The pass rate has fallen while the attainment gap has widened across all Scottish school qualifications after a chaotic start to the day when thousands of pupils received a blank email instead of their exam results.
The chief executive of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), Fiona Robertson, apologised to the estimated 7,000 young people affected, blaming a technical issue that was “resolved swiftly”, with the correct results emails sent out by 9.30am.
Some young people reported receiving confirmation of their university or college place while still not knowing their actual results.
Of the 145,000 pupils who sat exams in Scotland, the numbers of those achieving an A, B or C grade at National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher fell across the board.
With this year marking the return of full coursework assessment following disruption during the Covid crisis, after a “sensitive” approach last year, the biggest drop in A-C grades was seen for Advanced Highers, falling from 79.8% in 2023 to 75.3%, compared with 79.4% in 2019.
The Higher A-C attainment fell from 77.1% in 2023 to 74.9% this year, compared with 74.8% pre-pandemic. For National 5 exams the rate also dropped from 78.8% in 2023 to 77.2%, compared with 78.2% in 2019.
The SQA noted there had been different approaches to marking in each year since 2019 and that “comparisons of attainment between years should be treated with significant caution and do not allow for meaningful conclusions to be drawn”.
The results also show that the gap between the exam results of those from the richest and poorest parts of Scotland has increased compared with last year and before the pandemic.
For example, the most recent figures show that the gap between Higher A-C pass rates for pupils from the most affluent and most deprived areas of the country stood at 17.2, up from 16% last year and 16.9% in 2019. The attainment gap has also increased for National 5s and Advanced Highers.
Scottish Labour’s education spokesperson, Pam Duncan-Glancy, said the results “speak for themselves”.
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“The poverty-related attainment gap is at its highest ever level, while attainment has also fallen for all. Higher pass rates are equal to the lowest level on record and pass rates are well below the pre-pandemic standard. Despite the best efforts of teachers, staff and Scotland’s young people, they are being forced to pay the price of 17 years of SNP failure and SQA chaos.”
The Scottish Conservative shadow cabinet secretary for education, Liam Kerr – a contender for party leadership – said the “chaotic and shambolic situation” with blank emails would only have added to pupil stress.
“Successive SNP education secretaries have dithered and delayed on reforming the SQA for too long. Even then their plans amount to a sticking plaster rather than the widespread changes that Scottish education requires.”
