Across Scotland, primary school performance figures show hard-working teachers, staff and families at dozens of local schools have cause for celebration.
The summer holidays are flying by for Scottish schoolchildren, most of whom wrapped up the 2024/25 school year around June 26. This means that there are mere weeks to go until it’s time to return to the classroom - with the 2025/26 school year set to begin around August 13.
This also means a whole new cohort of children will soon be starting at a new primary school, setting out on their years-long learning journey by building a solid foundation of key academic skills. To mark the approach of the new school year, we’re celebrating the state-funded primary schools across Scotland that have excelled at teaching their pupils these important skills - namely reading, writing, numeracy, and listening & talking.
We’ve based this on the latest official performance data available on the Scottish Government’s primary schools dashboard for the 2023/24 academic year - as well as some supplementary information from independent data site Scotland’s Data on a Map. More specifically, we’ve looked at ACEL (or Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels) figures showing the percentage of each school’s pupils across a range of different year groups, who are achieving at the expected levels in all four measurements.
While it’s important to acknowledge success, it’s also worth noting that performance is far from the only thing that makes a primary school a great place to learn - and figures can naturally fluctuate year-on-year. On top of that, data for some very small schools has been withheld to protect pupil privacy.
13. Falkirk
In Falkirk, there were three high-performing schools with at least 90% of children meeting all four key skills targets. They were St Andrew's RC Primary School; St Bernadette's RC Primary School; and St Joseph's RC Primary School. | St Bernadette's RC Primary School/Google
14. Fife
In Fife, there were two high-performing schools with at least 90% of children meeting all four key skills targets. They were Blairhall Primary School and Wormit Primary School. | Blairhall Primary School/Google
15. Glasgow
In the Glasgow City Council area, there were again two high-performing schools with at least 90% of children meeting all four key skills targets. They were Garrowhill Primary School and Hyndland Primary School. The all-through Jordanhill School, which is directly funded by the Government, also had 90% of its primary-aged pupils meet all four. | Garrowhill Primary School/Google
16. Highland
In the Highland Council area, there were also two high-performing schools with at least 90% of children meeting all four key skills targets – although it’s also worth noting that the area is home to dozens of very small schools where data was withheld for pupil privacy. These top schools were Farr Primary School (Inverness), and Miller Academy Primary School. | Farr Primary School/Google