Largs Academy featured in the top thirty of the latest Higher results in a national survey this month, and the news has been welcomed by local councillors.
The annual guide to the ‘highest achieving Scottish state schools’ appeared in The Herald newspaper, and sees the local school come in at 27th on the list.
It uses the benchmark figures popular with employers and universities - the percentage of pupils passing with five or more highers by the time they leave school.
Largs comes it at 52%, with the top performing state school Jordanhill coming in at 79%.
Councillor Tom Marshall said: “I was glad that Largs Academy was now in the top 30 schools - last year it did not make the top 50. However in the past , when I was there, is was in the top dozen and given the ability of the pupils and the professionalism of the staff and a new school , I would be disappointed if it did not show further improvement. 
“Overall this is a good place to be when viewed against a background of the poorest ever results in Maths, Reading and Science right across Scotland as measured by recent international tests.”
Cllr. Alex Gallagher said: “It is good to see Largs Academy in the top 50 schools in Scotland.” 
As exam results are closely linked to the social mix of the school, they also include data for percentage of children from the 20 per cent most deprived neighbourhoods under the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.
The statistics also include a benchmark figure which reflects how well a school should be performing compared to similar schools elsewhere which comes in at 49%.
Eileen Prior, executive director of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council, said it was vital that parents understood the data could only tell part of the story of the school.
She said: “Our perspective is parents and parent councils should be involved in working with school staff to agree where improvement is needed and be part of the process.”
Dr Bill Maxwell, chief executive of Education Scotland, added that the resource was designed to give families a fuller picture of their local school: “Parents can now benefit from a wealth of data about their child’s education through Parentzone Scotland from information on school leavers’ destinations to our inspection reports for individual schools.”