PARENTS are paying up to £174,000 more for their homes to live near Scotland's "best performing" state schools, according to new research.

The Bank of Scotland has said house prices in the post codes of the 20 secondaries ranked highest for higher results now average £73,000 above the national mean.

And the mortgage lender said properties were selling at even bigger premiums close to particularly prestigious comprehensives.

Prices in EH9 - the postal area of James Gillespie in Edinburgh - are almost £174,000 higher than the capital's average. And in Glasgow's G12 - where Hyndland Secondary is based - homes go for £121,000 more than in the city's average.

The Bank of Scotland said the average premium for the top 20 schools - by proportion of pupils getting five highers or more - had jumped over the last year. This was because schools in areas which high property prices had leapt in to the premier league of comprehensives.

Property experts stress that schools were far from the only reason why property cost so much in the neighbourhoods. And educationalists warn parents that their children's performance probably has more to do with them than their catchment area.

But the Bank of Scotland's mortgage director Graham Blair, said investors should always look out for schools which consistently perform well.

He said: "When buying a home, many parents want their children to be close to a top performing school, and school catchment house price premiums generally tend to align to where we already know property is more expensive, for example, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow.

"With the mix of top schools changing so much from last year, there is a risk that parents focused on school catchment areas could spend money on a property - only for the nearby school to drop out of the top performing list in the coming years.

"Therefore, they may benefit more from buying in an area where the schools are consistently in top 20 but house prices trade trade at more of a discount.”

The Bank of Scotland in its analysis used post codes rather than catchment areas. Some of Scotland's best performing schools - by higher results - cover whole swathes of territories far bigger than any post code. This includes the Glasgow Gaelic School and Catholic schools such as St Ninian's in East Renfrewshire.

In the last five years homes in the same postal areas as the top 20 secondary schools have increased in value by 30 per cent - from £213,000 to £277,000.

Bank of Scotland said the average cost of a home near James Gillespie's increased from £271,020 to £424,647. However, bank number-crunchers found there were bargains to be had. Some schools in the top 20 were postal areas where prices were lower than the average for the local authority. This included Bishopbriggs Academy and Turnbull High School in East Dunbartonshire 19 per cent cheaper than the average for the council area.

Like many teachers, Susan Quinn, who represents the EIS in Glasgow, remains unconvinced that there is any advantage in moving to a better-off area where schools produce children with more highers.

She said: "It is a false premise that a school in a more affluent provides something different.

"The young people are the young people. Children will do well in many different ways, schools provide a variety of opportunities including academic, vocational and wider experiences which will suit each pupil in different ways.

"The evidence is that what families with money bring is tutors and other experiences that young people from poorer backgrounds won't have the opportunity to experience. It won't necessarily be the school, it will add-ons that are having the impact."

Ms Quinn, like most educationalists, does not accept that schools in richer neighbourhoods with more highers are better performing than those in poorer areas. "We just would not talk about 'good schools'."

Nevertheless, estate agents say schools with a good reputation do sustain house prices in middle-class areas. However, other changes in areas such as EH9 appear to account for rising prices near James Gillespie's, they said.