Scottish Independent Secondary School of the Year

Merchiston Castle School finishes top of The Sunday Times Parent Power table of the Scottish independent secondary schools that take A-levels and GCSEs. The table is based on performance in summer 2009. Merchiston Castle's outstanding students achieved a 79.8% success rate at A and B grades at A-level and a 67.7% success rate at A* and A at GCSE. Almost 50% of A-levels returned A grades, an outstanding performance.

While the award is driven in the first instance by the school's ranking in the performance table, several other factors are taken into account before a winner is chosen. The areas looked at in which Merchiston Castle excelled include the leadership of the school, the quality of the teaching, the breadth of the curriculum and the conclusions of the most recent school inspection report.

The full article may be read here.

Alastair McCall, editor of The Sunday Times Parent Power said:
"Merchiston Castle's award is thoroughly deserved. It has been a consistently strong performer in our tables over many years, but what sets it apart is the inspiring leadership of Andrew Hunter over the past decade, the outstanding quality of the teaching and sheer breadth of opportunity available to boys both inside the classroom and out. The school's commitment to teaching boys in an engaging and innovative way sets it apart and makes Merchiston about as far removed from the traditional image of a boys' boarding schools as it is possible to be.  There is an emphasis on teaching emotional as well as academic intelligence, of fashioning young gentle men, as Andrew Hunter puts it, an approach which is to be roundly applauded. Exam success is almost incidental at this school, a bi-product of everything else it does - which is of course how it should be. The result is happy and engaged boys with a sense of purpose and a belief that they can succeed in whatever they go on to do in life."