Edinburgh pupils enjoy exam success

August 8, 2017 12:35 pm

Thousands of pupils across Edinburgh received their exam results today, ending an anxious time for many.

The council says that early indications are positive with candidates once again making improvements on their performances in several areas from last year and The City of Edinburgh Council schools’ overall good performance has been maintained.

A total of 40,141 resulted awards were certificated for 7,965 candidates (includes special schools, adults and mainstream secondary schools) in over 83 subjects ranging from Accounting to Urdu.

A particular strength continues to be attainment of pupils by the end of S5 and S6 where the strong levels of attainment have either been maintained or improved at Highers.

Highlights include:

By the end of S4, 44% of the S4 roll achieved 5 qualifications at National 5 level which is an increase of 1 percentage point from last year, and an increase of 6 percentage points since the first National 5 examinations in 2014.
By the end of S5, 38% of the S4 roll achieved 3 or more Highers – a 1 percentage point improvement on last year and a 7 percentage point improvement since 2012.
By the end of S5, 19% of the S4 roll achieved 5 or more Highers – a 1 percentage point improvement on last year.
By the end of S6, 47% of the S4 roll achieved 3 or more Highers – a 1 percentage point increase on last year.
By the end of S6, 33% of the S4 roll achieved 5 or more Highers – a 1 percentage point increase on last year.

Royal High School pupil Ross Witney-Hunter, 17-years-old, achieved 5 As in his Advanced Highers and has been offered a conditional place at Cambridge University subject to the results of his STEP exams.

His results completed a unique treble sweep of A grades as he also achieved 6 in Highers and 7 in National 5s in previous years.

Ross said: “It was nerve wracking waiting for the results but I’m really pleased with them. It was a hard year as I was also doing my diploma for the clarinet so now I’m hoping to study Maths at Cambridge. What made it more difficult was seeing my friends on holiday in June as I was still studying for my Cambridge exams!”

Liberton High School pupil Calum Arnott, 17-years-old, achieved 7 As in his Highers.

He said: “It was quite difficult during the exam period taking the seven subjects especially as one of them was ‘crash’ Physics but the teachers at Liberton were really supportive. I’m taking five Advanced Highers next year and hoping to do engineering at University.”

Councillor Ian Perry, Education Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, welcomed today’s results.

He said: “Early indications from the SQA exam results show that 2017 has been another really positive year for our pupils with improvements in several key areas. It’s a real achievement to have not only sustained but built on the successes of previous years.

“By the end of S4, 44% of our pupils have achieved 5 qualifications at National 5 which is up from last year and a 6 percentage point improvement since the exams were first introduced in 2014.

“I want to congratulate all our teaching staff on their commitment to delivering learning experiences of the highest standards. Our pupils should be very proud of themselves too and are to be congratulated on their hard work and successes over the past year. And let’s not forget parents who have supported their children during this difficult time.

“The Council is also committed to making sure all school leavers enter a positive destination of employment, training, or further education through initiatives such as the Edinburgh Guarantee and I look forward to seeing many more placements and positive results.”