East Renfrewshire schools celebrate 'record-breaking' exam results

Glasgow Times

6 days ago

Figures released today, as around 147,000 students across the country received their grades, revealed 82% of S4 pupils in the local authority area attained five or more passes at National 5 or better – the best ever performance and an increase of six percent from 2024.
Barrhead High and St Luke's High achieved their best ever S4 results, with an increase of 32% and 24% respectively from 2024.
At St Luke's High, Sofia Jackson, Yasmine Zourdani and Connor MacDonald were all delighted with their achievements.
St Luke's High pupils celebrate the school's best ever S4 results (Image: Jeff Holmes)
Yasmine, 15, secured seven As and two Bs at National 5.
She said: 'I was so worried that I couldn't sleep last night. When I opened my results and saw what I had I ran downstairs and my parents looked at them all – they're so proud of me.
'The support I got from school was brilliant.'
Sofia, 16, from Barrhead, who plans to pursue a degree in law and Italian, received eight As at National 5 and an A in Higher Art.
She said: 'The school really supported my preparations, and I would go along to the study hubs with my friends, which was helpful and we all supported each other.'
(Image: Jeff Holmes)
Connor, 16, secured National 5s in Practical Woodwork, Design and Manufacture, PE and Financial Services, as well as Level 5 Numeracy and National 4 Application of Maths and Computing.
He said: 'I thought I performed really well and was pleased with what I've achieved. I'm looking forward to doing the Highers I've picked for the year ahead.'
At Barrhead High, pupils Ben Murray, Aysha Syed, Jack Morrison, Zoe Bennie, Lana Anderson, Grace Hunter and Abbie Reid all secured excellent results.
Jack, who got six As and three Bs in his National 5s, said: 'I was so happy this morning. Some of the exams were really tough, so to have achieved what I'd hoped for is brilliant.'
The local authority area's seven high schools also recorded strong performances in Highers and Advanced Highers.
A total of 68% of S5 pupils attained three or more passes at Higher; 46% of S5 pupils attained five or more passes at Higher; and 48% of S6 pupils achieved one or more passes at Advanced Higher.
Mearns Castle had their best results for one or more Highers, with a nine percent increase at 96%, while Williamwood and Woodfarm had their best ever results for the proportion of S6 pupils achieving one or more Advanced Highers, increasing by five percent and 17% respectively.
At Eastwood High, 62% of pupils achieved five or more Highers by the end of S6, an increase of 11% since 2019.
Mark Ratter, director of education at East Renfrewshire Council, said: 'These successes are a testament to the dedication and perseverance of our pupils, supported by the unwavering encouragement of their families and the tireless commitment of school staff.'
At Isobel Mair School, a range of qualifications from National 1 to National 4 were secured by senior pupils.
Jason Gray and Yahya Riaz both excelled and achieved National 3 passes in English.
Senior phase pupils attending the East [[Renfrew]]shire Communication Support Service have also achieved a range of SQA National Qualifications and Skills for Work courses.
East Renfrewshire also continues to offer more than 60 vocational options to S4, S5 and S6 pupils.
Each year almost 400 pupils take on these courses, providing the opportunity to study for a vocational qualification alongside other subjects, enabling them to gain skills that will help them enter the workplace or further education in the future.