St Mary’s College, Hull named Comprehensive School of the Year

ST MARY'S COLLEGE HAS BEEN NAMED AS ONE OF THE TOP SCHOOLS IN THE UK

The UK’s highest-achieving secondary schools are ranked by the first true set of post-pandemic examination results in the 31st edition of The Sunday Times Parent Power Guide. The guide is widely acknowledged as the most authoritative survey of the country’s top schools.

Wilson’s School, Wallington wins Secondary School of the Year

St Mary’s College, Hull named Comprehensive School of the Year

Guildford High School is the Independent School of the Year

St Paul’s Girls’ School, London is number one school for academic performance in the UK

(The Sunday Times Parent Power Guide 2024 : thetimes.co.uk/schools-league-table)

The fully searchable national database of over 1,000 schools by name, local authority, town and postcode, is available online from Friday, December 1 and as a print supplement with The Sunday Times on Sunday, December 3.

As well as an assessment of all academic results on a school-by-school basis, Parent Power enables parents to compare the performance of a given school with other schools in the same town, local authority or nationally. There are also live links to school websites and schools’ most recent inspection reports.

Helen Davies, Editor of Parent Power, said: “The educational landscape continues to be challenging across both the state and independent sectors, and this is the first true assessment of post-pandemic exam results in England. We believe these rankings – and all the additional information on offer in Parent Power – provide parents with a more reliable guide to academic achievement in schools today.

“The guide showcases academic excellence but also celebrates schools who may not be right at the top but are rising, innovating and helping pupils flourish.Being a teenager is hard enough, and the past few years since Covid have made life even harder. It is heartening to highlight the achievements of so many students and schools across the UK.

“This year Parent Power includes details on all those other issues that you choose a school as well as results from extracurricular clubs, wellbeing initiatives even school lunch menus – chicken katsu seems to be the dish of the day.”

2024 Parent Power National Awards:

• Secondary School of the Year: Wilson’s School, Wallington
• Comprehensive School of the Year: St Mary’s College, Hull
• Independent School of the Year: Guildford High School
• Independent School of the Year by Academic Performance: St Paul’s Girls’ School, London
• Sixth Form College of the Year: King's Maths School, London
• 11-16 School of the Year: Eden Girls' Leadership Academy, Birmingham
• International Baccalaureate School of the Year: Tonbridge Grammar School

The guide found conversations around mental health are now ingrained in the top schools with many offering mentoring systems, talks from motivational speakers, and workshops offering study tips and techniques to help with stress and anxiety. The guide also discovered good schools embed careers advice into the curriculum and inspire pupils by inviting visiting speakers, from industry leaders and alumni.

There is also a push for sustainability coming from pupils, whether encouraging their schools to go carbon neutral to lessons), as well as composting of school food waste.