Ayrshire schools ranked in 'gold standard' league…

Ayrshire schools ranked in 'gold standard' league table as region's top performer revealed

Ayrshire's top performing state secondary schools have been named in a new league table.

The Times Scotland's 2022 high school league table calculates a percentage of the number of pupils that achieved the Scottish Government's so-called 'gold standard' of five Highers in 2021.

Figures saw the performances of every secondary school in the country scored on the percentage of pupils attaining five Highers.

Largs Academy topped the Ayrshire table – slotting in at 40th in the nationwide standings – down from 23rd last year.

Stewarton Academy (190th) was East Ayrshire's best performing school with St Joseph's Academy next in at 200th, Loudoun Academy at 201st and Grange Academy at 202nd.

Marr College in Troon fared best in South Ayrshire – although dropped from 35th to 68th place.

Fellow South Ayrshire schools Prestwick Academy, Kyle Academy and Queen Margaret Academy also made the top 100.

At the other end of the Ayrshire table, Irvine Royal Academy placed 319th.

Mark McLaughlin, education correspondent at The Times Scotland, said: “The Scottish Government claims it ‘does not do league tables’ but this is disingenuous.

"It discloses an annual school-by-school breakdown of the proportion of pupils who earn qualifications at each level of the curriculum – a league table in all but name.

“By publishing this information in an accessible and fully searchable guide, we seek to empower parents with information around the performance of their local schools.

“Five Highers is a good measure of success, but not the only measure.

"For that reason, The Times has also published the socioeconomic profile of the top and bottom schools, which shows some punch above their weight.”