Anxious wait ends as pupils receive their exam results

The long wait for pupils waiting for their exam results on Arran is over as letters dropped through letterboxes on the island earlier this week.

Across Scotland around 136,500 exam certificates, more than 3,200 of them for North Ayrshire, started arriving on Tuesday as postal workers throughout the country started to deliver the Scottish Qualifications Authority certificates.

Some pupils received the results of their Nationals, Highers and Advanced Highers by email or text message, alleviating the anxious wait for the postal certificates.

The SQA said the results were broadly in line with 2016 with only a slight dip in the total number of passes remaining above 150,000 for the third year running.

Early analysis of the results shows that North Ayrshire’s schools continue to build on the success of the past few years with pupils across the authority waking up to excellent results at a range of levels.

Increased levels of aspiration are evident at S4, where a greater proportion of pupils than ever before have achieved qualifications at National 5 level.

Furthermore, a higher percentage of the results are at grades A and B. There are good performances at Higher level in S5 and these compare favourably with the five year trend across North Ayrshire’s schools. In addition, more S6 pupils are achieving qualifications at Advanced Higher, with performances this year being the best to date.

Further analysis will be undertaken in the coming weeks and months to establish the key highlights and areas for further focused improvement.

Pupils looking for advice and support can call the dedicated exam results helpline which has been set up by Skills Development Scotland.

The helpline – which is open between 9am and 5pm daily until Wednesday August 16 – offers advice on college and university course vacancies, confirmation and clearing, and advice about Modern or Foundation Apprenticeships, employment or volunteering. Calls are free on 0808 100 8000 although operator charges may apply. Students can also access help, advice and support through the SDS MY World of Work website at www.myworldofwork.co.uk/examresults