News / Shetland pupils excel again
SHETLAND’S school pupils narrowly outshone their peers on the Scottish mainland with exemplary results at both standard and higher level.
Nerves were stretched on Tuesday morning as more than 600 teenagers throughout the isles eagerly anticipated the outcome of their exams after more than two months of waiting.
The earliest results appeared by text and email as early as 8am, while others chose the traditional route of the postman, leaving some waiting until well into the afternoon.
Freya Inkster, from Burra, received her higher results electronically in Canada where she is visiting relatives with her mum.
In Vidlin, 15 year old Katarina Dürnberger was elated to receive her results through the post at noon and discover she had flown through with seven grade ones and two grade twos.
“We had study leave for over a month and I was pretty stressed the whole time but I worked really hard for them so I’m really happy; I didn’t expect to do so well,” she said.
Friends at her high school in Brae had also done well, she said, and she was full of praise for those teachers that encouraged her to work hard and believe in herself.
Her plans now are to complete five highers and go on to sixth year before applying for a psychology course at university, “because humans really interest me”.
Standard grade credit level passes in Shetland rose from 60 to 62 per cent, while passes in at least one subject at higher level fell from 80 to 78 per cent. The Scottish average for higher passes was 77 per cent, an increase of 1.7 per cent.
At Anderson High School where almost 430 pupils sat exams, head teacher Valerie Nicolson applauded the achievement of pupils, especially those who transferred from Scalloway.
She said significantly more young folk were achieving three or more higher passes, slightly more were attaining credits at standard grade and eight youngsters had attained five grade As in fifth year.
“Across all abilities people have been achieving well…and I am delighted to say that those youngsters (from Scalloway) have fulfilled everything the Scalloway staff were hoping for them and maybe even more.”
Special mention went to three students who gained Scottish baccalaureates at Anderson High, including Jennifer Sim who gained a distinction in the first modern languages baccalaureate completed in Shetland. She hopes to go on and study law and German.
Brae head teacher Colin Kirkness said staff were very pleased with the “tremendous set of results” from their pupils.
“I think there are some outstanding individual performances at all levels, I would say probably the fourth year results are very good, but generally we are very pleased and again it’s a credit to the bairns,” he told BBC Radio Shetland.
Education and families committee chair Vaila Wishart said she was pleased to see Shetland’s schools continuing to help young people attain such high standards.
“Pupils, staff and parents have obviously worked very hard over the last year and I wish all the young people involved the very best for their future.”
Any pupils with concerns about their results can contact their school for a confidential chat.
Skills Development Scotland are running a hotline for students seeking advice about results at 0808 100 8000 and provide information at www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk.
Scottish education secretary Michael Russell said: “We have guaranteed every 16 to 19 year old a place in education or training through Opportunities for All and Helpline advisers are on hand to talk young people through the options available to them, should it be further study, a training place or employment.”
Initial analysis by the SIC showed:
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advanced higher presentations increased from 91 in 2011 to 104 this year;
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the number of subject presentations (ie. the individual subjects each candidate sits) at higher grade saw a significant rise, from 803 in 2011 to 837 this year. This is the same number as in 2010;
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the number of candidates sitting SQA qualifications in Shetland continues to drop, from 619 in 2011 to 609 in 2012. This has been a trend over the last three years. In 2010, 655 candidates sat exams;
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the number of subject presentations at standard grade continues to drop, from 1,777 in 2011 to 1,711 in 2012;
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the number of presentations at Intermediate 1 and 2 levels was down from 672 last year to 650;
The percentage of standard grade credit grades (grade 1 or 2) which were attained as a percentage of all presentations at standard grade rose again this year, from 60 per cent in 2011 to 62 per cent. In 2010, 58 per cent of standard grade candidates achieved credit. This is a positive and pleasing trend in recent years.
At higher level, the percentage of passes (A-C grade) in at least one subject dropped slightly, from 80 per cent to 78 per cent.
At intermediate level, there was a drop in the percentage of passes at intermediate 1, from 79 per cent to 69 per cent. Intermediate 2 saw a very small reduction in passes, from 84 per cent to 83 per cent.
There was also a decrease in the number of passes at advanced higher level. The percentage here fell from 87 per cent in 2011 to 79 per cent in 2012. However the figure this year still continues to be much higher than the 2010 figure of 68 per cent.
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