Today BBC Scotland goes with:
Pass rate falls as Scottish pupils get exam results
I’ll be quick.
The proportion of pupils awarded an A, B or C at Higher has fallen from 78.9% in 2022 and 89.3% in 2020 to 77.1% this year. The pass rate was 74.8% in 2019.
It was a similar picture for National 4s and 5s and for Advanced Highers.
The pass rate for National 5 qualifications was 78.8%, which was down from 80.8% in 2022 and 85.8% in 2021 but up from 78.2% in 2019.
At Advanced Higher level, 79.8% passed. That was down from 81.3% in 2022 and 93.1% in 2020. The pass rate was 79.4% in 2019.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-66429533?at_format=link&at_campaign=Social_Flow&at_campaign_type=owned&at_link_id=A0527494-3615-11EE-A24D-F2B8ECABB293&at_bbc_team=editorial&at_medium=social&at_ptr_name=twitter&at_link_origin=BBCScotlandNews&at_link_type=web_link
So, at all three levels, the pass rated climbed from 2019, the last year unaffected by pandemic measures, to 2023, the first year since then relatively unaffected by pandemic measures.
Good news all round?
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
To be fair – this year the kids did not have to do the same amount of work or learn as much as they did in 2019 as the covid modifications to courses were still in place. It was a nightmare getting the Higher pupils through the course this year and next year it will be a return to pre-covid courses. I don’t know how the kids will adapt to the increase in the amount they are expected to know but, the SQA is determined they must. Next year will be the first year we can compare with 2019.
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But it’s better comparison than with 20, 21, 22?
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It 21 and 22 pupils did the same courses as this year but it was assessed internally. Next year is the real concern for me because, as I say it, will be a return to the 2019 course for the first time and I don’t think the kids are used to that workload.
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No the best comparison for 2023 is with 2022. I expected to see a drop from last year because the sympathetic marking was gone this year – however the course modifications remained in place. This means that for example, with one of the units in my subject, the kids will need to learn 50% more for the exact same amount of marks. You might think this year was a breeze for the kids because of course modifications but actually with absences up in S5 it really wasn’t and they struggled. I’m not sure if poor attendance is a legacy of covid but kids were struggling.
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The results this year are definitely better than pre pandemic so A Wilson is being a bit odd it comparing this year with the pandemic years and saying this year is the same , it’s definitely not the same , categorically definitely not the same children have been at school this year and have had to prove their capability properly to teachers whereas during the pandemic years pupils were often not at school we know there was leniency and many many more appeals that were rightly successful given the pressure pupils and families in general were already under because of covid.
So “to be fair “ BBC and A.Wilson and no doubt other English nationalist supporters issuing their skewed conclusions should go home and think again , we are on to you .
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I’m an independence supporter and I can’t stand the BBC and the way it reports on Scotland – I just pointed out that there is an issue comparing this year with 2019 l, as this year the amount the kids had to learn and be able to show evidence of learning, was significantly than in 2019. If you think that makes me an English nationalist then that’s worrying.
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Hello Anonymous , you said
“ this year the amount the kids had to learn and be able to show evidence of learning, was significantly than in 2019” ….less than…
BUT obvious to all except perhaps you Anonymous and the BBC whom you can’t stand is that children at school in Scotland this year would not be sitting doing nothing even if they had less to learn for their exams, teachers would still be teaching them for the duration of the class covid modifications or not.
P.S. if you think that supporting and excusing the BBC skewed agenda here is okay you are supporting the English propaganda war on Scotland .
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You’ve missed the point I’m making. This year we didn’t need to cover as much with the kids but even do but it was a struggle – attendance has been down and also engagement seems to be more of an issue – it could be that this years kids struggled with the pressure of exams due to covid and that will pass but I’m not sure yet. So to be clear teachers were not teaching parts of the course that were not being assessed – they were focused on getting the kids through what would be assessed and even with modifications still in place it was a real challenge. As I have said before my concern is that next year they will struggle even more as they’ll be expected to learn as much they did back in 2019 and I can see a difference in engagement since then. I’m not sure why you are taking that as an attack of the SNP – of which I’m a member or evidence I’m a unionist – I am explaining the situation with assessments and whether you accept it or not assessments won’t return to the 2019 format until next year.
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They just hate Scotland and our kids too. They hate the idea that Scotland is every bit as good as any and better than most. They don’t care about the damage they do to our education, our health service, our tourist industry and Scots confidence in themselves. They just need to continually talk Scotland down and when they do they talk us ALL down, not just the SNP, they demean all of us, including themselves. How sad is that?
I, for one, am proud of our kids achievements.
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I wonder !
If the Pass Rates had been HIGHER than before would there have been an outcry from the Usual Suspects claiming that the SQA/Schools /Scottish Government were fiddling the figures for political Brownie Points ?
Hmmm ? Thinks hard for a nano second ….
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The ‘dumbing down’ argument would have been resurrected.
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