Argyll schools see their grades rocket
Argyll and Bute’s SQA pass rates have rocketed this year, a new report has revealed.
National 4, National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher pass rates were all well ahead of the national average, according to a document prepared for a meeting of the council’s community services committee.
Nine of the area’s 10 council-run secondary schools were above the Scottish average at National 5, with seven out of 10 beating the national average at Higher level. Eight of the schools were also higher than the national average for Advanced Higher – Tiree High School, did not present any candidates for that level. For the fourth year in a row, all 10 secondary schools in the region had a 100 per cent pass rate at National 4 level.
Grades were awarded through teacher estimates this year after the Scottish Qualifications Authority’s (SQA) exam diet was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a covering report, the council’s executive director Douglas Hendry said: ‘The council received SQA awards for all pupils entered for formal qualifications in session 2019/20 in August 2020.
‘This provided comprehensive information on the outcome of examination performance for all pupils across each of the 10 Argyll and Bute secondary schools.
‘Following the cancellation of the formal SQA examination diet due to Covid-19 schools submitted estimate grades made on behalf of each young person. These estimate were originally considered, moderated and awards allocated by the SQA to each presentation and level. However, on August 11 the Scottish Government indicated that the SQA would change this approach and revert to candidate awards based solely on the estimates provided by schools and colleges. Any learner that was awarded a grade higher than their estimate in the original process maintained their award at the higher level.’
A table in the report then shows that the attainment across Argyll and Bute at National 5 level is a 12.02 per cent improvement on the 2018/19 exam diet.
For Higher level, the improvement is 17.26 per cent, and for Advanced Higher the attainment has risen by 20.02 per cent.
Of the 10 schools, Islay High School had the best National 5 pass rate with 96.4 per cent, while Tobermory High School had the best Higher pass rate with 96.92 per cent.