THE varying fortunes of local secondary schools has been revealed.

Auchenharvie Academy is the poorest performing school, according to Scottish Government figures.

Only 18 per cent of school leavers achieved five or more Highers at the Stevenston school - putting it in 247 out 279 Scottish schools

The best performing school was Arran High, with 52 per cent of pupils leaving with more than five Highers putting it in 28th position. However, the small school population on Arran means that results can fluctuate more.

Other school standing across the Herald’s circulation area include Kilwinning Academy (ranked 142nd with 32 per cent leaving with five or more Highers), Garnock Community Campus (ranked 143rd with 32 per cent five or more Highers), St Matthew’s Academy (161st 30 per cent), Ardrossan Academy (210th 24 per cent) and Auchenharvie Academy (247th 18 per cent).

Other North Ayrshire schools rankings were Largs Academy (31st), Greenwood Academy, Irvine (160th) and Irvine Royal Academy (203rd). The results also refer to the impact of poverty and deprivation on results, with a general viewthat the more affluent the area the better the attainment.

The percentage of pupils coming from deprived areas at each school are: Largs Academy (9 per cent), Kilwinning Academy (46 per cent), Garnock (34 per cent), Greenwood Academy (34 per cent, St Matthew’s Academy (54 per cent), Irvine Royal Academy (75 per cent), Ardrossan Academy (55 per cent) and Auchenharvie Academy (63 per cent).

Schools with higher proportions of pupils from poorer backgrounds are therefore dealing with a more complex set of social problems amongst its pupils yet still delivering impressive exam results.

Joanna Murphy, chairwoman of the National Parent Forum of Scotland, said families should be aware of such complexities before choosing a school.

She said: “Making judgements about where a school sits by using senior school results is a very misleading picture which isn’t good for school communities.

“This sort of data doesn’t show the whole picture of a school and its individual circumstances which are important to understand. They also don’t measure children’s happiness."

A spokesman for Education Scotland, which hosts Parentzone, said the website had a unique spread of information from the early years through to school and beyond.