Local authorities in Perth, Fife, Angus and Dundee have been congratulating pupils on their hard work following the publication of today’s exam results.
The move comes after pupils returned to formal in-person assessments for the first time in three years.
The previous two years have seen alternative certification arrangements by the SQA (Scottish Qualifications Authority), the national accreditation and awarding body for Scotland.
But how has each local council area performed?
Perth
Attainment statistics published today by the SQA show young people in Perth and Kinross performed well as examinations returned to near-normal after two years of Covid disruptions.
Early figures show:
- Pupils in Perth and Kinross achieved 2,507 National 4 awards, with a 84% pass rate and 7,111 National 5 awards, a 92% success rate.
- 55% of S4 pupils achieved five or more awards at National 5 level.
- At Higher (SCQF Level 6) qualifications, pupils in Perth and Kinross were awarded 3,410 passes, achieving a 79% pass rate.
- At Advanced Higher (SCQF Level 7) there were 720 passes across schools, with a pass rate of 84%.
It is not possible to compare this year’s SQA results directly with the previous two years because of the different certification model that was used in response to the Covid pandemic.
Sheena Devlin, executive director of Perth & Kinross Council’s education and children’s services, said: “Our children and young people deserve to celebrate their successes today after what has been another challenging year for them.
“These results are testament to their hard work throughout the school year.
“We would also like to thank all of our teachers, school staff, parents and carers for their hard work and support.”
Pupils have still had to adapt to unprecedented disruption over the past two years and so deserve great credit for their achievements.”
Councillor John Rebbeck, learning and families convener
Learning and Families convener councillor John Rebbeck added: “These positive results are down to the hard work of our children, young people and school staff.
“Pupils have still had to adapt to unprecedented disruption over the past two years and so deserve great credit for their achievements.”
Fife
Early data from this year’s results show that more young people in the Kingdom sat exams, compared to previous years.
Figures also suggest pass rates for Fife students have gone up.
Maria Lloyd, head of Education and Children’s Services (Secondary Schools and Specialist Support), said: “Our preliminary analysis of this year’s results (before the appeals process takes place) shows even more young people sitting exams than in previous years.
“When we compared this year’s result to those in previous exam-based assessment cycles (the years before the pandemic), the overall numbers of awards being achieved by Fife young people and the pass rates have increased.
“There has also been an improvement in the quality of grades being achieved, with a greater improvement being seen for those achieving grade A passes this year.
“This is thanks to the hard work put in by the students but also to the school staff, and their parents and carers, who have helped them through one of the most difficult times in history.
“I’m so proud of everything they have achieved.”
Angus
Pupils and families in Angus have been thanked for managing to work through a difficult year to ensure they were ready for this year’s exams.
Cllr Lynne Devine, convener of Children and Learning Committee, said: “This year saw young people returning to formal exams for the first time in three years.
“I would like to thank our young people and their families for their perseverance throughout a year which for some of them included periods of absence from school due to self-isolation regulations.
“I would also like to thank our staff for their dedicated and creative work in ensuring that our young people were well prepared for the exam diet.”
A spokesman added that they won’t be releasing any early data from today’s exam results: “We do not routinely comment on cohort data and will not be releasing any analysis at this time.
“We instead report on Leaver’s data following the February update of Insight.”
Dundee
More than 2,900 pupils in Dundee received their exam results and have been praised for their success.
Children and families convener Stewart Hunter said: “I would like to congratulate all our pupils for their achievements, as well as school staff for their efforts.
“Families have played a huge role in supporting their children through this time and helping to prepare them for these exams.
“Despite restrictions easing over time, this has still been a very difficult time for our pupils and Covid still had an impact causing absences and disruption to learning.
“I am very proud of the resilience that has been shown by all our school communities to enable these exams to go ahead.”
He added: “The city council’s children and families service is now analysing the award data and a full report on the details will be presented to committee in due course.”
