A new league table of the best performing nurseries in Scotland has revealed which council areas are best when it come to pre-school education.
The Times and Sunday Times recently published statistics based on latest Care Inspectorate inspections.
The regulator awards grades ranging from six points for ‘excellent’ to one point for ‘unsatisfactory’, across the four categories of ‘setting’, ‘staff’, ‘leadership’ and ‘quality of ‘care, play and learning’.
The maximum combined points achievable is 24 but the highest points achieved since June 2023 was 22.
To work out which council areas perform best, the compilers looked at how many nurseries with at least one ‘excellent’ rating there were per 1,000 children under the age of five.
Here are the 10 top areas, according to that measure.
5. Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar Council, including the town of Stornoway (pictured), takes fifth spot when it comes to standards of nursery provision. There are 1,257 under-fives in the area, with 4.8 nurseries per 1,000 under-fives rated excellent in at least one category. | Canva/Getty Images
6. East Renfrewshire
East Renfrewshire Council takes sixth spot when it comes to standards of nursery provision. There are 5,920 under-fives in the area, with 4.6 nurseries per 1,000 under-fives rated excellent in at least one category. | Canva/Getty Images
7. South Ayrshire
South Ayrshire Council, including the town of Ayr (pictured), takes seventh spot when it comes to standards of nursery provision. There are 5,350 under-fives in the area, with 4.5 nurseries per 1,000 under-fives rated excellent in at least one category. | Canva/Getty Images
8. East Dunbartonshire
East Dunbartonshire Council, including the town of Kirkintilloch (pictured), comes eighth when it comes to standards of nursery provision. There are 6,291 under-fives in the area, with 4.5 nurseries per 1,000 under-fives rated excellent in at least one category. | Canva/Getty Images