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Attainment gap for Aberdeenshire pupils is closing

Aberdeenshire has seen an increase in exam results achievement.
Aberdeenshire has seen an increase in exam results achievement.

The attainment gap between the highest and lowest achieving school pupils in Aberdeenshire is closing.

When thousands of teenagers received their exam results in August, students across the north-east were praised for a rise in their performance.

Now a detailed breakdown of the results has revealed that the attainment gap is closing and that numeracy and literacy levels are consistently higher than the national average.

The percentage of S4 pupils securing passes in English and maths at National 4 and 5 levels has increased every year since 2014, and stands at 91% and 59% respectively.

In comparison, only 83% of students across Scotland have at least National 4 passes and only 47% have National 5 levels.

A crucial part of the breakdown is the link between a pupils results and areas of deprivation in Aberdeenshire.

The best performing academy was Banchory, where 76% of S4 pupils passed five National 5 courses, up from 70% in 2015.

Peterhead was once again lowest in the region’s league table, but did show a significant jump from 29% to 34% for National 5 passes.

The gap between students in the 30% most deprived areas and the 30% least deprived areas has narrowed year-on-year since 2014.

In her report to the education committee, Aberdeenshire’s schools chief Maria Walker said: “Although this is to be welcomed, there remains some way to go before it can be claimed that it is eliminated, and the magnitude of the gap at S5 remains greater than at either S4 or S6.”

Last night Aberdeenshire Council co-leader Alison Evison welcomed the results but agreed more can still be done to help pupils from deprived areas.

Mrs Evison, who chairs the education committee, said: “The figures do show very pleasing levels of attainment across Aberdeenshire and pupils, teachers, parents and carers are all to be congratulated on this.

“There is evidence of a reduction in the attainment gap at each stage, but the gap does still exist and both schools and the wider children’s service will continue to work on ways to tackle the effects of deprivation.”

Aberdeenshire’s education committee will meet tomorrow to discuss the breakdown of results.