School celebrates exam results
FORRES Academy pupils were among teenagers in Moray celebrating success this week, after receiving their SQA standard grade and higher results.
After a false start when some pupils received their results by text message a day early, all the students were finally able to find out their acheivements when the post arrived on Thursday morning.
Moray Council said that there was a record Highers haul around the region, with 28 pupils gaining five Highers at A grade.
That compares with 17 last year and 16 the previous year.
At Forres Academy, education bosses said that 12 percent of S5 pupils got 5 highers with eight pupils achieving five straight As.
"Forres Academy has done very well this year," said local councillor, Jeff Hamilton who is chairman of the education committee.
He welcomed the Moray results, which he said were good for the area, and well in line with last year’s.
He said that a higher percentage of fourth year pupils in Forres also did well, particularly in English and Maths with results indicating that children with additional needs were also achieving well.
However, while S4 results were in line with last year, S5 were slightly down in Moray overall, but results for S6 students were the best ever achieved.
Moray Council’s head of schools, learning and development, George Sinclair, said the results were encouraging.
"What can be said with certainty is that recent years have shown a clear and consistent improvement on attainment figures in the earlier years of Moray Council," he said. "It is clear that, to realise their future aspirations, young people require a range of skills in addition to their attainment."
He said young people leaving Moray schools, particularly from S6, were the best qualified in the history of Moray Council and better equipped with the skills required for their future.
Meanwhile UCAS reported that after processing all SQA Highers and Advanced Highers results, 21,630 Scottish applicants were accepted into a Scottish university or college, slightly down on last year’s figure of 32,248 Scottish applicants.
