EVERY East Lothian secondary school has improved its standing from last year's league tables published by The Times Scotland.

The Times Scotland High School League Tables aims to provide a yearly account of the quality of state education across the country, providing a list of the 'best' to 'worst' schools.

The list is compiled in line with the Scottish Government’s ‘gold standard’, which takes into account the percentage of pupils from each school who achieved five Highers.

In the county, North Berwick High School was considered the 'best', being ranked 19th across the entire country with 66 per cent achieving five Highers. Last time out it was 38th.

Dunbar Grammar School placed 52nd on the national list, compared to 79th the previous year.

The study also noted that 55 percent of pupils got five Highers.

Knox Academy in Haddington was 54th (120th last year); Musselburgh Grammar School was 210th (241st in 2021) and Ross High School, Tranent, came 212th after being named 281st best in Scotland last time round.

Additionally, 55, 36 and 36 per cent of pupils earned five Highers respectively.

Preston Lodge High School was graded as 234th but also saw an impressive rise in the rankings (previously 293rd).

Additionally, 34 per cent of pupils at the Prestonpans-based school earned five Highers.

According to the study, the 'best' school in Scotland was Jordanhill in Glasgow, which retained the top spot from 2021.

Boroughmuir High School in Edinburgh was the highest ranked school in the Lothians, coming ninth in the study.

Mark McLaughlin, education correspondent at The Times Scotland, said: “The Scottish Government claims it ‘does not do league tables’ but this is disingenuous.

“It discloses an annual school-by-school breakdown of the proportion of pupils who earn qualifications at each level of the curriculum – a league table in all but name.

“By publishing this information in an accessible and fully searchable guide, we seek to empower parents with information around the performance of their local schools.

“Five Highers is a good measure of success, but not the only measure. For that reason, The Times has also published the socioeconomic profile of the top and bottom schools, which shows some punch above their weight.”