The drop in the pass rate, the rising proportion of A grades and the attainment gap have all hit the headlines after the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) published annual results data today.
Here are the 11 key statistics behind those stories.
85.8%
National 5 pass rate (89 per cent in 2020 and 78.2 per cent in 2019)
87.3%
Higher pass rate (89.3 per cent in 2020 and 74.8 per cent in 2019)
90.2%
Advanced Higher pass rate (93.1 per cent in 2020 and 79.4 per cent in 2019)
46.7%
Proportion of A-grade passes at National 5 (42.3 per cent in 2020 and 35.1 per cent in 2019)
47.6%
Proportion of A-grade passes at Higher (40 per cent in 2020 and 28.3 per cent in 2019)
51%
Proportion of A-grade passes at Advanced Higher (46.3 per cent in 2020 and 31.8 per cent in 2019)
Live blog: SQA results day 2021
Attainment gap: SQA results day 2021: attainment gap wider than in 2020
A grades: A-grade passes hit record high on SQA results day 2021
Pass rates: SQA results day 2021: Pass rates drop across the board
A teacher’s view: Brighter days lie ahead after SQA 2021 results on Tuesday
The future of exams: SQA results 2021: Should SQA exams be scrapped in push for change?
Looking ahead: SQA results day 2021: What now after ‘most stressful’ year?
9
Percentage point gap in National 5 pass rate between the students living in the most and least deprived areas (up on 7.9 percentage points in 2020 but down on the 17.1 percentage point gap in 2019)
7.9
Percentage point gap in Higher pass rate between the students living in the most and least deprived areas (up on 6.5 percentage points in 2020 but down on the 16.9 percentage point gap in 2019)
5.5
Percentage point gap in Advanced Higher pass rate between the students living in the most and least deprived areas (up on 3 percentage points in 2020 but down on the 13.9 percentage point gap in 2019)
Another busy #SQAResults day - catch up on all our stories via our live blog which we will continue to add to today and in the coming dayshttps://t.co/8ulkQQiSui
- Emma Seith (@Emma_Seith) August 10, 2021
4,000
Number of appeals submitted to SQA to date (around 11,500 review requests were received by the SQA results service in 2019 but appeals are still being submitted this year)
300
Number of students who delayed assessment until September due to being “unduly disadvantaged by severe disruption to learning and teaching” during the coronavirus pandemic.
