SCOTLAND'S schools are beating their benchmarks, according to new data.

Education Scotland's latest figures for school exam results show 58% of school leavers are doing better than expected.

The Evening Times has created league tables for the six surrounding local authority areas, showing how many pupils are leaving school with three or more Highers.

Of the 71 schools the Evening Times collected data for, 41 met or exceeded the benchmark figure while 30 did not.

In East Renfrewshire, six schools met or exceeded their benchmarks while one did not. Similarly, in West Dunbartonshire four met the suggested target but one did not and in East Dunbartonshire seven did while one did not.

Renfrewshire saw six schools make their benchmark and five did not.

Of North Lanarkshire's 23 schools, 11 met or surpassed their comparison figure while 12 did not and in South Lanarkshire, 11 schools did not meet their bench mark while six school met or surpassed theirs.

East Renfrewshire had the best-performing council-funded school in the country, St Ninian's in Giffnock.

A spokeswoman for East Renfrewshire Council said: "These results are a testimony to the phenomenal success of East Renfrewshire's education service in never resting on our laurels and always striving for improvement.

"Hard work, dedication from our pupils, teachers, education staff and parents has resulted in this success and we are looking towards how we can build on this in the future."

The new data sets, used for the first time this year, also give a benchmark figure - dubbed a 'virtual comparator' for each school.

We have graded whether schools are meeting this comparative figures.

Gordon Currie, Director of Education and Children's Services at East Dunbartonshire Council, said: "We are delighted that so many of our secondary schools are among the top performing in Scotland.

"This reflects the hard work, effort and achievement of everyone involved in these schools - pupils, staff and parents, as well as the Council. We are proud of all our schools and are committed to driving up attainment levels across East Dunbartonshire."

Education Scotland, the public body responsible for supporting Scotland's schools, this year released new data to grade pupil results.

It has published qualifications attained by school leavers, rather than individually by fourth, fifth and sixth year.

And to replace the previous benchmark of poverty, free school meals, the authority is using the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), which divides children into five levels.

Level 1 represents children living in the 20% most impoverished postcodes.

Our tables show the percentage of youngsters from Level 1 of the scale.

A spokeswoman for West Dunbartonshire Council said: "West Dunbartonshire is proud of the progress its schools have made in raising attainment over recent years.

"The new Insight tool provides sophisticated analysis of many measures of attainment.

"All schools are committed to improving attainment levels and use a variety of data to inform their strategies."

North Lanarkshire Council's Convener of Learning and Leisure Services, Cllr Jim Logue said: "Obviously we are very pleased at the level of attainment achieved by our young people.

"It is a sign not only of their personal endeavour to gain qualifications, but proof the huge investment the council has made in education is paying off.

"However, we are far from complacent and there is much work still to be done to ensure each and every one of our young people achieves their maximum potential."

Tony McDaid, Head of Education at South Lanarkshire Council, said: "With the introduction of Curriculum for Excellence, schools are better able to meet the key challenges facing children and young people today equipping them with the skills, experience and attitudes needed in a 21st century economy and ensuring more equitable life outcomes.

"To understand how well a school is doing, it is important to look at a range of different information sources, together with data about each school's individual context. The attainment measures add to information already provided by schools in their handbooks and websites, as well as through their regular communications with parents. All of these are designed to help parents better understand their child's school experience and to encourage increased dialogue with schools.

"The data which are used to create Virtual Comparator (benchmark) attainment levels are drawn from pupils in schools in other local authorities across Scotland. It is important to remember that these pupils will attend a number of schools operating a variety of curricular models. Schools that offer young people a curriculum based on a range of leaver destinations may have young people who sit fewer qualifications but who are better prepared, with more appropriate skills and experiences, for the world of work."