What is the 'gold standard' for Scottish secondary schools? How high school performance is ranked

• The Scottish Government publishes performance data for state-funded schools each year.
• Our secondary school rankings hinge on how their students did in their Higher exams.
• They are ranked based on what is known as the Scottish ‘gold standard’ - pupils passing five or more Highers.
• If schools have done equally well, there are two tie-breakers available.

How well school leavers have done on their Highers can have a big impact on which universities they can land a place at.

But regardless of whether university is the next step for them or not, the qualifications and grades they leave high school with can open or even close doors for them going forward. That is why making sure they go to a school that supports them to perform to the best of their abilities is so important - and why so many parents turn to school league tables to help.

Scotland’s state primary schools are often ranked using ACEL (or Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels) data. This is a set of official statistics that show the percentage of pupils across a range of different year groups who have achieved the expected levels in important schools skills; literacy, numeracy, and speaking and listening.

But for its state-funded secondary and high schools, achieving Highers has been a shorthand in Scotland for high attainment for more than a century. Data website Scotland’s Data on a Map ranks Scotland’s secondary schools based on the percentage of students gaining a pass in five or more Highers (you can check out the top 25 here).

But what exactly is this metric, and how have we used it to measure school performance? Here’s what you need to know:

How are Scotland’s secondary schools ranked?

Scotland’s Data on a Map publishes annual league tables rating the performance of the country’s state primary and secondary schools each year, usually around April or May.

These are based on official data from statistics.gov.scot, a site managed by the Scottish Government on behalf of all producers of official statistics in Scotland. The figures published this year are based on the 2022/23 school year’s results. The data takes account of all awards achieved in the senior phase (S4-S6) by school leavers.

Just like their counterparts across the UK, Scottish secondary school pupils will sit two main sets of qualifications during their time there, their National 5 exams - or ‘Nationals’ - and their Highers.

Highers, roughly equivalent to the A Levels sat by students in England, Wales, and Northern Irelands, are typically taken by students aged 16 to 18. According to UCAS - the UK’s University and Colleges Admissions Service - students normally study between four and six different subjects at this level, and their results can play a part in students getting a place at a university, or other tertiary institution.

When ranking secondary schools by performance, the Scotland’s Data on a Map league table uses what it calls the ‘gold standard’. This is defined as the percentage of a school’s students who sat their Highers that year, who passed five or more of them.

Schools are then ranked by this percentage. If two are equal, the number of pupils who obtained six or more passes is used to differentiate between schools. This can even go up to seven or more passes where necessary, according to the metric used by Scotland’s Data on a Map.

It is worth noting that if you also compare schools based on other league tables besides the performance rankings, they may take other things into account too. You should always check what they say about the metric they use, so that you fully understand how schools are being ranked.

Note: This article was amended to remove reference to Scotland’s Data on a Map as an official Scottish Government source. The website uses official data from statistics.gov.scot, but is not connected to or run by the Scottish Government. The Scottish Government does not publish league tables.