With a catchment of about 550 square miles, getting to school can be a challenge for pupils at McLaren High School in Callander, the only secondary school located in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.
Two thirds of its 645 pupils are bussed in from up to 40 miles away along lochs and glens. Its unique location, though, provides opportunities for activities less commonly offered by state schools, such as mountain biking in the national park and canoeing on nearby Loch Venachar.
Founded by Donald McLaren, a banker, in 1892, McLaren High School’s curriculum includes a climate emergency course for first years, while pupils also learn first-hand about the challenges of tourism and work with park rangers on replacing paths and dry-stone walling.
“Busy minds and people doing lots of things creates a really good ethos,” says Marc Fleming, only the tenth head in 131 years. “Young people are really up for being challenged.”
Last year, following the first year of full exams since Covid, 86 per cent of pupils left with five or more National 5s, while 67 per cent gained five or more Highers and 24 per cent achieved two or more Advanced Highers, ranking it 14th in our top 100 league table, its highest position yet. McLaren High School is our Scottish Secondary School of the Year 2024 for its persistent drive to raise attainment levels while championing the wider talents and ambitions of its pupils.
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In addition to rigorous tracking and monitoring, the school has introduced a programme to help S4 pupils prepare for their first public exams that includes talks from motivational speakers and workshops offering study tips and techniques to help with stress and anxiety.
Most pupils head off to university and college, including occasionally Oxford and Cambridge, though, reflecting employment opportunities in the area, a number choose to study farming or go into the tourism and hospitality sector.
“What we try to seek for each and every individual is to get the best outcomes for them,” Fleming says. “Our school size lends itself very well to staff knowing young people really well as individuals and building on their unique talents and skills, and getting the very best out of them, whether that be academic achievement, sporting achievement or achievement across the wider life of the school.”
Sport is central to life at McLaren High, reflected in its SportScotland gold award, and a huge range of activities from rugby, hockey and dodgeball to football, swimming and climbing, with pupils competing for points in inter-house competitions. Other extracurricular activities include a hugely successful Lego robotics club (a team of pupils came third in an international robot design competition in Brazil last year), a thriving Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme, a full orchestra and the school pipe band.
Jordanhill School in Glasgow, Scotland’s only grant-maintained school, maintains its place at the top of the table and is our Scottish Secondary School of the Year for Academic Performance 2024. The rector, John Anderson, credits the school’s impressive track record to a number of factors including its autonomy, dedicated teachers and staff and a rich range of extracurricular opportunities.
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“We believe these important experiences complement the learning that goes on in classes,” he says. “We know that learning can be really tough and requires determination, effort and the ability to cope with setbacks. Having exposure to extracurricular activities sets them up well for these challenges.”
Bearsden Academy in East Dunbartonshire ranks second in our table, followed by St Ninian’s High School, Giffnock, one of five East Renfrewshire schools to make the top ten. This year has also seen a rise in island schools making the top 50, with Arran High School ranking 30= (up from 63) and Islay High School ranking 47=.
In the independent sector, city schools continue to own the bragging rights for top performance. St Mary’s Music School in Edinburgh, where pupils are admitted on the basis of musical talent and potential alone, leads the table for the second year running among independent schools following the Scottish exam system, making it our Scottish Independent Secondary School of the Year for Academic Performance 2024 (Nat 5/Highers/Advanced Highers).
“I hope the consistently strong academic results achieved by the pupils of St Mary’s Music School highlight the huge benefits that music education can bring,” says the head teacher, Kenneth Taylor.
Dollar Academy, in Clackmannanshire, which moves up two places to 8, takes the Scottish Independent School of the Year 2024 title in recognition of its consistently high attainment and its commitment to pupils’ personal development and wellbeing.
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“Be kind, work hard and get involved” is the mantra at this coeducational day and boarding independent school founded in 1818, which has 900 pupils in the senior school, including 99 boarders. In addition to more than 120 co-curricular activities including beekeeping, guitar building, Japanese and quiz club, Dollar pupils can choose from over 20 sports and compete internationally in hockey, rugby, shooting and tennis (with pupils competing at junior Wimbledon and the junior US and Australian Opens).
Innovative approaches to getting pupils involved and supporting their wellbeing include bringing in three alpacas to the 70-acre campus in the summer to help reduce exam stress and a pedal-powered smoothie maker to give students food for thought in the dining room, which was refurbished last year as part the school’s continuing investment in the estate.
“We are a successful school, filled with happy and very active children,” says the rector, Ian Munro. “I have no doubt that at the heart of our success is the caring and supportive environment at Dollar — one that encourages self-confidence and where the relationships between all members of the community are based on trust and respect. Growing up is not always straightforward, so we spend a lot of time and energy considering how we can best support our pupils’ wellbeing.”
St Leonards School, in St Andrews, an IB school whose results have been converted into A-levels, heads the Scottish fee-paying schools doing A-levels and GCSEs, taking the Scottish Secondary Independent of the Year for Academic Performance 2024 award.
The head, Simon Brian, said: “St Leonards is all about shaping well-rounded individuals and leaders for the future, and we achieve this aim by emphasising personal development alongside academic achievement. High-quality teaching and learning are central to our approach, ensuring every single young person receives the support needed for academic excellence, and our success is driven by a culture of ambition and growth, rigorous academic programmes and a relentless commitment to high standards and hard work.”
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Best secondary schools in Scotland
National ranking / school / last year’s ranking
1. Jordanhill School, Glasgow (1)
2. Bearsden Academy (3)
3. St Ninian’s High School, Giffnock (2)
4. Woodfarm High School, Thornliebank (8)
5. Douglas Academy, Milngavie (11)
6. Cults Academy, Aberdeen (4)
7. Boroughmuir High School, Edinburgh (6=)
8. Mearns Castle High School, Glasgow (10)
9. Williamwood High School, Glasgow (5)
10. Eastwood High School, Newton Mearns (6=)
Best private schools in Scotland (Highers)
1. St Mary’s Music School, Edinburgh (1)
2. The Glasgow Academy (-)
3. George Heriot’s School, Edinburgh (2)
4. The Mary Erskine School, Edinburgh (7)
5. The High School of Glasgow (6)
6. Hutchesons’ Grammar School, Glasgow (5)
7. St Margaret’s School for Girls, Aberdeen (9)
8. Dollar Academy, Clackmannanshire (10)
9. St Columba’s School, Kilmacolm (-)
10. George Watson’s College, Edinburgh (12)
Best private schools in Scotland (A-levels)
1. St Leonards, St Andrews (2)
2. Fettes College, Edinburgh (1)
3. Merchiston Castle School, Edinburgh (3)
4. Strathallan School, Perth (5)
If a school does not appear in the Parent Power league table it is most likely because it did not respond to our requests for its Highers, A-level and GCSE results, and the results could not be found in the public domain.
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School league tables 2024
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