The Herald today publishes its annual league table of Scottish state schools in terms of their exam results.

To compile our table we use the benchmark popular with universities of the percentage of pupils passing five or more Highers by the time they leave school.

Because exam results are so closely linked to the social mix of a school community we also include the percentage of children at a particular school from the 20 per cent most disadvantaged neighbourhoods under the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD).

Read more: The top 50 state schools in Scotland 2019

We have also included a benchmark figure worked out by the Scottish Government that shows how well pupils perform compared to those in similar areas elsewhere in the country - which is known as the “virtual comparator”.

Using these figures together makes it possible to see whether individual schools are over or under performing.

Read more: School tables popular with many parents, but they don’t give the full picture