Pupils told not to panic as exam results due

YOUNGSTERS have been urged not to be downheartened if they don’t get the exam results they hoped for tomorrow.

Scottish school pupils did not sit exams this year due to the coronavirus outbreak, the first time this has happened since the exam system was put in place in 1888.

Results will be based on estimated grades that rely on “the professional judgment of teachers and lecturers” who submitted estimated grades for qualifications including National 5s and Highers to the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) in May.

The council’s education spokesman Stewart Hunter said guidance staff would be available to chat to youngsters about the appeals process, which will also be different this year.

Mr Hunter said: “There’s a huge campaign every year that we do which is, if results aren’t what you were expecting, don’t panic.

“There are a lot of very successful people who didn’t do great in their exams and had to go a different route to get to where they wanted to be.

“Don’t panic, we’re here to support you and will put that support in. How we then move forward, in the school, which is not quite 100% back the way it was before, what we might have to put in place to support you might be a little different this year.

“But, just get in touch with us and we’ll work it through.”

Council leader John Alexander said the annual ‘’No Wrong Path” campaign remained at the heart of the authority’s message to pupils.

He said: “If you don’t get the results you want, or you had perhaps hoped for, that doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t go into whatever you want to do.

“Sometimes you’ll try different jobs or you’ll go down a different avenue and you’ll change your mind a few years down the line.

“I think it’s just about reassuring those young people that there is other assistance, there are other options on the table.

“It isn’t all about either university or just going straight into employment, there’s a whole series of different things.”

And the council leader acknowledged that the job prospects for this generation of school leavers could be markedly different to their predecessors.

He added: “I don’t think any of us are going to be blinded by the fact that this is going to be really difficult for business, going forward, and perhaps the job opportunities are not going to be where we would want them to be.

“Once the furlough scheme ends, we don’t know how that will impact on the number of jobs available in the city either.”

Stewart Hunter