Scot Lib Dems criticise SNP exam failings

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today congratulated pupils on their exam results but raised concerns over falling pass rates, the rising attainment gap and errors which have seen pupils receive blank emails in place of their grades.

• 77.2% of those sitting National 5 exams passed with grades A to C, down from 78.8% in 2023. The attainment gap between those from the most affluent and most deprived areas was 17.2%, the highest level ever.

• 74.9% of those sitting Highers passed with grades A to C, down from 77.1% last year in 2023. The attainment gap between those from the most affluent and most deprived areas was 17.1%, the widest since the new versions of qualifications were introduced.

• 75.3% of those sitting Advanced Highers students achieved A to C grades, down from 79.8% in 2023. The attainment gap increased from 11.5% in 2023 to 15.5% this year.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said:

“First of all, I would like to congratulate everyone receiving their results today and commiserate with those who did not get the grades they wanted. There is no single correct path to take and there are great options out there no matter how well you did.

“However, I am concerned to see the attainment gap rising. This was supposed to be the SNP’s defining mission, and one that Nicola Sturgeon specifically tasked John Swinney with overseeing but the gap between the richest and the poorest is widening.

“It appears that nothing the SNP have done in government has worked.

“When I speak with teachers they identify a series of roadblocks: behaviour, absence rates, lack of support for Additional Support for Learning and unmanageable workloads which has been allowed to flourish under the SNP.

“My party has been consistently critical of the record of the SQA in supporting pupils and we remain concerned that the Scottish Government’s proposed education reforms will see the same leadership in charge making the same mistakes.”

Responding to “technical issues” which saw some candidates who signed up to receive results by email reportedly receive blank emails, he added:

“For many young people this will already be the most stressful day of their life so far. They could certainly do without false alarms and errors from the exam board.”