PUPILS in Glasgow schools are celebrating exam success with more pupils leaving school with Highers than ever before.

The council’ s education bosses said across the city attainment is improving and other measures of educational achievement are also showing success. In Scotland this year there was a drop in the Higher pass rate of two per cent.

Meanwhile, schools in Glasgow are continuing to show steady improvement and schools where multiple higher passes were once a rarity are showing a rise in pass marks and more pupils getting grades to go to college and university if they want to.

A full breakdown of results is yet to be done but the number of those with highers has increased, and crucially for university places the number of pupils leaving with four or five Highers has increased.

Councillor Chris Cunningham, City Convener for Education, Skills and Early Years said the results were impressive.

He said: “Young people across the city are celebrating very impressive SQA exam results today and are once again raising the attainment bar for Glasgow schools.

“Senior pupils in S5 and S6 have displayed continued improvement in achieving 4+ and 5+ Highers, up by 1.2 per cent from last year.

“And by the end of S6, more pupils than ever before are leaving school with 7 or more Highers and a range of qualifications as they embark on the next stage of their learner journeys.”

READ MORE:

Scotland suffers drop in Higher pass rate

Glasgow has for a long time had fewer pupils going to higher education either at HE colleges or university.

But last year more than a third of Glasgow school leavers progressed to higher education, 39 per cent (2017/18).

The improvement can be seen by comparing with 12 years ago when the figure was just 18 per cent.

The figures for this year are expected to show the improvement is sustained with more pupils earning passes.

Other measures including pupils completing Duke of Edinburgh awards, often associated with school in more affluent areas, has also increased.

There has been an increase of more than 500 per cent in pupils from the 20 per cent most deprived communities achieving the outdoor activities and volunteering bases award.

Also the city has seen a success in efforts to reduce exclusions.

Last year no pupils were permanently excluded form a school in Glasgow and temporary exclusions were down to one per cent with schools adopting a philosophy of ‘if they are not in school they are not learning’.

Mr Cunningham added: “I’m delighted with these results and the good news comes just months after Glasgow’s education services was awarded with an excellent rating from Education Scotland for improving learning, raising attainment and closing the poverty-related attainment gap.

READ MORE:

East Renfrewshire ballet dancer gets ten straight As

“We have some of the most committed teachers and school staff in the country and today their pupils did them proud.

“Our schools will continue to offer a range of opportunities to our young people to help them flourish in learning, life and work.

“There really is no wrong pathway and I would urge any young person who has not received the results they hoped for today to contact their school for support and advice – targeting the needs of each of our young people is at the heart of everything that we do.”