HERMITAGE Academy's SQA pass rates have rocketed this year – along with those for Argyll and Bute's secondary schools as a whole.

National 4, National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher pass rates across the area were all well ahead of the national average, according to a document prepared for a meeting of the council's community services committee.

Nine of the area’s 10 local authority secondary schools were above the Scottish average at National 5, with seven out of 10 beating the national average at Higher level.

Eight of the schools were also higher than the national average for Advanced Higher, although one, Tiree High School, did not present any candidates for that level.

And for the fourth year in a row, all 10 secondary schools in Argyll and Bute had a 100 per cent pass rate at National 4 level.

The Hermitage Academy pass rates were slightly below the Argyll and Bute average at National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher.

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Compared with the national pass rates, Hermitage's performance was ahead of the game at all levels apart from Highers, where the school's figure was 0.9 per cent lower than the figure for Scotland as a whole.

At Hermitage Academy the 2020 pass rates were as follows:

National 4 – 100% (Argyll & Bute 100%, national average 90.9%, Hermitage 2019 pass rate 100%)

National 5 – 91.26% (Argyll & Bute 91.45%, national average 88.9%, Hermitage 2019 pass rate 83.79%)

Higher – 88.3% (Argyll & Bute 90.45%, national average 89.2%, Hermitage 2019 pass rate 78.25%)

Advanced Higher – 94.69% (Argyll & Bute 95.7%, national average 93.1%, Hermitage 2019 pass rate 79.56%)

Grades were awarded through teacher estimates this year after the Scottish Qualifications Authority’s (SQA) exam diet was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

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The report will be discussed by the committee on Thursday, August 27.

In a covering report, the council’s executive director Douglas Hendry said: “The council received SQA awards for all pupils entered for formal qualifications in session 2019/20 in August 2020.

“This provided comprehensive information on the outcome of examination performance for all pupils across each of the ten Argyll and Bute secondary schools.

“Following the cancellation of the formal SQA examination diet due to COVID-19 schools submitted estimate grades relating to each presentation and level made on behalf of each young person.

“These estimate grades were originally considered, moderated and awards allocated by the SQA to each presentation and level.

“However, on August 11 the Scottish Government indicated that the SQA would change this approach and revert to candidate awards based solely on the estimates provided by schools and colleges.

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“Any learner that was awarded a grade higher than their estimate in the original process maintained their award at the higher level.”

A table in the report then shows that the attainment across Argyll and Bute at National 5 level is a 12.02 per cent improvement on the 2018/19 exam diet.

For Higher level, the improvement is 17.26 per cent, and for Advanced Higher the attainment has risen by 20.02 per cent.

Of the 10 schools,  Islay High School had the best National 5 pass rate with 96.4 per cent, while Tobermory High School had the best Higher pass rate with 96.92 per cent.

Four schools - Lochgilphead Joint Campus, Rothesay Academy, Tarbert Academy and Tobermory High School - each had a 100 per cent Advanced Higher pass rate.

The National 4 pass rate exceeds the Scottish average by 9.1 per cent, the National 5 rate by 2.5 per cent, the Higher rate by 1.3 per cent and the Advanced Higher rate by 2.6 per cent.

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