A deprived primary where hardly any school leavers could read or write adequately seven years earlier is now among the best in Scotland.
Chapelside Primary, in Airdrie, has emerged as the highest performing school in The Sunday Times Primary School League Table, despite nearly all of its pupils coming from very deprived backgrounds.
Almost every primary seven pupil was up to standard in reading, writing, numeracy, listening and talking last year, compared with less than 10 per cent for reading and less than 30 per cent for writing in 2018.
The North Lanarkshire school has attempted to instil a “reading culture”, opening a new library in 2024 with input from staff and pupils on the genres and authors to be included.
Inspectors recently praised the school’s “wonderful” writing initiative, which was “impacting positively on pupil motivation and ability to write independently”. They also highlighted that all children are members of a school committee, and “chill zones” have been created for children experiencing anxiety.
Chapelside is among the poorest schools in Scotland, with more than 90 per cent of pupils deemed “very deprived” in the Scottish government’s index of multiple deprivation (SIMD). Strategies to reduce the poverty-related attainment gap include providing breakfast, clothing and “soft starts”.
The school in Central Airdrie suffered a break-in in August last year where a large number of laptops and iPads were stolen.
Chapelside was also praised by inspectors for its rigorous moderation of teacher judgments, which underpin the league table scores.
The new play area at Chapelside Jane Barlow/PA Wire
Schools submit data on the percentage of pupils up to standard in reading, writing, numeracy, and combined listening-and-talking. The Sunday Times aggregates this data into a maximum score of 400.
Schools with a higher proportion of deprived pupils are weighted to rise up the league table to recognise their achievement in delivering a good education despite the challenges of poverty.
Critics say the government’s school performance scores, based on teacher judgment rather than objective data, are little more than a “guess” and can be easily gamed.
The table has been published in conjunction with The Sunday Times Get Britain Reading campaign, which aims to tackle the nation’s literacy crisis and falling engagement with books.
This year a total of 84 schools taught nearly every child to the required standard across all key skills, slightly lower than the record 89 top performing schools last year.
Chapelside pupils with their artworkAlamy
The rate of attainment is still well above the 50 top performing schools when the government first began compiling data in 2016-17.
Most of the top performing schools have very low levels of poverty, although some deprived schools have risen to the top.
These include Hurlford Primary, near Kilmarnock, and St Margaret’s Primary, in Johnstone, which also scored top marks despite two-thirds of pupils living in “very deprived” neighbourhoods.
‘Happy and confident’
Inspectors had highlighted Hurlford Primary’s nurturing atmosphere, saying it had made sure “children are happy, confident and proud of their school and ECC [early childhood centre]” and that “children feel included and valued”.
The head teacher Gillian Campbell said after last year’s school inspection: “Our goal is to allow our children and young people to shine, and for the inspectors to recognise the strengths of our children and young people means a great deal to everyone connected with the school.”
St Margaret’s Primary received the equal top score under The Sunday Times ranking system at a time when there is some uncertainty over the school’s immediate future.
Renfrewshire council is reviewing Johnstone’s primary schools as part of a £170 million overhaul of education. The local authority has highlighted that St Margaret’s is one of three schools that are older and in need of investment.
One option being explored by the council would involve a new Johnstone Primary School being built to replace St Margaret’s, Auchenlodment and Thorn, rather than maintaining separate buildings.
Four of the primary schools ranked among the top 10 best performing in the country were situated in North Lanarkshire, including St Mary’s Primary, in Coatbridge, and Holy Cross Primary, in Croy.
Top marks in table
Only one school ranked inside the top 10 overall, Sheuchan School in Stranraer, was located outside of the central belt, having risen sharply this year to achieve top marks in league table.
Auchtermuchty Primary in Fife — where The Proclaimers duo Craig and Charlie Reid once attended — was among other institutions to climb sharply up the rankings.
The school, with a roll call of about 121 pupils, achieved top marks after finishing 150 points adrift in last year’s league table, achieving marked improvements in scores for listening and talking, numeracy and writing.
Craig and Charlie Reid at Leith Links Roberto Ricciuti/Redferns
Our Lady of Lourdes Primary, in West Lothian, which topped the 2025 league table, dipped slightly in scores for numeracy, reading and writing, but remains inside Scotland’s top 300 schools.
St Catherine’s Primary, in Paisley, which previously ranked highest in 2023, likewise finished 30 points off a perfect score after receiving top marks across three consecutive years.
The league table ranks the 1,197 schools that submitted data for the annual Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels publications.
More than a third of 1,926 primary schools on the government database did not participate, either because no children were up to standard, the school roll was too small or the data was not collected centrally.
Most of the schools in the bottom 100 have high levels of deprivation.
Gordon MacDonald, the SNP MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, has previously been among politicians to praise The Sunday Times Primary School League Table for highlighting leading examples in Scottish education.
Gordon MacDonaldLesley Martin/PA Wire
He said in a motion to the Scottish parliament last year that the league table “recognises the dedication and hard work of the schools’ pupils, teachers, staff and parents in achieving this outstanding accomplishment”.
The 10 best Scottish primary schools for 2026
Chapelside Primary School, North Lanarkshire
Hurlford Primary School, East Ayrshire
St Margaret’s Primary School, Renfrewshire
Tannochside Primary School, North Lanarkshire
St Mary’s Primary School (Coatbridge), North Lanarkshire
St Mark’s Primary School, East Renfrewshire
St Anthony’s Primary School, West Lothian
Sheuchan School, Dumfries and Galloway
St Joseph’s Primary School, Argyll and Bute
Holy Cross Primary School, North Lanarkshire