A primary school in Johnstone has been named among the best in Scotland in a new national league table.
St Margaret’s Primary School was ranked joint top in The Sunday Times Primary School League Table for 2026, with almost all pupils reaching the required standard across key skills.
The rankings are based on Primary 7 performance in reading, writing, numeracy, listening and talking, using the latest available data from 2025.
The Johnstone school achieved top marks despite around two-thirds of its pupils living in areas classed as “very deprived” under the Scottish Government’s index.
Headteacher at St Margaret’s Primary School in Johnstone, Gillian Miller, said: “We’re delighted to see our school recognised as one of the best in Scotland. It’s our aim to create a happy and engaging learning environment where children feel valued, respected and look forward to coming to school.
“We have high expectations and aspirations for all our pupils and are committed to thinking about the child’s journey through life, not just through school. Our curriculum is designed to give our pupils a lot of autonomy which promotes improved independence, communication and collaboration among learners.
“Staff are also encouraged to pursue their own areas of interest if it will benefit our pupils. By having teachers who are continuously learning we can drive forward improvement initiatives which will positively impact on our pupils.”
Across Scotland, 84 schools were found to have nearly every pupil reaching the expected standard across all key measures. This is slightly down from a record 89 schools last year.
The top performing school overall was Chapelside Primary in Airdrie, where nearly all pupils met the standard despite around 90 per cent of children coming from very deprived backgrounds.
Editors of the league table said it is not intended to rank schools from best to worst, but to present government data in a format that helps parents understand performance levels.
Dale Miller, acting editor of The Sunday Times Scotland, said: “We are always careful to clarify that The Times Scotland Primary School League Table is not ‘Scotland’s schools ranked from best to worst’.
“It presents government data from primary seven, arguably the most important year for pupils preparing for high school, for parents to analyse standards across the 1,197 schools that published reportable results.
“Our aim is to present data in an easily accessible format that parents can understand.”
The result comes at a time when there is uncertainty over the school’s immediate future.
Renfrewshire Council is currently considering proposals which could see St Margaret’s Primary merge with St David’s Primary as part of a wider redesign of Johnstone’s school estate.
Under the plans, both schools would come together in the existing West Johnstone Joint Campus building, with councillors expected to decide whether to move the proposals to the next stage.
The changes form part of a long-term strategy to address falling pupil numbers and unused capacity across the town, with no mergers expected to take place before 2028 at the earliest.
Plans revealed for major redesign of Johnstone’s primary schools and possible new site for Johnstone High
Elsewhere in Renfrewshire, St Catherine’s Primary in Paisley also featured in the rankings, finishing 30 points off a perfect score after previously ranking highest in Scotland in 2023.
Four of the top 10 schools were located in North Lanarkshire, while only one school in the top 10 was outside the central belt.
The full top 10 for 2026 includes schools in North Lanarkshire, East Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, West Lothian, Dumfries and Galloway, and Argyll and Bute.
The Sunday Times Scotland Primary School League Table can be found here: https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/550HV/2/