St John Ogilvie High School 43 144 191 136 65 151
126 Culloden Academy 43 120 81 73 116 193
127 Tain Royal Academy 43 154 221 132 287 240
128 Barrhead High School 43 189 183 178 82 46
129 Dunfermline High School 42 131 109 155 133 189
130 Carrick Academy 42 99 169 241 258 150
131 Holyrood Secondary School 42 161 199 81 171 140
132 Park Mains High School 42 181 105 92 173 126
133 Waid Academy 42 113 130 176 110 121
134 Dumfries High School 42 98 154 172 208 155
135 St Andrew's Academy 42 194 125 186 146 152
136 Balwearie High School 42 88 138 149 104 156
137 Cathkin High School 42 211 234 190 145 173
138 Airdrie Academy 42 165 236 250 147 237
139 Kirkcudbright Academy 42 83 64 212 88 294
140 Brae High School 41 344 156 274 131 341
141 St Ambrose High School 41 66 43 88 70 76
142 Castlehead High School 41 184 160 179 216 312
143 Lourdes Secondary School 41 280 240 219 242 185
144 St John's RC Academy 41 274 241 205 123 118
145 Oldmachar Academy 41 68 40 27 209 72
146 Hillhead High School 41 76 120 185 102 109
147 Portlethen Academy 41 182 102 156 189 112
148 Broughton High School 41 215 261 198 260 130
149 Kirkwall Grammar School 41 207 121 225 170 218
150 Falkirk High School 41 206 248 160 163 213
151 Taylor High School 41 187 206 125 87 92
152 Trinity Academy 41 174 209 161 53 63
153 Meldrum Academy 41 106 208 113 135 128
154 Montrose Academy 41 150 172 206 248 298
155 John Paul Academy 40 307 288 252 266 225
156 Glenwood High School 40 249 303 299 335 165
157 Wallace High School 40 178 116 60 64 88
158 Carluke High School 40 232 192 203 241 247
159 Denny High School 40 202 230 202 263 267
160 Kingussie High School 40 279 51 146 188 174
161 Harris Academy 40 54 174 235 121 131
162 Berwickshire High School 40 157 95 142 180 187
163 Lossiemouth High School 40 230 149 216 304 252
164 Cumbernauld Academy 40 114 164 109 122 154
165 The Nicolson Institute 40 74 90 224 141 186
166 Lockerbie Academy 40 195 228 263 157 208
167 Penicuik High School 40 60 284 222 137 229
168 Dornoch Academy 39 90 54 171 286 148
169 Dumfries Academy 39 247 100 117 130 224
170 Liberton High School 39 291 264 315 232 313
171 Sgoil Lionacleit 39 117 235 257 228 83
172 King's Park Secondary School 39 213 254 152 153 243
173 St Columba's High School 39 110 132 80 107 143
174 Our Lady & St Patrick's High School 39 167 61 90 63 180
175 Notre Dame High School 39 119 158 107 144 190
176 Castle Douglas High School 39 52 98 237 117 137
177 Bucksburn Academy 39 239 225 262 269 124
178 Perth Academy 39 129 128 147 113 219
179 Bell Baxter High School 39 116 217 126 172 158
180 Eyemouth High School 39 267 251 272 227 288
181 Ardnamurchan High School 38 107 65 342 338 54
182 St Andrew's Secondary School 38 191 163 128 191 254
183 Ayr Academy 38 260 335 324 329 319
184 Bellahouston Academy 38 234 255 248 234 220
185 Graeme High School 38 126 182 123 100 167
186 Grantown Grammar School 38 250 79 111 138 127
187 The Gordon Schools 38 132 242 189 225 268
188 Elgin Academy 38 123 117 48 187 181
189 Uddingston Grammar School 38 169 153 102 140 115
190 Stewarton Academy 38 57 108 63 105 198
191 St Aidan's High School 38 168 145 129 159 110
192 Bridge Of Don Academy 38 133 72 207 193 146
193 Forres Academy 38 81 105 227 156 169
194 Selkirk High School 38 203 214 114 158 192
195 Kinlochleven High School 38 344 266 283 229 263
196 Larkhall Academy 37 240 259 233 291 114
197 Lochaber High School 37 257 274 217 196 308
198 Loudoun Academy 37 102 94 177 155 216
199 St Stephen's High School 37 270 245 273 290 273
200 Grange Academy 37 163 216 122 204 256
201 St Joseph's Academy 37 243 250 236 238 171
202 Our Lady's High School - Motherwell 37 121 222 71 151 99
203 St Modan's High School 37 193 194 281 119 141
204 Plockton High School 37 86 139 55 97 125
205 St David's RC High School 36 164 223 144 246 233
206 Brechin High School 36 256 282 291 292 319
207 Glenrothes High School 36 221 269 159 220 285
208 Stromness Academy 36 204 42 75 201 194
209 Musselburgh Grammar School 36 183 218 193 124 245
210 Bo'ness Academy 36 192 193 245 184 197
211 Ross High School 36 228 226 277 224 287
212 Knightswood Secondary School 36 324 294 312 283 286
213 Golspie High School 36 248 325 209 284 138
214 Alloa Academy 36 299 258 264 271 314
215 Charleston Academy 36 179 207 145 160 104
216 Sir E Scott School 36 56 45 66 80 36
217 Coltness High School 35 269 229 221 220 226
218 Dalbeattie High School 35 45 179 53 93 91
219 Drumchapel High School 35 339 340 327 328 284
220 Queen Anne High School 35 156 142 195 162 209
221 Leith Academy 35 301 247 282 235 231
222 Bannockburn High School 34 286 293 302 262 238
223 Preston Lodge High School 34 233 289 253 316 295
224 Beeslack Community High School 34 115 122 191 149 172
225 Kilwinning Academy 34 308 173 163 239 241
226 Mintlaw Academy 34 229 212 276 252 227
227 Thurso High School 34 240 277 180 300 175
228 Auchenharvie Academy 34 322 306 222 323 195
229 Alva Academy 34 101 227 175 125 177
230 Kilmarnock Academy 34 142 249
231 Greenwood Academy 34 254 204 199 285 202
232 St Augustine's High School 34 245 239 295 205 176
233 Dunoon Grammar School 34 176 203 165 182 119
234 Jedburgh Grammar School 34 263 260 297 275 170
235 Harlaw Academy 34 244 296 210 270 159
236 Caldervale High School 33 277 166 265 245 271
237 Clydebank High School 33 160 210 270 267 228
238 Girvan Academy 33 130 181 286 164 297
239 Coatbridge High School 33 278 291 231 244 265
240 Kilsyth Academy 33 196 157 173 256 136
241 Bannerman High School 33 198 184 166 168 96
242 St Peter the Apostle High School 33 149 189 208 236 215
243 Lesmahagow High School 33 201 119 164 212 248
244 Portree High School 33 242 148 304 293 57
245 Islay High School 33 105 123 259 127 147
246 Buckie High School 33 302 276 269 280 307
247 Langholm Academy 32 185 58 19 211 102
248 Castlemilk High School 32 306 318 249 282 201
249 All Saints Secondary School 32 300 317 309 281 242
250 Inverclyde Academy 32 328 244 310 198 230
251 St Andrew's High School 32 252 151 232 222 199
252 Galashiels Academy 32 251 70 138 251 157
253 Grangemouth High School 32 237 272 234 176 277
254 Brannock High School 32 320 265 279 243 235
255 Vale Of Leven Academy 32 276 224 277 302 250
256 Arbroath High School 32 155 219 196 202 207
257 Blairgowrie High School 32 141 299 188 185 168
258 Tynecastle High School 32 317 305 300 273 306
259 Holy Rood RC High School 31 214 256 218 128 163
260 Hawick High School 31 275 231 306 299 300
261 Douglas Ewart High School 31 145 115 255 219 246
262 Inverness Royal Academy 31 95 141 150 174 134
263 Port Glasgow High School 31 309 304 225 194 162
264 Alness Academy 31 255 323 330 313 257
265 Drummond Community High School 31 294 313 214 261 261
266 Garnock Community Campus 31 172 176 192 250 222
267 Carnoustie High School 31 272 211 139 199 234
268 St Mungo's Academy 30 327 338 321 231 211
269 Kirkcaldy High School 30 238 292 242 192 264
270 Hillpark Secondary School 30 281 308 254 301 280
271 Annan Academy 30 287 232 239 226 281
272 Trinity High School 30 175 140 153 197 221
273 Tobermory High School 30 34 46 120 99 60
274 Arbroath Academy 29 217 287 287 265 305
275 Rosshall Academy 29 292 267 246 218 283
276 Bellshill Academy 29 296 298 228 217 302
277 St Andrew's R C High School 29 236 273 157 268 270
278 Forrester High School 29 335 311 307 296 322
279 Banff Academy 29 312 263 168 223 278
280 Campbeltown Grammar School 29 218 249 268 255 335
281 Morgan Academy 29 298 246 311 289 291
282 Dumbarton Academy 28 124 178 182 161 236
283 Keith Grammar School 28 326 279 194 169 299
284 Lochgelly High School 28 293 329 285 322 289
285 Hazlehead Academy 28 134 271 213 190 153
286 Whitehill Secondary School 28 338 300 271 206 251
287 Robert Burns Academy 28
288 Forfar Academy 28 187 150 256 305 260
289 Wick High School 28 289 281 305 288 279
290 Doon Academy 27 305 326 247 312 255
291 Stranraer Academy 27 253 238 266 310 269
292 Calderside Academy 27 258 197 261 259 296
293 Craigroyston Community High School 27 341 342 336 326 340
294 Dingwall Academy 27 162 275 204 249 182
295 Elgin High School 27 226 290 220 278 179
296 Nairn Academy 27 87 167 118 186 206
297 Fraserburgh Academy 27 284 257 289 254 239
298 Smithycroft Secondary School 26 334 341 292 319 316
299 Cleveden Secondary School 26 259 306 275 233 244
300 St John's RC High School 26 200 177 230 207 212
301 Invergordon Academy 26 139 268 296 253 232
302 Rothesay Academy 26 282 279 293 210 325
303 St Columba's R C High School 26 170 310 215 307 266
304 Calderhead High School 26 266 233 320 315 303
305 Newbattle High School 25 336 321 314 334 310
306 Ardrossan Academy 25 235 252 317 297 317
307 St Roch's Secondary School 25 304 270 294 257 315
308 Viewforth High School 25 321 162 322 195 328
309 Peterhead Academy 25 315 324 251 303 321
310 Sanquhar Academy 24 313 278 297 177 318
311 St Margaret Mary's Secondary School 24 344 335 342 321 274
311 Govan High School 24 332 332 333 298 337
313 Turriff Academy 24 224 315 201 276 309
314 St Machar Academy 24 331 320 323 311 262
315 Speyside High School 24 208 88 301 154 166
316 Braidhurst High School 24 212 302 335 306 323
317 Lornshill Academy 24 283 301 303 308 304
318 Baldragon Academy 24 246 328 331 327 275
319 Lochend Community High School 23 343 333 339 337 336
320 Auchmuty High School 23 186 283 184 240 293
321 Irvine Royal Academy 23 294 253 260 330 326
322 Eastbank Academy 22 329 314 319 314 329
323 Perth Grammar School 22 273 205 240 274 258
324 Lochgilphead High School 22 58 165 238 295 203
325 Springburn Academy 20 319 295 326 320 301
326 Dalkeith High School 20 159 101 143 230 149
327 Gracemount High School 20 317 327 332 324 327
328 Linwood High School 19 313 316 313 318 334
329 Clyde Valley High School 19 290 322 290 294 276
330 Craigie High School 19 311 309 316 325 331
331 Levenmouth Academy 18 331 325 332 330
332 St Paul's RC Academy 18 303 237 308 309 282
333 Beath High School 17 288 297 334 277 290
334 Wester Hailes High School 14 337 337 339 338 338
335 Lochside Academy 14 333 311
336 St Paul's High School 14 330 339 318 317 324
337 North West Community Campus 13 338 341
338 Inverness High School 12 323 330 337 336 332
339 Braeview Academy 11 340 334 329 330 333
340 Northfield Academy 7 341 343 341 338 339
341 Farr High School 0 158 65 342 338 253
341 Castlebay School 0 344 344 43 338 341
341 Castlebrae Community High School 0 344 344 342 338 341
341 Kinlochbervie High School 0 344 344 342 338 341
341 Kilchuimen Academy 0 344 344 342 338 341
341 Tiree High School 0 344

Discussion

There is much controversy concerning the publication of school rankings.  Indeed, the Scottish Government goes out of its way to state that it does not provide ranking or league tables for schools, yet, they publish comprehensive data that with minimum manipulation provides this information.  However, the data is provided on an obscure website in a format that is not readily accessible for anyone not skilled in data manipulation.

Teachers and teaching professionals do not like schools to be compared and maybe for some valid reasons.  Nevertheless, in the absence of any viable alternative measure, ranking schools provides parents with a source of information about the academic environment that a pupil may be immersed in and of the academic achievement of pupils in that school. Also, since the topic is covered extensively every year in the Scottish press and is poured over by parents, this website is not revealing anything that is a secret.  The press, with the exception of the Times, follow a lazy approach in that they just repeat the data published by the Times. There are minor differences in the ranks between this site and The Times.  However, in the absence of details from The Times it is not clear how they differentiated schools with the same percentage of pupils obtaining 5 or more passes.

A number of commercial “Education Information” websites provide information such as catchment areas and rankings.  Most of these temp parents on to the site advertising schools information only to find out that you have to subscribe to obtain the data.  This datamap-scotland is non-commercial, without adverts and makes all its information available for free.

Notes on Rankings

  • A ranking based on exam results for any particular year is simply that.  It does not inform on a school’s educational performance or improvement/decline since a school could perform better from the previous year yet still fall down the rankings because other schools had better exam results.  It does not inform on the quality of teaching – a better method would be to asses pupils throughout their education and measure individual pupil improvement – say from starting secondary education and at various stages throughout.
  • The ranking for the past two years (2020-2021 and2019-2020) have been impacted by Covid-19 and results were based on schools assessments of pupils’ likely attainment.
  • The school roll used to assess the percentage passes is based on the end of year S4 cohort.  This may disadvantage some schools where greater numbers than average leave after year S4 to take up employment/apprenticeships.

 

Sources and Methods

Schools – Breadth and Depth of Qualifications
https://statistics.gov.scot/data/breadth-and-depth data for years 2015-16 to 2020-21

School Roll Data
https://data.gov.uk/dataset/9a6f9d86-9698-4a5d-a2c8-89f3b212c52c/scottish-school-roll-and-locations

 

Scottish Secondary School Catchment Areas
The catchment areas on this map were provided by Scottish Spatial Hub following a freedom of information request
https://www.spatialhub.scot.
Includes material derived from OS under Open Government Licence
OS data © Crown copyright 2020

Using the Breadth and Depth of Qualifications data for 2020-21 schools were ranked according to percentage of pupils attaining five or more highers passes.  Where schools had the same percentage at that level, the number of pupils obtaining six or more passes was used to differentiate between schools (and seven or more passes where necessary).

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