Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth says exam results ‘present a challenge’

Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth has told how this year’s exam results “present a challenge” as the number of students passing with the top grades fell from last year.

Ms Gilruth also apologised to students for a “glitch” which resulted in some of those who had signed up to get results on email being sent blank messages.

That issue was resolved by 10am on Tuesday, Ms Giluth said, adding she would be speaking to bosses at the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) about what happened.

The Education Secretary said: “I offer my apologies to all young people who were affected by that delay in receiving their results, but I am glad they have now received those results.”

Her comments came as Fiona Robertson, SQA chief executive and Scotland’s chief examining officer, stressed students had achieved a “solid set of results”.

This year’s results showed that 77.2% of those sitting National 5 exams passed with grades A to C – with this down from 78.8% in in 2023.

For Highers, 74.9% of students passed with the top bands, down from 77.1% last year, and for Advanced Highers 75.3% of students achieved A to C grades, falling from 79.8% in 2023.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) stressed “significant caution” should be exercised when comparing results, as changes during and after the Covid-19 pandemic mean that different approaches have been used in awarding exams every year since 2019.

However, the Scottish Government said the results showed the impact of the poverty-related attainment gap, stating results were “broadly similar” to 2019 – the last year of pre-pandemic results.

Ms Gilruth, meanwhile, said the pandemic meant this year’s results should be compared with 2019 – pre-Covid – with this showing broadly similar Higher passes at A to C of 74.8% then and 74.9% this year.

She spoke as some 145,000 students across Scotland received their results, the highest number since 2015.

Scottish Conservative education spokesperson Liam Kerr criticised the “chaotic and shambolic situation” after blank emails were sent, saying this was “the last thing pupils across Scotland needed on results day”.

Scottish Labour education spokesperson Pam Duncan-Glancy said: “Young people across Scotland should have woken up this morning to exciting news – instead they have woken up to a new level of SQA chaos.”

She went on: “The results speak for themselves – the poverty-related attainment gap is at its highest-ever level, while attainment has also fallen for all.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton meanwhile said he was “concerned to see the attainment gap rising”.

The Lib Dem MSP commented: “This was supposed to be the SNP’s defining mission, and one that Nicola Sturgeon specifically tasked John Swinney with overseeing, but the gap between the richest and the poorest is widening.”

Ms Robertson said, however, that “while there is some variability in the national attainment picture in 2024, this is a solid set of results for learners in National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher courses”.

The 2024 results were hailed for the record number of vocational and technical qualifications that were awarded – with a 24% rise on last year meaning students received a total of 90,045 such qualifications.

Ms Gilruth, who went back to her former school, Madras College in St Andrews, to speak to students there, said: “I’m really heartened to see a record high 90,045 vocational or technical qualifications have been awarded this year, up almost a quarter on 2023’s results.”

The Education Secretary congratulated all students receiving results, noting they would have seen “significant disruption to learning due to the pandemic”.

And she added she was now “determined to work with our teachers, school staff and local authorities to drive further improvements in our schools”.

Ms Giluth told the PA news agency: “This year’s set of results present a challenge to government and also to local authorities, and it is important I, as Education Secretary, work with local authorities on the improvements we need to see, recognising this cohort of young people lived through a global pandemic and that will have impacted on them.”

Stressing it is “really important we have a resolute focus on driving improvement” she said she had written to local authority education chiefs, so they and others could “talk about this year’s results”.

But she also insisted: “We also need to remember that other parts of the UK have seen a widening gap too, post pandemic.

“It’s hard for our children and young people who lived through a global pandemic and who missed parts of their education.

“So we need to remember this cohort of young people are quite different compared to the peers that came before them and be mindful of that.”

As students’ exam results were revealed, a dedicated helpline staffed by careers advisers from Skills Development Scotland opened to provide students with advice on their options.

This can be contacted on 0808 100 8000 with the helpline open from 8am until 8pm on both Tuesday and Wednesday, and then from 9am to 5pm on Thursday and Friday.

Meanwhile, the SQA also opened its free appeals service for students who wish to challenge their grades at 9am on Tuesday.

In addition, a Scotland-wide trial will give students in some subjects access to their marked exam papers, through either their school or college.

The SQA believes the move will help learners decide whether or not to appeal against their result.

The qualifications body introduced this in a limited trial in 2023, with the scheme applying then only to a small group of schools across two subject areas.

Now it has been expanded to all schools and colleges and can provide access to marked exam papers in five subject areas: geography (National 5 and Higher); graphic communication (National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher); media (National 5); music (National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher) and statistics (Advanced Higher).