PEEBLES High School has fallen down the league table produced by The Times newspaper.

The Scottish rankings, published on May 6, are based on the proportion of pupils gaining five or more Highers.

A total of 345 state schools feature in this year's edition of the annual guide, which looked at results in 2018/19.

Peebles High School dropped from 20th place in 2017/18 to 68th place in 2018/19, with the Highers statistic falling from 57 per cent to 45 per cent.

Biggar High School, however, saw an increase in the number of pupils achieving five or more Highers, from 40 per cent to 49 per cent. It moved up the table from 100th place to 44th place.

Earlston and Eyemouth High Schools and Jedburgh Grammar also moved up, while Galashiels Academy saw the biggest drop from 139th place in 2017/18 to 256th place in 2018/19.

Biggar High School head teacher Robert Stewart said: “Biggar High School is an educational environment where we believe everyone is provided with opportunities to achieve their full potential.

"Working in partnership with parents, carers and others in our school and local community, we strive at all times to provide a safe and secure learning environment that provides all our young people with equal opportunity.”

South Lanarkshire Council’s head of education Carole McKenzie said: “While exam results are important, they reflect only one aspect of the tremendous work going on.

"Our schools provide a wide range of activities and programmes to enable young people to acquire qualifications, skills and competencies and to prepare for life beyond school.”

A spokesperson for Scottish Borders Council said: “This table solely looks at one aspect – the percentage of pupils passing five or more Highers.

“This data alone is not a measure of how well a school is doing and we use a variety of indicators to measure progress.

“We always work closely with our schools to support pupils and provide the best learning environment possible.”

UPDATE: 8.36pm, May 9, 2020 - The ranking positions within this article are as they appeared in the print edition of The Times (Scotland) on May 6, 2020.