The Sunday Times Parent Power schools guide has named Robert Gordon’s College and Bearsden Academy as Scotland’s Independent Secondary School of the Year and State Secondary School of the year respectively.
Published in The Sunday Times and online this Sunday, November 27. The definitive guide – which can be found at www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/parentpower - contains 2,000 top state and independent schools, searchable by postcode, town, local authority and name of school.
As well as assessment of all academic results on a school-by-school basis, Parent Power enables parents to compare the performance of a given school with other schools in the same town, local authority or nationally. There are also live links to school websites and schools’ most recent inspection reports.
Now in its 24th year of publication, Parent Power is widely acknowledged as the most authoritative survey of the UK’s best schools. Scottish state schools are ranked on their performance in Advanced Higher, Higher and National 5 examinations in summer 2015.
Scottish independent secondary schools are ranked in two tables, based on 2016 examination results, according to whether they follow the Scottish examination system or the A-level and GCSE structure used in the three other countries of the United Kingdom.
The seven independent schools following the A-level/GCSE examination system tables are ranked by the percentage of entries gaining A* to B grades at A-level (or their International Baccalaureate equivalent) this summer (which is given double weighting) and the percentage of entries returning A* and A grades at GCSE. The remaining independent secondary schools are ranked on the proportion of Advanced Higher and Highers examinations returning A and B grades (double-weighted) and the proportion of examinations securing the top grade at National 5.
This year Robert Gordon's College, Aberdeen reported its best ever Highers results, which are reflected in a leap of 10 places in The Sunday Times Parent Power table this year from 18th to 8th. It is the college’s highest ranking in a decade, surpassed just once since the guide started its Scottish independent schools' award in 2001. Its achievement is the more notable for its size. This is not a small independent school but a school that had more than 1,400 entries for Highers and Advanced Highers exams this summer (compared to 300 at St Margaret's School for Girls, also in Aberdeen – which was a contender for the award, and ranks third overall in this year's table).
A day school, there are more than 1,600 pupils on roll, the school has benefited in recent times from the philanthropy of the local billionaire, Sir Ian Wood, and claims to have the largest science teaching area in any UK school in the form of its Wood Foundation Centre for Science and Technology.
Mr Simon Mills, Head of Robert Gordon’s College said: “This is an encouraging external endorsement that echoes the terrific commitment of our Gordon’s community including school families, staff, Governors and former pupils who continually strive to develop the very best for Robert Gordon’s College today and for the future. We are very proud of our school and hope that this excellent news will be a further encouragement for all the pupils at RGC.”
Alastair McCall, editor of The Sunday Times Schools Guide, said: “Robert Gordon’s College achieves remarkable results, not least considering its size. This is no boutique independent school, but one that provides an outstanding education for significant number of young Aberdonians.
“Its students go on to achieve in diverse walks of life, backed up by a rounded education that extends way beyond the purely academic. Also, with one in six students benefiting from financial aid, it is not a school that simply serves a social elite. It thoroughly deserves the academic success that marks it out this year and makes it the natural choice for our Scottish Independent Secondary School of the Year award.”
For schools following the Scottish examination system, The Mary Erskine School, in Edinburgh is the top performing independent school in Scotland, reclaiming top spot this year from Kilgraston, near Perth, which drops down the Sunday Times rankings. Founded in 1694, The Mary Erskine School is one of the oldest all-girls’ schools in the UK. It dipped in the league table last year but has reclaimed the top spot once more.
Once again Fettes College is the top performing independent school in Scotland among those not following the Scottish examination system. A combination of A-levels, the International Baccalaureate and GCSEs help it to top spot once more, despite a slight dip in the UK ranking from 106= in 2015 to 114 this year.