Bishopbriggs Academy has been named Scotland’s state secondary school of the decade after "exceptional" leadership, top quality teaching and high academic standards helped fuel a rapid rise up the rankings.
The East Dunbartonshire school is honoured in the latest Parent Power/Sunday Times Guide.
It has been placed tenth in the Scottish state secondary list based on pre-pandemic course results for 2018 and 2019. Success comes after the school broke into the top 50 as recently as 2011.
Jordanhill in Glasgow is first, with St Ninian’s in Giffnock and Edinburgh's Boroughmuir making up the top three.
Bishopbriggs Academy - a non-denominational comprehensive formed in 2006 through the merger of Bishopbriggs and Thomas Muir high schools – was previously named Sunday Times state secondary of the year in 2014/15 and 2017/18.
Parent Power editor Alastair McCall said: “Few schools have come so far in the past decade as Bishopbriggs Academy.
“From not even ranking in our top 50 state secondary schools in 2010 to a seat at the top table now. It is a remarkable journey.
“The school leadership in that time has been exceptional, bringing to bear a vision of how good the school can be through encouraging children to participate and succeed in all areas of school life, not just in the examination hall.
“Academic standards are high and are fuelled by great teaching. Our School of the Decade award recognises both these achievements and the wider encouragement of children to make a difference in everything they do. It is a combination that makes a place at Bishopbriggs something to be prized.”
Schools located in, near or around Glasgow dominate the Scottish state secondary top 10. By contrast, no fewer than five Edinburgh schools feature in the independent sector top 10 based on 2019 results for courses such as Highers, Advanced Highers and National 5s. George Heriot’s School in the capital is number one.
Only establishments that published outcomes or disclosed them to The Sunday Times appear in the latest edition of Parent Power. In total, around 1,700 schools were included. Results from 2020 and 2021 - which saw conventional exams cancelled due to Covid-19 - did not influence the guide.
Mr McCall said: “The need for clarity about school examination performance has never been greater after two years of teacher assessed grades, during which for completely understandable reasons, the numbers of top grades increased dramatically.
“We felt it was important to go back to the last sets of moderated public examination outcomes from 2019, 2018 and 2017 to get the most accurate and current view of school academic achievement. By taking a three-year average, we mitigated against relatively poor performance in a one-off year.
“At a time when some schools are making it hard for parents to substantiate claims of academic prowess based on outcomes from 2021 and 2020, we believe these rankings – and all the additional information on offer in Parent Power – provide parents with a more reliable guide to academic achievement in schools today.”
More information about the Parent Power/Sunday Times Schools Guide is available here.
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