Glasgow's Jordanhill School named best in Scotland
(Image: Image of Jordanhill School in Glasgow) Jordanhill School, in the West End of the city, has taken home the top spot for the eighth year in a row.
The school, which is directly funded by the Scottish Government and is independently governed, as opposed to other schools which are funded by councils, surpassed its closest rival by 10 points and achieved a record 94 per cent of gold standard students in 2025 - according to The Scottish Sun.
Schools in East Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire nabbed 10 spots within the top 20 list, with Strathaven Academy in South Lanarkshire coming 20th on the list.
Mearns Castle High School in East Renfrewshire came second and Woodfarm High School in East Renfrewshire came in at third.
The attainment gap between the country's richest and poorest pupils remains wide.
For example, Drumchapel High sits at 334th place, just two miles from Bearsden Academy, where 78 per cent of students attained the gold standard.
Keir Bloomer, chair of the Commission on School Reform think tank, said: 'Scotland needs to focus on raising standards for all, rather than simply on narrowing the attainment gap.
'In any case, tables such as this say nothing about the gap or, indeed, the quality of schools.
'They simply confirm the huge impact of socioeconomic circumstances on attainment.
'Jordanhill may or may not be a better school than Wester Hailes but it certainly has a more privileged intake. It does benefit from the freedom of action that its form of governance allows and we need to look again at the way that schools are run. This includes ensuring that smaller and less affluent schools get the support they require.'
A Scottish government spokesman added: 'The Scottish government is providing direct investment in Scotland's education system and is providing £4.3 billion in this year's budget. This includes continued funding in the £1 billion Scottish Attainment Challenge as part of our key priority to close the poverty-related attainment gap.
'As a result of sustained investment, Scotland has record level of literacy and numeracy in schools, the lowest attainment gap since records began for literacy in primary schools and record number of young people entering work, training, college and university.'
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