CITY’S SCHOOLS MUSTDO BETTER
More miss ‘benchmark’ despite exams boost across the board
FEWER than half of Glasgow’s schools have hit a controversial ‘benchmark’ for performance.
But official figures show exam results are actually improving.
ONLY 12 out of 30 Glasgow schools have hit their “benchmarks” – despite exams results rising across the board.
Performance data has now been released by Education Scotland, which the Evening Times has turned into league tables so parents can see how their child’s school is performing academically.
Last year’s tables showed 21 out of the city’s 30 secondaries met or exceeded their “virtual comparator” – a “benchmark” drawn by Education Scotland to help measure a school’s performance.
This year just fewer than one third of schools managed the same, despite the fact academic attainment is increasing.
At the top of the tables this year are Hyndland Secondary and Notre Dame High School, with both seeing 69 per cent of their pupils gaining three or more Highers.
Drumchapel High School sits at the bottom of the table for a second year running with 19 per cent of pupils gaining the same qualifications.
However, 93 per cent of its school leavers come from the most deprived parts of the city, compared to 45 per cent at Notre Dame and 30 per cent at Hyndland.
St Mungo’s Academy has fallen sharply to second bottom on the table.
Last year 26 per cent of its pupils managed three or more Highers, while just 19 per cent achieved the same this year.
St Margaret Mary’s, in Castlemilk, recorded an impressive rise from second bottom on the table with 20 per cent last year, to ninth from the bottom with 27 per cent this year.
Glasgow Gaelic School usually tops the league table, but this year no information was given for pupils achieving three or more Highers.
This puts the school at the bottom of the table, although 70 per cent of its school leavers earned five or more Highers.
As of last year it had topped the table for three years running.
The Evening Times tables show how many pupils leaving school – whether at the end of fifth or sixth year – have earned three or more Highers.
We also list the “virtual comparator” for each secondary.
The virtual comparator is a number generated by Education Scotland to suggest how a school should be performing, given the socio-economic background of pupils.
Education bosses compare the school to another with a similar mix of pupils to see how many awards its young people should be achieving.
Due to Glasgow’s unique challenges with poverty, this is difficult to do for the city’s schools.
We show the number of pupils gaining three or more Highers and compare this to the virtual comparator.
The tables also show the percentage of pupils who are from the most impoverished postcodes and backgrounds.
This is listed as the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) Level 1.
The virtual comparator has been called into question as education bosses said the benchmark has very little meaning.
Susan Quinn, Glasgow representative of the Educational Institute of Scotland teaching union, said: “A virtual comparator can’t pick up every nuance of a school community and situation.
“Thankfully, the majority of parents know that schools are about far more than simply producing pass marks in tests or constantly measuring their children’s progress in a few areas of learning.
“Parents understand that schools in different communities work to meet the differing needs of those communities and the varying needs of the individual children and young people who attend, often with signifi- cant variations in facilities and resources.
“Rather than setting one school against another, our common endeavour should be to ensure that Scotland’s comprehensive system of education continues to ensure that all pupils, no matter what their personal circumstances, receive a quality educational experience that can support them in meeting their own personal goals and aspirations.”
As told in the Evening Times this week, more school leavers in Glasgow are going on to study at university and colleges than ever before.
Latest figures show the numbers who are in work education or training after school almost hitting 92 per cent while two thirds go on to further study.