Scotland's students & teachers should be proud of results following very challenging year

Created on: 09 Aug 2022 | Last modified: 20 Apr 2023


The EIS has congratulated Scotland’s students following the publication of this year’s qualifications results.

Commenting following publication of this year’s pass rates by the Scottish Government, EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley said, “Scotland’s students, teachers, parents and carers should be extremely proud of all that has been achieved this year across a broad range of qualifications in very difficult circumstances.

"The long-lasting impact of the Covid pandemic created many challenges for our education system last session, including the fact that this particular cohort of young people had to prepare for formal exams amidst record levels of student and staff Covid-related absence, never having sat exams before this year.

"Scotland’s young people, including those whose qualifications were not exam-based, deserve to be strongly commended for their achievements in the face of the many additional challenges that have been placed upon them. Scotland’s teachers and lecturers deserve huge recognition for the work that they have done in supporting learners to achieve so strongly overall and in helping to reduce the gap in attainment between the most and least deprived students across N5, Higher and Advanced Higher.”

Ms Bradley continued, “Throughout the past three years, Scotland’s teachers have continued to demonstrate great commitment and professionalism in adapting to frequently changing assessment and qualifications procedures.

"The additional workload challenges that have arisen over this period have often been crippling, but Scotland’s teachers have consistently risen to the challenge in order to ensure the best possible outcomes for young people. The return to an exam diet this year was needlessly rushed, arguably a backward step, and has been an additional stressor to teachers and students alike.”

Ms Bradley added, “With the forthcoming replacement of the SQA, and continuing discussions around the future shape of senior phase qualifications, Scotland has an opportunity to create a greatly improved system that will better meet the needs of young people in the 21st century.

"A system that places far less emphasis on high-stakes exams and much greater emphasis on deeper learning assessed through teachers’ professional judgement, with parity of esteem for all learners’ achievements, is the model that we should be striving for. The EIS will continue to make the strong case for a better qualifications system for all of Scotland’s young people.”