![\"Strathearn](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_Strathearn-pupils-2.png\")
Strathearn School in East Belfast has been crowned State Secondary School of the Year in Northern Ireland for Academic Excellence<\/p>\nIt was also ranked 31 in the top 150 state secondary schools across the UKStrathearn School in East Belfast has been crowned State Secondary School of the Year in Northern Ireland for Academic Excellence<\/p>\n
A Belfast principal says she’s thrilled after her school was ranked the top in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
Strathearn School \u2013 a girls\u2019 grammar school based on the Belmont Road<\/a> in the east<\/a> of the city \u2013 was also ranked 31 in the top 150 state secondary schools<\/a> across the UK, according to the 33rd edition of The Sunday Times Parent Power Guide 2026.<\/p>\n The rankings are based on 2025 examination results, when pupils at Strathearn School recorded 83% grades A*-B at A-level<\/a>. The same year, 79% of all GCSE grades achieved by Strathearn pupils were A* or A \u2013 the highest year on record for the school.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Northern Ireland’s top secondary schools named in The Sunday Times guide<\/a>READ MORE: WATCH: Co Tyrone school rivals John Lewis with heartfelt Christmas video release<\/a><\/p>\n Strathearn emphasises a caring, supportive environment where \u201ceach individual is valued.\u201d The school aims not only for academic success<\/a>, but also for the personal growth of pupils: fostering confidence, self-esteem, a love of learning, and a sense of belonging.<\/p>\n Strathearn School Principal Nicola Connery said: \u201cHaving consistently ranked in the top cohort of grammar schools in this prestigious report, we are thrilled to rank in first place this year \u2013 particularly given the exceptionally high quality of grammar schools listed across Northern Ireland<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is testament to the outstanding hard work, talent and determination of our pupils, the support and encouragement of their families at home, and the inspirational dedication of our superb team of teaching and non-teaching staff.\u201d<\/p>\n Whilst the rankings focus on examination results, Mrs Connery said that Strathearn\u2019s success \u201ctranscends all aspects of school life\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cOur ethos as a school centres on providing a caring and nurturing environment in which every pupil is celebrated for their own individual talents and is encouraged to realise their full potential across a wide range of both curricular and extra-curricular areas,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Paying tribute to the staff at the School, Rosemary Bailie, Chair of the Board of Governors at Strathearn, said: \u201cLed by Mrs Connery and the staff of Strathearn School work exceptionally hard throughout the school year to encourage and empower our pupils to excel in all that they do, and this reflects in these latest rankings.\u201d<\/p>\n For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage<\/strong> here<\/a> and sign up to our daily newsletter<\/a> here.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was also ranked 31 in the top 150 state secondary schools across the UKStrathearn School in East…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":613723,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[121739,191401,73833,2266,1144,857,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-613722","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-a-levels","9":"tag-belmont-road","10":"tag-east-belfast","11":"tag-education","12":"tag-northern-ireland","13":"tag-schools","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115666792561242590","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=613722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/613723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=613722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=613722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=613722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Strathearn](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_Nicola-Connery.png\")
Strathearn School Principal Nicola Connery<\/p>\n