Five York schools land places in top 10 in The Sunday Times guide

Archbishop Holgate's CE and Fulford School both landed a place in the top ten state schools in the north, with Archbishop Holgate's in fourth and Fulford in fifth, as shown in the Parent Power, The Sunday Times Schools Guide 2024.

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A-level results day 2023 at Fulford School in York (Image: Frank Dwyer)

The 31st edition of Parent Power identifies the highest-achieving schools in the UK. It is a guide to secondary schools using the first true post-pandemic set of results for state and independent schools since Covid-19 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Meanwhile Queen Ethelburga’s College, at Thorpe Underwood was named Independent School of the Year for academic performance with St Peter's and The Mount in York at fifth and sixth, the Faculty of Queen Ethelburga's at seventh and Harrogate Ladies' College at ninth on the same list.​

Ukrainian twins Sofiia and Diana Shypovych their A-level results at Harrogate Ladies' College (Image: Supplied)

Another North Yorkshire school, Ripon Grammar School, has been named The Sunday Times State Secondary School of the Year in the north for academic performance – retaining its top spot once more thanks to improvements in overall results.

Parent Power is widely acknowledged as the most authoritative survey of the country's best schools. The rankings in the secondary school league tables are determined by the percentage of examination entries gaining A*-B at A-level and the percentage of entries returning A* and A grades and those graded 9, 8 and 7, at GCSE and iGCSE.

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. 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 extracurricular clubs, wellbeing initiatives and school lunch menus – chicken katsu seems to be the dish of the day.”