These are the best performing state high schools in East Renfrewshire, according to the latest data available.
Each school has been measured on the percentage of pupils who received the Scottish Government’s educational “gold standard” of five Highers, or their equivalent, in 2023 – based on data published by the Scottish Government on its own website.
The top performing school in East Renfrewshire this year in terms of academic attainment was Mearns Castle High School - which was ranked as the third best performing school in Scotland. Three other secondary schools in East Renfrewshire completed the top 10 list for the country with St Ninian’s High School, Woodfarm High School and Williamwood High School all being ranked within the top 10 best schools in Scotland making it the local authority with the most top performing schools with a total of six in the top 20.
These Higher result tables do not reflect schools or rank them in terms of ‘best to worst’ as that would fail to take into account factors such as the support offered to children with complex needs, the effort and quality of the teaching staff, working conditions for said staff, quality of the student experience, the funding the school receives from East Renfrewshire Council, or whether or not the school is serving an underprivileged and disadvantaged area within the local authority.
Throughout our coverage, we use ‘Highers’ as a term to mean both Highers and equivalent qualifications at SCQF level 6 and above, such as Skills for Work Higher awards.
You can find the full list of Glasgow secondary school rankings here.
1. Mearns Castle High School
Mearns Castle High School in Newton Mearns has a success rate of 80% of pupils achieving at least five Higher exams. They rank as the third best performing secondary school in Scotland. Photo: Google Maps
2. St Ninian's High School
The second high-achieving East Renfrewshire secondary school is St Ninian's High School in Giffnock. A total of 79% of pupils get at least five Highers. They were the fourth best performing school in Scotland.
3. Woodfarm High School
Ranked as the seventh best performing school in Scotland, Woodfarm High School has a 73% success rate when it comes to pupils gaining five Highers or more. Photo: Google Maps
4. Williamwood High School
Just behind Woodfarm High School is Williamwood High School who also had a success rate of 73% of pupils gaining at least five Higher qualifications. Williamwood High School were the eighth best performing secondary school in Scotland.