Highland school attainment on the up – but councillors press for more
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Highland Council’s education officers have reported a strong improvement in attainment across the board.
The region has recently lagged behind national averages in exam performance. However, the latest set of results show it’s successfully narrowing the gap.
The biggest improvements were in S4, with the number of pupils gaining 3+ and 5+ awards at SCQF Level 5 increasing significantly.
In 2017, 61 per cent of S4 pupils got three or more awards at SCQF 5 – this has increased to 69 per cent, just short of the national average.
The number of S4 pupils achieving five or more awards at the same level is also up by 12 per cent, to 52 per cent. The national average is 54 per cent.
The senior years recorded more modest improvements. S5 results were steady but still lagging behind the national picture. Highland is between four and six per cent behind the Scottish average in SCQF 6.
In S6, there was a marked improvement in the number of pupils achieving at least one award at SCQF 6 and 7. This was 61 per cent in 2017 and increased to 67 per cent in 2022 – but it’s still two per cent short of the national average.
The biggest gap is 5+ awards at SCQF 6 and 7, where Highland scores 33 per cent against Scotland’s 40 per cent.
Councillor Liz Kraft welcomed the “really encouraging” results, while Councillor Muriel Cockburn emphasised that the council is “here for every young person, to support them”.
Despite the improved picture, some members want the council to be more ambitious.
Councillor Richard Gale welcomed the introduction of ‘stretch targets’ for school attainment but asked if they’re stretching enough.
Meanwhile, Councillor Alasdair Christie remarked: “Surely our vision should be number one? There’s still a gap to be closed.”
Education boss Fiona Grant urged councillors to take one step at a time. She said that a one or two per cent improvement is a “dramatic shift” while gains in mathematics are “outstanding”.
This prompted Councillor Helen Crawford to observe that if a one per cent improvement is dramatic, so too is the attainment gap.
She said she’d like to hear more about the “step change” that’s needed to raise Highland attainment.
Her Conservative colleague Andrew Jarvie had similar concerns. He said that while Highland is improving, so is the national average, so the gap remains.
Education committee chairman John Finlayson said he was proud of the wider achievements of Highland pupils.
“We’re having a lot of conversations about what education should look like,” he said. “Is attainment at five Highers the only benchmark we should be looking at for our young people? In a society that is changing rapidly… are we recognising just attainment or should we be accrediting other achievements in a wider context?”
