North Lanarkshire Primary Schools ranked 2023: Top 30 primary schools in North Lanarkshire as named by The Sunday Times

The best performing primary schools in North Lanarkshire (as well as the whole of Scotland) for 2023 have been ranked, listed, and released by the Sunday Times at the end of last month.

One fifth (4/20) of the primary schools featured in the top 20 in Scotland are from North Lanarkshire - with four schools making the coveted list released by The Sunday Times.

Three schools from Inverclyde also feature in the top 20 of The Sunday Times Primary School League Table 2023 - while a Paisley school is the highest ranked primary school across all of Scotland.

The schools were ranked on four key areas reading, writing, numeracy, listening and talking. Sixty-three schools from more than 1,200 that submitted data scored top marks (400) across all indicators.

Each primary school was given a score out of 400 drawing together the percentage of pupils up to standard in each comparable metric.

Many of the schools featured in the top 30 of North Lanarkshire are from socially deprived areas, making their placement on the list all the more impressive.

Wishaw Academy, was one of the economically challenged school that scored top marks (400), despite 60 per cent of pupils being deemed ‘very deprived.’

Most of Wishaw has a similar socioeconomic profile to Gallowhill, with low incomes and high rates of crime, unemployment and ill health.

North Lanarkshire generally punches above its economic weight, with five top-performing schools, which include St Aidan’s, Dykehead, St Patrick’s and St Joseph’s.

St Aidan’s came third in the High School League Table 2023, as 30 per cent of pupils are very deprived, and it scored an admirable 370 points in 2021, pushing it up the league.

This list does not definitively rank the primary schools of North Lanarkshire as ‘best to worst’ - as that would fail to take into numerous social, financial, and other factors that come into the overall qualiy of education.

GlasgowWorld launched our own league of Scottish High Schools last month, you can find the article featuring the best performing high schools in Glasgow in terms of academic attainment here.

You can also check out the top 20 Scottish Primary Schools across the nation here, or you can take a look at the top 30 primary schools in Glasgow here.