East Renfrewshire pupils deliver outstanding exam results
Dedication pays off with very strong results across the board
Published: 8 August 2023
East Renfrewshire pupils have delivered another year of outstanding SQA results, supporting them to pursue their ambitions.
With pupils across the board landing the grades needed to pursue apprenticeships and advance to university or college, there are lots of successes to celebrate.
The SQA results show that attainment in East Renfrewshire continues to increase, with very strong Higher and Advanced Higher results and record-breaking performance in S4.
East Renfrewshire Council's Convener for Education, Equalities, Culture and Leisure, Councillor Andrew Anderson, praised the thousands of pupils for their dedication.
Councillor Andrew Anderson said: 'These achievements are a tribute to the hard work and commitment of pupils, and the collective efforts and support of their parents, carers, and school staff. The improvements we have seen across the board, provides clear evidence that we have focussed on equity and excellence by raising the bar for all and exemplify the education authority's vision of Everyone Attaining, Everyone Achieving through Excellent Experiences.'
Key achievements include:
- 82% of S4 pupils attained 5 or more awards at National 5 or better - the Council's best ever performance
- 47% of S5 pupils attained 5 or more awards at Higher
- 69% of S5 pupils attained 3 or more awards at Higher
- At Advanced Higher, 46% of S6 pupils achieved one or more awards - the second highest ever
- Woodfarm and Williamwood High Schools achieved outstanding best-ever S4 results.
- Mearns Castle, St Luke's and St Ninian's High Schools all saw the proportion of S4 pupils who achieved 5 or more awards at National 5 increase from the previous year.
- Barrhead, St Luke's and Woodfarm High Schools had their best ever performance for the proportion of S4 pupils achieving 5 or more awards at National 4.
- Mearns Castle had their best S5 results for 5 or more Highers, with an 8% increase, at 59%. Eastwood High School continued to have impressive attainment across the key S5 measures.
- Barrhead, Williamwood and Woodfarm had their best ever results for the proportion of S6 pupils achieving 1 or more Advanced Highers, increasing by over 11%, 3% and 3% respectively.
As well as celebrating the SQA success, East Renfrewshire continues to offer more than 50 vocational options to S4, S5 and S6 pupils in East Renfrewshire. 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.
East Renfrewshire Council's Director of Education, Mark Ratter, said: 'I am delighted that our pupils continue to achieve such outstanding results. We are focused on supporting all our pupils to make the best choices for them, preparing them well for their future career path. By providing all learners with a well-rounded education filled with a range of opportunities, it's clearly giving them the chance to excel. Well done everyone.'
A group of Mearns Castle pupils who all dream of pursuing careers in medicine have been praised for delivering both in the classroom and giving back to the community. The pupils - who make up the school's Medic Society - are part of the S5 group who delivered East Renfrewshire's best ever Higher results.
And as well as getting top results, the group was part of a fundraising drive to raise money for the Royal Medical Benevolent Fund, as they see the importance of supporting the unsung heroes of the NHS. Group members Anthony Orr, Matthew Thom, Susie McInnes, Eemaan Ali and Hannah Ahmed all landed straight As in their Highers and were also instrumental in raising more than £1,000 for the charity.
Anthony Orr, 17, from Newton Mearns, said: "We are all part of the Medic Society as we want to pursue either medicine or dentistry careers and as well as supporting each other for exams and studying, we wanted to raise money for a good cause too. It was great fun organising the events and brought us all closer as a group. I'm so delighted that I secured the grades I wanted and will now be doing three Advanced Highers as I look to pursue a career in medicine."
Hannah Ahmed, 17, from Newton Mearns, added: "It was definitely hard work studying for the exams but our teachers were so supportive and I'm so happy to have got the grades I have. It was nervous opening the text message and I was just so glad when I saw the results."
Fraser Robertson has landed a Civil Engineering graduate apprenticeship with Balfour Beatty and puts his success down to having the opportunity to complete a Foundation Apprenticeship in his final years of school.
The 18-year-old, from Eaglesham, had achieved 2As and 2Bs in fifth year, as well as starting the 2-year Foundation Apprenticeship in Mechanical Engineering at City of Glasgow College. On successfully completing the course in sixth year, the Mearns Castle Depute Head Boy Fraser is delighted to have been successful in landing his first job.
This will see him start his career with leading infrastructure group Balfour Beatty, whilst also attending Strathclyde University during the course of the apprenticeship.
Fraser said: "I had always been considering a career in engineering and when I found out about the Foundation Apprenticeship opportunity, I was really interested in taking it on. The graduate apprentice shemes are really competitive, so I really think that having my hands on experience as part of the Foundation Apprenticeship has helped me to stand out from the crowd to secure the roll. I'm delighted with the results and looking forward to getting started next month."
Pupils at St Luke's High have excelled in their exams, with the school's multicultural ethos shining through in the results.
S4 pupil Jude Arias has landed 10 National 5 A grades - with Spanish studied as an additional subject due to speaking it at home. S5 pupil Thenuga Malnaidelage landed 6 Highers - this time doing Italian as an additional subject, as he lived in the country for eight years whilst growing up. And the school's inclusive ethos continues with a pupil who joined midway through the year from Nigeria also delivering fantastic results. Cherish Ibe secured 6 National 5s (3 As and 3 Bs) despite taking on a number of subjects she'd never studied before.
Jude Arias, 15, from Barrhead, said: "My dad is from Guatemala so speaks Spanish to me at home and I've got family who only speak Spanish so it was important for me to keep studying it. I'm delighted to have got such great results, even though juggling the ten subjects was a challenge. The school was great and provided lots of supported studies, which meant I felt confident going into each exam."
Cherish Ibe, 15, from Barrhead, said: "It was certainly difficult moving in the middle of the year and it took me a while to understand all the subjects that I was doing. I was so nervous opening my results, but I'm absolutely delighted with what I achieved."
Katie Dunne, 18, added 2 Advanced Higher As and a Higher A to her 5 As at Higher and 9 As at National 5 - giving her a perfect score card.
The St Luke's High pupil, who represented Scotland at the UK Team golf championships earlier this year, is now ready to embark on an Aerospace Engineering degree at Glasgow University. Barrhead resident Katie gained a total of 17 As during her time at school and now can't wait for the next chapter.
Katie said: "I've always wanted to be an engineer who worked with aeroplanes. I'm looking forward to starting university and am just so glad that I got the results I needed. Golf has been massive for me, as it's a great outlet for just getting out in the fresh air and forgetting about my studies for a while - it's definitely a sport for life."
Pupils at Isobel Mair School have all had tremendous success in attainment and achievement this year.
Senior pupils have gained 19 National 2 courses, 11 National 3 units, as well as Personal Achievement Gold, Silver and Bronze awards.
A fantastic achievement by all.
