Pupils across the Scottish islands today received their first results since the return of school exams.
And it looks like they have every reason to celebrate.
In Orkney, the overall pass rate was up on 2019, the last year exams were held. Shetland pupils also improved in National 5s, Highers and Advanced Highers, while the Western Isles recorded strong results against the national average.
Island education bosses praised pupils’ exam results and thanked the hard working teachers who helped get them through it.
Orkney up on pass rate
Orkney Council says its pupils’ overall pass rate has improved since the last formal exams in 2019.
Taking in National 1s right through to Advanced Highers, the overall pass rate is 85%, compared to 83% in 2019.
Both the pass rate at National 5 and at Higher level increased by 2%, with 82% of pupils making the grade.
However, results slipped at Advanced Higher level, with the pass rate dropping from 87% in 2019 to 79% this year.
Orkney education bosses say they’re working on a more in-depth analysis, but stressed that there is much to celebrate.
Education chairwoman Gwenda Shearer said: “I wish to offer my congratulations to all those who received results today, for their commitment to their studies, and thank their families, teachers, lecturers and the wider school and college community who supported them.
“We will not forget the pandemic years and the removal of exams when teachers and college lecturers across the nation stepped into the breach to assist and contribute to the judgement of awards for our students.”
Recognising the anxiety of the past few years, Ms Shearer said now is the time to celebrate.
Shetland turns in 10% improvement in Advanced Highers
In Shetland, the anxiety lingered a bit longer, with delays at Sumburgh Airport impacting the postal service.
However, the early data suggests they are worth waiting for.
At National 5 level, 86.6% of Shetland pupils got an A-C pass, well up on the national average of 80.8%. It’s also a 4% increase on 2019 results.
Looking at Highers, 79.5% of pupils got an A, B or C. This is a little down on 2019 but still ahead of the national average.
In Advanced Highers, Shetland recorded an impressive 10% improvement on last year, with 88.2% of pupils getting an A-C grade. This is nearly 7% ahead of the national average.
Across the Shetland isles, 604 pupils sat exams in 2022 for the first time in three years. Two pupils sat and passed their National 2s, while the pass rate at National 3 and National 4 was 84.2% and 92.8% respectively.
Education chairman Davie Sandison praised pupils’ resilience, adding: “I would like to thank all the teachers, head teachers and support staff who have helped prepare our young people for exams this year and who have provided them with the health and wellbeing support to help them achieve their potential.”
Western Isles hails pupils ‘significant success’ in first post-Covid exams
The Western Isles – like Orkney – saw a slight drop in Advanced Highers but strong performances at other levels.
The pass rate for Advanced Highers was 76.3%, nearly 5% behind the national average. However, pass rate at Higher was the best of all the islands at 84.7%.
Western Isles pupils sitting their National 5s also did well, with 84.5% securing a pass.
Across 2,285 exams, the rate of A-C passes was 84.3%, compared to 80.1% in Scotland as a whole.
In addition to these exam results, Western Isles had 250 exam presentations for National 2, 3 and 4, with pupils passing every single one.
Education chairman Paul Finnegan, said: “We recognise, today, significant success and achievement for learners across the Western Isles in the first post-Covid examinations.”
Scottish results among strongest outside of pandemic
Meanwhile, the national picture also tells a success story.
The SQA said this year’s pass rate is among the strongest outside the pandemic, despite being down on the record highs of the last two years.
Some 78.9% of those who sat Highers obtained an A to C pass, down from the 87.3% in 2021 but up from 74.8% in 2019, when exams were last held.
All young people sitting exams in the spring were doing so for the first time, with the diets cancelled due to Covid in 2020 and 2021 and alternative grading arrangements used.
Almost 138,000 of them received their results today by text message, email and post.
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