North-east pupils celebrate improved exam results

The figure for S5 pupils who attained five Higher qualifications and passed at grade A in one sitting this year was 94 compared to 81 in 2014.

Pupils and teachers said it was too hard, was structured in a different way from the old exam and bore little resemblance to the prelim that they sat in order to prepare for it.

She added: “The checks and balances in place ensure that students who would have gained a particular grade in a qualification in any previous year will still have done so at the same grade this year”.

A total of 107,295 pupils sat the new Highers, with a pass rate of 79.2%. Figures released by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) show attainment is again high this year, with Higher English passes up 17.7 per cent to 27, 902, and Higher modern languages passes increasing by 15.2 per cent to 7, 419.

OPPOSITION politicians last night called for a review of the new Higher maths exam after it emerged that the pass mark had been lowered to just 33.8 per cent.

Today, as results were delivered to pupils across Scotland, the SQA confirmed grade boundaries for the new CfE Higher exam were reduced to correspond with the difficulty level of the existing Higher exam.

Education Secretary Angela Constance said: “The SQA have well-established processes that no young person is disadvantaged”.

The new Higher Maths exam was criticised after pupils who sat it took to social media to highlight their concerns that it was too hard in comparison with past papers.

Liz Smith, the Scottish Conservative young people spokeswoman, said the biggest challenge in education was the “significant attainment gap between pupils from poorer and wealthier backgrounds”.

“But this reduction is drastic and shows just how badly wrong the SQA got it”.

George Adam, a Nationalist MSP, said: “She set out to scaremonger and deliberately ignored the simple fact that the exam varies in difficulty between years”.

Nearly 143,000 students received results of Highers, National 4, National 5 and Advanced Highers yesterday.

“This achievement is particularly significant given that this year saw the first students sit the new Highers as part of the ongoing introduction of the Curriculum for Excellence”.

The authority reports its best ever performance at S4, S5 and S6 level, with 42 per cent of fifth years achieving five or more Highers (up 39% on the previous year).

But their peers who sat the old version had to get 80 per cent for an Upper A, 68.4 per cent for an A, 55.4 per cent for a B and 43 per cent for a C.

Pupils at Craigmount High School took an exam compiled under the old higher model but Ms Constance insists they and others like them were not given an unfair advantage.

This is the first year East Renfrewshire’s pupils have sat the new National exams at S4.