Highers results see gap widen for poorest students
Attainment chasm at new level
THE attainment gap for Highers has risen to its highest level since the new qualifications were introduced, according to official exam results.
Information published by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) for the 2023/34 school year shows a gap of 17.1 percentage points in the Higher pass rate between those from the richest and poorest parts of Scotland.
This means that the gap is larger than last year, when it stood at 16 percentage points, and also higher than at any point since the new versions of qualifications were introduced around a decade ago.
The most recent statistics show that the Higher pass rate for pupils from the most affluent 20% of Scotland stood at 82.2%, whereas the same figure for those from the most deprived 20% of the country was just 65.1%.
The overall Highers pass rate has also fallen to 74.9%. This figure is much lower than any figure recorded during or since the pandemic, and is effectively the same as the 2019 pass rate, which was itself the lowest recorded pass rate in the preceding 10 years. As a result, the Higher pass rate is now at its lowest level since 2007.
The National 5 attainment gap has also risen, increasing from 15.6 percentage points last year to 17.2 percentage points in the latest set of results.
This is higher than all previous years. The overall pass rate for National 5 also fell from 78.9% to 77.2%.
At Advanced Higher level, the attainment gap increased from 11.5 percentage points in 2023 to 15.5 percentage points this year, while the pass rate dropped from 80.2% to 75.3%.
The Higher attainment gap fell to its lowest recorded level in 2020, when it stood at just 6.4 percentage points, while the National 5 and Advanced Higher gaps that year were also at all-time lows of 7.9 percentage points and 2.8 percentage points respectively.
This occurred after exams were cancelled and grades were awarded based on the work students had completed throughout the year.
Since then, the gaps at National 5 and Higher increased each year, as normal examination arrangements have been gradually reintroduced.
The attainment gap at Advanced Higher actually fell between 2022 and 2023, but this was only because the pass rates for the most affluent pupils fell much more than those for pupils from the most deprived areas.
The proportion of pupils achieving A grades at Higher level has also fallen since last year, although it remains above the levels recorded in 2019. The same pattern is found at National 5, but for Advanced Higher a smaller percentage of pupils achieved an A grade than was the case pre-pandemic.
The pass rate for National 4 qualifications, which are internally assessed and do not
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have a final exam, has also fallen to the lowest recorded level. This year, the success rate for this qualification was 84.5%, having previously stood at 90% or more until 2019.
Fiona Robertson, chief executive of the SQA and Scotland’s chief examining officer, said: “Our warmest congratulations to the 145,000 learners across Scotland whose achievements are being celebrated today. They can be rightly proud of their positive performance.”
The SQA also argued that “comparisons with other years should be treated with caution”.
The 2024 results data also reveals a significant rise in some alternative qualifications available to secondary school pupils. The completion of the most popular of these – known as National Progression Awards – increased from 11,210 to 14,230 at level 5 (equivalent to National 5), and from 7,105 to 8,585 at level 6 (equivalent to Higher).
Andrea Bradley, general secretary of the EIS teaching union, said the increase in non-traditional courses “reflects an appetite among many students for a senior phase which is more flexible and tailored to their individual needs and interests – whether they aspire to continue their learning at college, university, or in the world of work”.
“Reviews of Scottish education, most recently the Hayward Review, have highlighted how the current treadmill of highstakes exams is not fit for purpose, least so for the most socio-economically disadvantaged students, and must be reformed.
“It is imperative that the Scottish Government gets moving on implementing the reforms as recommended by the Hayward Review more than a year ago,” she said.
In a statement issued by the Scottish Government, Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth congratulated young people receiving their results: “Their resilience is remarkable, and their achievements all the more impressive given the significant disruption to learning due to the pandemic at the end of primary school and start of the secondary school journey.”
Ms Gilruth argued that the “poverty-related attainment gap has reduced by 60% since 2009 for young people leaving school and going on to a positive destination, such as work, training or further study”.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government has been consistently clear in its aim to close the poverty-related attainment gap, which is why we are investing £1 billion in the Scottish Attainment Challenge to enhance the level of support for disadvantaged pupils.
“Ministers are acutely aware of the impact the pandemic has had on children and young people – particularly on those affected by poverty. We continue to work with local authorities to understand these issues in greater detail.”