Isles second for quality of life

SHETLAND has come second to Orkney on a list of Scotland’s top locations for best quality of life.

The isles, however, have dropped 52 places in the the Bank of Scotland’s UK rankings to number 70.

Shetland scores well in the survey for education, with the Bank of Scotland highlighting its small class sizes and low secondary school pupil to teacher ratio, as well as the high spend per pupil.

The isles ranked second in terms of employment, with Shetland having 85.5 per cent of people in work, while it also has the third lowest burglary rate in the UK (3.9 per 10,000 people).

Shetland was also deemed to be the third healthiest place in Scotland – although it appears that was derived from householders rating themselves.