Dedicated East Renfrewshire pupils land record-breaking results

Attainment has continued to rise across the area, with very strong National 5 results and best ever performances in S5 and S6.

Thousands of young people celebrated the confirmation of their results, once again against the backdrop of the challenging circumstances faced by all pupils due to the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

East Renfrewshire Council’s convener for Education and Equalities, Councillor Alan Lafferty, said: “These achievements are a tribute to the hard work of pupils who have been exceptionally well supported by our staff and parents, all of whom contribute to this impressive performance across East Renfrewshire.

"The circumstances over the past year have been difficult for everyone, and our schools worked tirelessly to ensure that high quality learning and teaching continued throughout the pandemic and during school closures.

"This ensured that young people were well prepared on their return to school to show the progress made in their learning through the alternative certification model the SQA put in place this year, and allowed their hard work to be rightly and fairly recognised and celebrated.”

Key achievements include:

 79% of S4 pupils attained 5 or more awards at National 5 or better, the second highest in East Renfrewshire’s history

 50% of S5 pupils attained 5 or more awards at Higher, the highest ever

 73% of S5 pupils attained 3 or more awards at Higher, the highest ever

 At Advanced Higher, S6 pupils achieved the area’s highest ever proportion of one or more awards.

 St Luke’s High recorded its best ever performance for the proportion of S4 pupils attaining 5 or more awards at National 5 since 2016

 Barrhead and St Ninian’s high schools achieved their second highest ever results for the proportion of S4 pupils attaining 5 or more awards at National 5, whilst Williamwood High School pupils continued to perform strongly with 85% of pupils attaining this measure

 Barrhead High and Woodfarm High schools had their best ever performance of S5 pupils gaining 5 or more Highers

 Eastwood, Mearns Castle, St Ninian’s and Woodfarm high schools recorded their highest ever levels of S6 pupils attaining 1 or more awards at Advanced Higher.

Mark Ratter, director of Education at East Renfrewshire Council, said: “We could never have imagined the interruptions and uncertainty that pupils have faced over the past two years, but their resilience has been incredible.

"Our teachers and support staff worked extremely hard to support pupils during every stage of their learning and I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank them for their professionalism and commitment.

"It is particularly pleasing to see that the poverty related attainment gap for S4 pupils attaining five or more awards at National 5 has reduced for the third consecutive year and is now at the lowest level ever in East Renfrewshire.

"Our focus on providing excellent experiences for all young people continues to have an impact as year after year our pupils continue to produce outstanding results. Congratulations to everyone on all that they have achieved in the most challenging of circumstances.”