Wednesday August 5th 2020
The number of students gaining top grades in Highers and National 5s in Midlothian rose this year despite the challenge of Covid-19.
Exams across the country were cancelled and grades awarded by the Scottish Qualifications Authority this week after teachers submitted representations based on pupils’ work and performance.
The results saw more than a quarter of S6 pupils who left school during lockdown awarded five or more Highers, and two-thirds of students who sat Highers receiving A-C grades.
Councillor Jim Muirhead, the council’s cabinet member for education, said the results were “a solid achievement in challenging times”.
He said: “We need to add the caveat that we are still cross checking all of our results but, that said, we’re very proud of our pupils and our staff.
“Many pupils had the stress of having to finish coursework before lockdown while teachers had to quickly adapt to the new guidance around assessing grades.
“The aim has always been to make sure pupils’ grades are a fair assessment of what they would have achieved in normal circumstances.
“Well done to everyone. The results are a solid achievement in challenging times.”
Nearly 77 per cent of pupils who studied for Highers received A-C grades – up almost six per cent on last year and 80 per cent of those who studied for National 5s received A-C grades – up 3.5 per cent.
A total of 11,011 resulted awards were certificated for 2,058 candidates across Midlothian.
Tweet Share on Facebook
