Dingwall Academy achieves record-breaking exam results as commitment of pupils and staff hailed by head

THE head teacher of Ross-shire's largest secondary has hailed the hard work and commitment of pupils in the wake of exam results which have seen some records broken.

Dingwall Academy has claimed many achievements this year including more than 100 S4 pupils who achieved a Mental Health and Wellbeing Qualification; 14 S4 pupils who have passed all their National 5s with an A grade and over 80 S4 pupils passing all their five National 5 subjects.

The biggest achievement this year for Dingwall Academy is a record-breaking 17 pupils achieving five Highers all with an A grade.

"It is also important to remember that it is not all about the A passes, pupils and staff have worked incredibly hard to deliver and achieve qualifications in a wide variety of subjects and levels." - Karen Cormack, Dingwall Academy

Head teacher Karen Cormack said: "Congratulations to all pupils on their results and huge thanks to all staff for their work. These results represent hours of hard work, both in school and at home and pupils should feel deservedly proud of their achievements.

"It is also important to remember that it is not all about the A passes, pupils and staff have worked incredibly hard to deliver and achieve qualifications in a wide variety of subjects and levels.

"We also had 30 pupils achieve a National 5 in Travel and Tourism, demonstrating how our curriculum has adapted to give pupils the opportunity to achieve qualifications that will help them take their place in the world of work."

For the Highland region, figures show an increase in the number of National 5 entries from the previous year, with 78 per cent of candidates achieving A-C grades, the council said.

A total of 1625 Highland pupils have achieved five or more National 5 qualifications – nearly two per cent more than the previous year.

Other headline data:

67.4 per cent of S4 pupils achieved a National 5 English award and 47.5 per cent achieved a National 5 Maths award. The latter is a slight decline on improvement made last year but, the council says, attainment remains above the four-year average by 2.5 per cent.

19 per cent of S5 pupils achieved five or more Higher awards (A-D pass), an increase of 1.7 per cent from last year. Furthermore, 4.8 per cent of S5 pupils achieved five ‘A’ grade Higher awards.

By the end of S6, 32 per cent of pupils achieved three or more Higher awards (A-D pass), a slight increase on the previous year. 18.7 per cent of pupils gained at least one Advanced Higher (A-C), an increase of 1.8 per cent from the previous year.

Chairman of the council's education committee, Councillor John Finlayson, said: “This year’s data once again reflects the resilience and hard work of our young people and their teachers.

"There is much to celebrate across Highland in terms of this year’s results, and I would like to congratulate all who have achieved the results they hoped for.

"I am particularly proud of the achievements of our young people in S5 who live in vulnerable circumstances achieving a 3.2 per cent increase in the number of Higher qualifications gained – that’s 35 more young people than last year."

Executive chief officer for education and learning, Nicky Grant, said: “Education in Highland aims to nurture the unique talents of all learners to make sure they are supported in their achievements, progress, and wellbeing.

"It’s therefore important that we celebrate the success of all our young people today in both graded and ungraded course awards.

“We are glad that the early figures we have received indicate that we are offering a wide and diverse curriculum across the region, including in our rural areas.

"In S5, we have 105 young people who have achieved five ‘A’ grade Higher awards.

"Half of these young people attended rural schools which suggests that all learners in Highland are supported in inclusive learning environments which are safe, welcoming, caring, and proactively address any barriers to learning and inequities that exist or arise.”

Helplines:

SQA Candidate Advice – 0345 279 1000.

Skills Development Scotland’s Results – 0808 100 8000.

UCAS – 0371 468 0468

More information has been sent to learners’ homes and is available here

Clearing resources can be found here.

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