DEAL Best of luck to exam results pupils
BY WEST SCOTLAND MSP NEIL BIBBY
Today is the big day for thousands of young people in Renfrewshire and across the country.
Around 135,000 exam candidates who sat their Nationals, Highers and Advanced Highers in the spring will find out how well they have done this morning.
I want to congratulate all those receiving their results. I hope that the months of hard work and revision have paid off.
Education, they say, is a great liberator. It can give people the knowledge, the skills and the awareness they need to take control of their own lives and shape their own futures.
For many of our young people what they have achieved today will be lifechanging.
It will open up new opportunities and let them expand their horizons.
Their results might be a stepping stone to a career, to a college course or confirmation that they have met the entry requirements they need for university. Every pass and every grade is an achievement. Each certificate is a reason to be proud. Every success if welcome.
For those who haven’t quite got the results they hoped for there is no need to panic. Everyone has options and there is plenty of advice and support on hand to help you discuss yours.
Skills Development Scotland’s dedicated Exam Results Helpline opened today, providing careers advice and information to young people and their parents. The number to call is 0808 100 8000.
Careers advisers will be online too, using social media to help with enquiries and offer advice to those who find it easier to get in touch through direct messaging.
They are also available in their network of local offices, with one right here in Paisley.
SDS careers advisers can give professional, informed advice about UCAS course vacancies, clearing, jobs and volunteering as well as the different apprenticeships and training programmes available.
Their mykidscareer.com website also provides information to parents to help them handle conversations about career choices and options.
There is no one path to success and security in today’s world.
Sometimes plans made in high school do not come together, sometimes they do but it just takes that bit longer to get there.
Many people find that the lives they enjoy today are not the lives they would have envisaged or even imagined when they were at school. There are plenty of opportunities out there to be found.
While today we celebrate the achievements of our young people, we should also recognise that what they have achieved has been against the backdrop of stretched budgets and profound change in Scottish education.
Earlier this month independent experts at the Scottish Parliament Information Centre confirmed that over £800million had been slashed from council budgets by the SNP Scottish Government since 2013.
Schools are where the greatest share of local government spending goes – and they’re under pressure.
Over the same period, there has been huge change in secondary schools, with entirely new qualifications introduced.
Against that backdrop of change, the work of teachers and pupils in achieving these results today is all the more deserving of praise.
Once again, I congratulate Renfrewshire’s young people and wish them well in whatever they choose to do.