Students taking Higher courses in Scotland posted a rise in A grades in almost every subject.

Over half of those taking Higher modern studies attained an A, for example, Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) figures show.

A Tes Scotland analysis of the nine most popular Higher subjects - those highlighted in the SQA’s own presentation of its data - shows that 56 per cent of Higher modern studies candidates gained the top grade this year, the highest among those nine subjects. That is up on 44.3 per cent in 2020 and 34.5 per cent in 2019, the last year national SQA exams went ahead in Scotland, after Covid led to their cancellation in 2020 and 2021.

Half the candidates taking Higher history and business management - which are also among the nine most popular subjects at Higher - also attained A grades.

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Background: A-grade passes hit record high on SQA results day 2021

Related: Pass rates drop across the board on results day

News: Announcement on 2022 SQA exams ‘in next few days’

Principal teacher’s take: Why were there so many A grades?

The A-C pass rate for PE was the highest among the nine most popular subjects, but was down on 2020: 92.8 per cent of students passed Higher PE in 2021, against 94.2 per cent in 2020.

This year, the overall pass rate dropped on last year across National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher, but the proportion of entries attaining A grades hit record highs.

A head of English and drama in one Scottish school suggested that one reason for the rise in A grades could be that schools assessed students when they were ready, instead of on “some arbitrary ‘exam day’”.

Across all 46 Higher subjects, only engineering science saw the proportion of candidates attaining A grades drop - but only by half a percentage point, to 40.1 per cent of entries.

At Higher, 13 subjects saw their A-attainment rates increase by over 10 percentage points between 2020 and 2021.

When it came to the overall pass rate, 38 of the 46 Higher subjects saw a decrease or no change in their A-C attainment rate compared with 2020.

Below, we take a closer look at attainment in the nine Higher subjects with the highest number of entries because - as the SQA says in its statistical summary - “changes in the A-C or A-attainment rate of a large Higher subject has more of an effect on total attainment”.

The attainment rates for all Higher subjects can be accessed here.

It should be noted that the SQA has urged caution when it comes to making comparisons between 2021 results and previous years, given the different way in which students were assessed as a result of the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Higher pass rates and A-grade attainment rates

Business management (8,777 entries)

2021 pass rate: 87.8% (89.8% in 2020 and 76% in 2019)

50% of candidates attained A grades this year

Chemistry (9,833 entries)

2021 pass rate: 81.5% (88.3% in 2020 and 75.8% in 2019)

43.4% of candidates attained A grades

English (36,534 entries)

2021 pass rate: 88.2% (87.4% in 2020 and 73.4% in 2019)

42.2% of candidates attained A grades

History (10,539 entries)

2021 pass rate: 88.9% (90.7% in 2020 and 73.2% in 2019)

51.1% of candidates attained A grades

Human biology (7,549 entries)

2021 pass rate: 76.6% (84.2% in 2020 and 69.5% in 2019)

32.7% of candidates attained A grades

Maths (19,419 entries)

2021 pass rate: 80.1% (83.3% in 2020 and 72.4% in 2019)

47.1% of candidates attained A grades

Modern studies (9,531 entries)

2021 pass rate: 90.7% (90.8% in 2020 and 76.4% in 2019)

56.2% of candidates attained A grades

PE (11,803 entries)

2021 pass rate: 92.8% (94.2% in 2020 and 88.1% in 2019)

45.3% of candidates attained A grades

Physics (8,481 entries)

2021 pass rate: 80.8% (86.6% in 2020 and 75% in 2019)

42.4% of candidates attained A grades.