Pass rate in Scotland slightly down as students get results after one of 'toughest academic years'

Fewer students in Scotland have passed their Highers and National 5s than last year despite exams being cancelled for a second time due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In total 87.3% of pupils achieved an A to C grade in their Highers, compared to 89.3% in 2020.

There was also a lower pass rate for Advanced Highers - 90.2% this year compared to 93.1% last year - and National 5s - 85.8% this year compared to 89% last year.

But despite being lower than last year's, the 2021 pass rate is higher at all levels than it was before the pandemic in 2019.

Live updates as students receive their A-level results

National 5s are the Scottish equivalent of GCSEs, while pupils take Highers and Advanced Highers in their last two years of school.

Results this year were based on teachers' judgments under a system called the alternative certification model.

A similar teacher assessment scheme was put in place in England, Wales and Northern Ireland after exams were cancelled, but grades were overwhelmingly higher there.

As in other parts of the UK, pupils from the most deprived backgrounds in Scotland were twice as likely to see their grades fall this year than their most affluent classmates.

It comes after the government was forced to U-turn on the algorithm it planned to introduce instead of exams in 2020.

There was outrage from pupils and parents, with some threatening legal action, after more than 120,000 results were downgraded last year.

Despite the drop in pass rate in Scotland, education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said they were were a "strong set of results… achieved under extraordinary circumstances".

"It's been one of the toughest academic years we've ever known, with the pandemic throwing significant challenges at our young people," she said.

"So, to have this many learners receiving certificates and for the number of passes at Higher and Advanced Higher to be so high is incredible."

But Scotland's shadow secretary for education, Conservative Oliver Mundell said: "Compared to last year, grades are down across the board. The attainment gap is up.

"That should set alarm bells ringing that this year's system is just as flawed and unfair as the shambles pupils suffered last year.

"But most damning of all, pupils from poorer backgrounds have been marked down the most from 2020 to 2021.

"That is nothing short of a disgrace. It is apparent that once again, young people have been judged because of where they come from and where they go to school."