A real class act celebrates five in a row

JORDANHILL school in Glasgow has maintained its position as Scotland's best state school, after topping the exam performance league tables for the fifth year running.

Some 69 per cent of its fifth-year pupils achieved at least three Higher passes this year, the same proportion as last year.

Jordanhill is unique in Scotland as the only secondary school to be funded directly by the Scottish Government, rather than through a local authority. Formerly a teacher-training college, it is grant-maintained and run by a board of governors.

The school also did well at Standard grade, with 99 per cent of fourth-year pupils obtaining five or more good passes – up one point on last year.

Dr Paul Thomson, the headteacher, said the result was great news for the school.

He said: "This year, results have been particularly pleasing. They represent the efforts of some particularly talented teachers, combined with the hard work of pupils and support of parents."

However, he was keen to recognise the success of those pupils who passed qualifications not recognised by the exam league tables. He said: "It is important not to forget the success of the many other people at Jordanhill and elsewhere who studied courses at Intermediate one and two.

"The success of the country depends as much on their efforts and their continuing in education beyond school."

East Renfrewshire was again a top-performing local authority, with 47 per cent of fifth-year pupils achieving three or more Higher passes. At Standard grade, 88 per cent of its schools' fourth-year pupils obtained at least five good passes.

Nationally, results remained stable, with little variation in either Standard or Higher grade exam results.

In Highers, 22 per cent of fifth-year students across Scotland achieved at least three passes: the figure has remained the same for three years.

Fourth-year pupils also maintained a consistent standard, with 76 per cent achieving five good Standard grade passes – the same as last year.

The statistics for all secondaries were published yesterday on the Scottish Schools Online website. It gives a detailed, school-by-school breakdown of exam results, as well as other information, such as unauthorised absence rates and how many pupils go on to college or university.

Because the Scottish Government does not publish school league tables, The Scotsman has processed the statistics to produce a list of the country's best-performing secondary schools.

Ranking school exam results in the form of league tables remains controversial. However, others backed the move, saying it was crucial information that the public needed to see.

Elizabeth Smith, the Scottish Conservatives' schools spokeswoman, said: "League tables are important because parents should have as much information as possible when choosing schools for their children. League tables should be published and open to the public, so we can assess the quality of our schools."

Ms Smith also described unauthorised absence figures, covering children who play truant from school, as a disgrace. She said: "The government is not doing enough to combat this."



Glasgow High takes independent honours

GLASGOW High has topped our table of the best-performing schools at Higher level in Scotland's independent sector.

At the school, which is based in the west of the city, 97 per cent of fifth-year pupils gained three or more Higher exams this year – up from 94 per cent last year.

At Standard grade, 99 per cent of pupils in the fourth year achieve five or more good passes. This figure is up from last year's score of 97 per cent.

The school is within walking distance of Scotland's top-performing state school, Jordanhill.

Dollar Academy, in Clackmannanshire, is another top performer, coming in at third place.

Last year the school topped the table with a score of 95 per cent, but was narrowly pipped this year by Glasgow High.

At Dollar, 98 per cent of pupils in the fourth year achieved at least five good passes at Standard grade. The result is an increase from last year's score of 95 per cent.

St Mary's, a specialist music school in Edinburgh, has also performed well, with large numbers of its pupils achieving Standard grades and Highers.

One hundred per cent of its fourth-year students achieved five or more good Standard grade passes.

Nearly 6,000 youngsters could be dodging classes every day

NEARLY 6,000 children could be playing truant on an average school day in Scotland, figures showed yesterday.

They came in a report that revealed the overall attendance rate in Scottish schools last year was 93.2 per cent, largely unchanged from the previous year's 93.3 per cent.

For primary schools, the attendance rate was 95.1 per cent, but for secondary schools, it was 90.9 per cent, fractionally ahead of the previous year's 90.6 per cent.

The official figures do not give Scotland-wide statistics on the reasons for absence because of inconsistencies in the way councils record this.

The report suggested the truancy rate could be 0.9 per cent, which would suggest a total of 5,760 truancies on an average day, out of a school population of 640,000.

The statisticians behind the figures warned, however, that the data were not necessarily reliable because of the inconsistencies over time and between councils in classifying the reasons for absence.

Maureen Watt, the schools minister, said: "These statistics show that the majority of pupils – over 93 per cent – are attending school regularly.

"However, we can do even more to engage our young people and ensure that they receive the maximum benefit from their school education."

She was speaking during a visit to Gracemount High School in Edinburgh, where staff aim to make education more attractive by incorporating into the curriculum pupils' interests, such as a school dance group. She said: "By providing innovative, engaging learning opportunities, young people can be prevented from disengaging with school. As a government, we are committed to taking an early- intervention approach to give children and their families support and give our young people the best start in life through their school education."

But the Conservatives said the figures suggested more than a million days a year were being lost to truancy.

Elizabeth Smith, MSP, their education spokeswoman, said: "This is an unacceptable state of affairs, made worse by the fact that the government doesn't appear to want to unveil the whole truth of the matter by refusing to separate out authorised and unauthorised absences."