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.
29. South Lanarkshire
In South Lanarkshire, there were four high-performing schools with at least 90% of children meeting all four key skills targets. They were Carstairs Primary School; Kirklandpark Primary School; St Bride's Primary School (Bothwell); and Wester Overton Primary School. | Kirklandpark Primary School/Google
30. Stirling
In Stirling, there were also four high-performing schools with at least 90% of children meeting all four key skills targets. They were Killearn Primary School; Newton Primary School; St Mary's Episcopal Primary School; and Strathblane Primary School. | Strathblane Primary School/Google
31. West Dunbartonshire
While West Dunbartonshire had no schools where more than 90% of pupils met all four key skills targets, it still had some high achievers. Its top schools were St Patrick's Primary School – which had over 90% of children meet three of the four targets and 80-90% meet the other – and St Mary's Primary School (Duntocher), which had over 90% meet two, and 80-90% meet the other two. | St Mary's Primary School/Google
32. West Lothian
In West Lothian, there were eight high-performing schools with at least 90% of children meeting all four key skills targets. They were Linlithgow Bridge Primary School; Linlithgow Primary School; Low Port Primary School; Springfield Primary School; St Joseph's Primary School (Linlithgow); St Nicholas Primary School; Williamston Primary School; and Windyknowe Primary School. | Linlithgow Primary School/Google