GLASGOW is narrowing the attainment gap between the city's wealthiest and most deprived pupils.
Latest exam result figures - collated by the Evening Times today into league tables - show results are on the up.
This year, 14 out of 30 of the city's secondaries met or exceeded their benchmarks, up from 12 last year.
The "virtual comparator" - a 'benchmark' decided by Education Scotland to help measure how a school is performing - gives an idea of how many pupils should be achieving Highers.
EXAM TABLES: All change in East Renfrewshire - also see how Renfrewshire schools fared
At the top of the table this year is Glasgow Gaelic School followed by Hyndland Secondary and Notre Dame high schools.
This shows no change from last year.
Councillor Chris Cunningham, City Convener for Education, Skills and Early Years, said: "Our young people have once again raised the bar and are achieving more qualifications than ever before.
READ MORE: North and South Lanarkshire exam tables - see where your kid's school placed
"This is on top of our highest ever positive destination figures in the city published recently – and almost 40 per cent of Glasgow’s pupils now going to higher education."
In previous years the bottom of the league table has seen schools achieving single figures in percentage of pupils earning three or more Highers.
But now the lower end of the table is routinely in double digits - this year at 17 per cent.
In 2015 Lochend Community High had just nine per cent of pupils achieving three or more Highers; this year that figure is 17 per cent.
Drumchapel High School has gone from 19 per cent last year to 25 per cent this year.
To give an idea of the level of deprivation in a school we use the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) level one figures, which indicate the percentage of pupils from the most deprived postcodes.
So, for example, St Paul's High School in Pollok has 89 per cent of pupils in SIMD1 while Strathaven Academy in South Lanarkshire has none.
While Glasgow Gaelic School tops the league table with 80 per cent of school leavers gaining three plus Highers, it has just 15 per cent of pupils from SIMD1 - the lowest in the city.
St Andrew's Secondary made it in to the top 10 schools, despite having 75 per cent of its pupils coming from SIMD1.
READ MORE: See the exam tables for South, North and East Ayrshire schools
Last year Smithycroft Secondary saw 23 per cent of pupils gain three or more Highers while this year that figure rose by an impressive 15 percentage points to 38 per cent.
Drumchapel High School was at the bottom of the league table for two years running but this year has lifted itself to fourth from the bottom.
St Mungo's Academy has also had a stellar result, lifting from joint last on the league table in 2018 with 19 per cent of pupils gaining three or more Highers to 32 per cent this year.
It is now ninth from the bottom.
Mr Cunningham added: “The improvements in the learning and teaching in our schools over the last 10 years are nothing short of remarkable and our recent Education Scotland inspection report is proof of these achievements.
“Glasgow received an excellent rating in improving learning, raising attainment and achievement across the city and making excellent progress in closing the national poverty related attainment gap.
SEE MORE: School exam tables for East and West Dunbartonshire revealed
"This is what’s important and what we will continue to concentrate our efforts on to make sure our children get the best possible start in life."
Glasgow has this year also seen the highest ever positive destination figures in the city, with numbers published recently showing 92.3 per cent going on to positive destinations.
Across Scotland, secondary schools from East Renfrewshire dominated the league tables, taking three of the top five spots.
While Williamwood and St Ninian's usually vye for first place in the local authority, this year Mearns Castle took first place.
Figures show Mearns Castle has just two per cent of school leavers from SIMD1 while Williamwood, which fell from first place to third, this year has five per cent of school leavers from SIMD1 while last year it had none.
Paul O’Kane, East Renfrewshire Council’s education convener, said the performance of schools such as St Ninian’s High and Mearns Castle continued to go from strength to strength.
He said: “The latest figures are a result of the hard work and dedication put in by all our staff, pupils and their supportive parents.
"To have so many schools at the top is an outstanding achievement, with all our other schools also maintaining or building on their excellent performance."
Glasgow state schools that feature in the top 100 table from across Scotland include the Glasgow Gaelic School, which came tenth, Hyndland Secondary, which came 32nd, and Notre Dame High School, which came 40th.
For all your breaking Glasgow news, click here, or head to our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel