Latest news with #National4
The Herald Scotland
05-08-2025
- General
- The Herald Scotland
Exams 2025: Pass rates up across the board
The attainment gap for Higher passes – which measures the difference in success rates for those from the most and least affluent areas – has remained at 17.1 percentage points. At National 5 level, pass rates have risen by 0.6 percentage points to 78.4 percent. The percentage of pupils passing an Advanced Higher, which like National 5 reached its lowest level last year, has increased to 76.7 percent. At National 5 level, pass rates have risen by 0.6 percentage points to 78.4 percent. The percentage of pupils passing an Advanced Higher, which like National 5 reached its lowest level last year, has increased to 76.7 percent. Attainment gaps for National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher all reached record highs in 2024 with figures of 17.2, 17.1 and 15.5 percentage points respectively. National data for 2025 results shows that the gaps for National 5 and Advanced Higher have decreased while the gap for Higher has remained the same. For Highers, the pass rate for those from the 20 percent most affluent parts of Scotland stood at 83.2 percent for 2025, whereas the figure for those from the most deprived areas was just 66.1 percent. The Higher attainment gap fell to its lowest recorded level in 2020, when it stood at just 6.4 percentage points, while the National 5 and Advanced Higher gaps that year were also at all-time lows of 7.9 percentage points and 2.8 percentage points respectively. This occurred after exams were cancelled and grades were awarded based on the work students had completed throughout the year. Data for a range of other qualifications has also been released by the SQA. A total of 115,065 National 4 qualifications were awarded for 2025. The combined number of Skills for Work, SQA Award, National Progression Award and National Certificate courses successfully completed by students has also exceeded 100,000 for the first time. These programmes do not have final exams and allow young people to study towards qualifications that go beyond the constraints of traditional subjects.
Press and Journal
18-05-2025
- Science
- Press and Journal
Meet the Aberdeen pupil who is siting S4 exams in primary school
An 11-year-old Aberdeen schoolboy who is in primary seven sat his National 4 exams – usually taken in fourth year – at the age of 10. Emon Rizvi, who attends the city's Albyn School, showed potential from a young age. So much so, that he never started primary one and went straight into primary two. 'P1 was too easy for him, so we just wanted him to go into P2,' his dad Imran – a 45-year-old businessman – told The Press and Journal. The youngster was so adamant that he was not starting primary school in the usual age group and said at the time: 'I'm not wasting my time in P1 because it is so easy for me.' His time at Albyn has been successful and according to his teachers, he has shown 'exceptional aptitude' for learning since he started. The 11-year-old has now made history and has officially been accepted into Mensa International, the world-renowned high IQ society. The youngest an individual can do a supervised IQ test for the organisation is at the age of 10 and a half, with people who score at the 98th percentile or higher getting accepted. Emon completed – and passed – one of Mensa's mock test at the age of nine. 'He was so excited when he turned 10 years and six months,' Imran told The P&J. When he was of the age allowed, 10-year-old Emon – who enjoys playing video games, Lego and tennis – took his test to see if he would be eligible to qualify for Mensa. Taking the Stanford-Binet test – in which to qualify you need to be in the top 2% (scoring 132 or more) – the schoolboy surpassed this and scored 149. Speaking to the P&J, Emon said: 'I'm very proud of myself and both my parents and my brother are very proud. 'I feel almost astonished that I managed, because I thought It'd be really, really hard. I am also relieved that I managed.' In achieving this, he has become the first ever pupil from Albyn's lower school to join the elite club. Head of Albyn's lower school, Mr Davies said: 'He has this intense focus and incredible memory. 'Emon's talents are far beyond his years.' Having sat his National 4 exams last year, there are plans for him to do 'two or three' Highers in second year if he does well at 'mock' National 5 exams that he is taking this year. And what are Emon's plans for the future? 'It's difficult because he has no pressure, his dad said, adding: 'He will decide what he wants to do. 'However, it will probably be in artificial intelligence or something.'
