Glasgow’s miles better for pupil achievement, the city maintains, as Her Majesty’s Inspectors continue their investigation into the education department.
Attainment of pupils by the end of S4, S5 and S6 has improved in seven of the nine national performance measures. Across the country, there have been improvements in only six.
Officials continue to argue that Glasgow is badly treated by media analysis of examination performance which they say concentrates on the percentage of pupils who gain five or more Highers by the end of S5.
John Curley, senior education officer, notes: “Nationally only 9 per cent of the previous S4 achieve five or more Highers by the end of S5. In Glasgow, the corresponding figure is 5 per cent. The tables, as interpreted by the media, therefore tend to ignore the results achieved by the other 90 per cent of pupils.”
Over the past three years, the gap between the performance of S4 pupils in the city and the rest of Scotland has decreased at Credit, General and Foundation levels. There has been a 4 per cent increase in the number of pupils gaining five or more awards at level 4 or better, translating into an extra 240 pupils.
Similar progress has been achieved in S5 and S6.
