Created on: 08 Aug 2023
The EIS has commended Scotland’s students and teachers following the publication of SQA qualifications results for this year.
EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley said, "Scotland’s students, their families, carers and teachers, should be very proud of the results that have been achieved this year, across a range of qualification types.
"Young people across Scotland, supported by their teachers and other education staff, have worked extremely hard to accomplish these results, and deserve high praise for their efforts.
"These results have been achieved despite the significant continuing challenges of education recovery in the post-pandemic era, together with the added pressure of the cost-of-living crisis and the impact of poverty on far too many families across Scotland.
"That the attainment gap has narrowed compared to pre-pandemic is to be welcomed but that there is still a gap at all underlines the need for increased support for students and families, and reform of the assessment system."
Ms Bradley continued, "For many young people, their results will allow them to secure places for continuing study in further or higher education.
"Others will move into the world of work, or onto training or apprenticeship programmes. Education opens many opportunities for our young people, and is vital to the future prosperity of the entire country. That is why quality education is so important, and why government must invest more in our education provision and in our young people."
Ms Bradley added, "Not all young people will have achieved the results that they hoped for, and they will require appropriate support to assist them in deciding their next steps.
"The current high-stakes exam system does pile huge pressures onto young people, which is something that must be addressed in the reform of the qualifications system arising from the Hayward Review. Scotland must now push ahead with bold and innovative change to deliver a qualifications system that best meets the needs of all young people in schools and colleges across Scotland."