Scottish Religious Schools Flourish

Private schools in Scotland have massively outperformed the state sector again, with almost half of all Highers achieved at A grade - more than twice the national average.

Results published by the Scottish Council of Independent Schools (SCIS) showed that 49 per cent of all Highers sat by 5th-year pupils in private schools this year were awarded an A grade. The average for state and private schools combined was 22 per cent.

School representatives said the success was due to the high teacher/pupil ratio in fee-paying schools, with an average of 8.5 pupils per teacher.

Overall, Higher passes this year are up slightly on last year, with 91 per cent of candidates receiving A to C grades, compared to 90 per cent last year.

The league table of private schools sees St Columba’s School, in Kilmacolm, Inverclyde, top the table, with a pass rate of 97.7 per cent. Other top performers include the High School of Glasgow, with 64.9 per cent of Highers marked A.

David Girdwood, rector at St Columba’s, said: “We are absolutely thrilled. We have a wide range of pupil abilities and the performance this year reflects a very high degree of effort on the part of pupils and teachers.”

He added that the school was neither highly academic nor particularly selective, and he believed its success was due to “sheer hard work and high expectations”.

He said the school never forced pupils to withdraw from an exam just because they might not pass it.
“I am delighted that 76 per cent of our pupils scored at least five Highers.”

At St Mary’s Music School in Edinburgh, where pupils are given places on musical rather than academic abilities and where most students receive state funding, the Higher pass rate was 96.8 per cent.

Hazel Sheppard, spokeswoman for St Mary’s, said: “Our pupils are chosen by a music audition. There is no academic test and this is the seventh year we have been at or near the top of the league tables.

Pupils at private schools also scored well above the national average in Advanced Highers. The overall pass rate this year was 88 per cent, against the national average of 74.5 per cent, and 41 per cent of passes were at A grade, compared to a 22 per cent national average.

Scotland has more than 31,000 children in private education.

Judith Sischy, director of SCIS, said the results were “testimony to the dedication of the schools’ teaching staff, and reflect months of hard work by their pupils”.

She added that, with 8.5 pupils per teacher on average, independent schools were well placed to provide individual attention and support where it was needed.