Positive attainment outcomes for Highland

This year, Highland schools have continued to see positive progress made in attainment outcomes for senior phase SQA results from 2017.

Chair of the Education Committee, Cllr John Finlayson said: “We welcome the positive attainment outcomes covered in today’s committee paper and the year on year improvements we are seeing and look forward to the continued collaborative work with Officers, Head Teachers and Members to continue to raise school attainments and achievements. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted our young people, but they and our schools should be congratulated on what they have attained and achieved over the last academic year.”

For Highland in S4 to S6, the awards gained by young people in Scottish Index for Multiple Deprivation (Quintile 1) has improved over five years. It is clear that Highland has been successful in closing the gap at Level 5 and Level 6. Schools report that Covid-19 has impacted particularly on young people living in deprivation. Our focus on closing the gap will continue to prioritise wellbeing along with collaborative targeted work with key partners and including use of Scottish Attainment Challenge and Pupil Equity resourcing.

A number of strategies are already underway which aim to raise levels of attainment across Highland. This includes collective work with Officers and schools, a report will be taken to a future committee meeting on the strategies agreed and implemented. This feedback will then be shared with Members at ward level for further discussion and reflection.