Parent Power 2024: The Times releases its list of Best UK schools & league table

It’s a return to form for the boys in this year’s Sunday Times Parent Power 2024 guide to best schools in the UK with the single-sex Wilson’s School in Wallington awarded state and grammar school of the year. Single-sex schools once again dominated the list as a whole, with two private girls schools topping the independent and combined tables and two boys-only schools grabbing the top two places in the state sector.

Sunday Times has published the 31st edition of its Parent Power guide to the best national and regional schools of the year. Amongst its findings, the Times identifies the highest-achieving schools in the UK based on their own criterion.

Parent Power is widely acknowledged and holds more than 1,600 schools in its database. If a parent, student, or teacher wants to find out about a school’s performance, they can search it by name, local authority, town and postcode.

As well as giving parents the power to identify performing schools, the list acts as an assessment of all academic results on a school-by-school basis. 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. 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.”

The Sunday Times Schools Guide, Parent Power, was first published in 1993. As well as a print section in the newspaper, there is a fully-searchable online database allowing users to search schools by postcode, town, local authority and school name.

But who won The Sunday Times’ national and regional school of the year awards?

The Sunday Times Parent Power 2024 national school of the year

The top secondary school for academic performance 

• Altrincham Grammar School for Boys

Secondary school of the year 

• Wilson’s School (grammar school for boys), Wallington

Comprehensive school of the year 

• Cheadle Hulme High School

Top independent school for academic performance

• Withington Girls’ School, Manchester

Independent school of the year 

• King’s School, Chester

International Baccalaureate school of the year

• Tonbridge Grammar School 

The Sunday Times Parent Power 2024 regional school of the year

East Anglia

Secondary School of the Year - Colchester Royal Grammar School

Comprehensive School of the Year - Impington Village College

Private School of the Year - The Perse School, Cambridge 

East Midlands

Secondary School of the Year - The King’s School, Grantham

Comprehensive School of the Year - Landau Forte College, Derby 

Private School of the Year - Leicester Grammar School

West Midlands

Secondary School of the Year - King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon

Comprehensive School of the Year - St Paul’s School for Girls, Edgbaston 

Private School of the Year - King Edward VI High School for Girls, Birmingham

London

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

Comprehensive School of the Year - JFS, Harrow

Private School of the Year - St Paul’s Girls’ School, Hammersmith

The North

Secondary School of the Year for Academic Performance - Ripon Grammar School

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

Private School of the Year - Queen Ethelburga’s College, York

The Northeast

Comprehensive School of the Year - Durham Johnston Comprehensive School

Private School of the Year - Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne

The Northwest

Secondary School of the Year - Altrincham Grammar School for Girls

Comprehensive School of the Year - Tauheedul Islam Girls’ High School and Sixth Form College, Blackburn

Private School of the Year - Withington Girls’ School, Manchester

The Southeast

Secondary School of the Year - Reading School

Comprehensive School of the Year - St Andrew’s RC School, Leatherhead

Private School of the Year - Guildford High School

The Southwest

Secondary School of the Year - Pate’s Grammar School, Cheltenham

Comprehensive School of the Year - Kingsbridge Community College

Private School of the Year - Cheltenham Ladies’ College

Wales

Secondary School of the Year - Cowbridge Comprehensive School

Private School of the Year - Cardiff Sixth Form College

Northern Ireland

Secondary School of the Year - Lumen Christi College, Londonderry

Scotland

Secondary School of the Year - Jordanhill School, Glasgow 

Private School of the Year (Highers) - St Mary’s Music School, Edinburgh 

Private School of the Year (A-Levels) - St Leonards, St Andrews 

You can view the full list on the Sunday Times Parent Power website.