Scotland’s learners celebrate ‘strong results’ on Results Day 2023

Learners across Scotland will receive their exam results today (Tuesday 8 August, 2023), as the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) welcomed ‘strong results’ and further progress on the path back to normal awarding.

Around 140,000 learners – from Shetland to the Borders – will discover how they performed when National Qualification results are announced this morning.

While everyone will get a copy of their results in the traditional big, brown envelope, the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) also revealed that thousands of learners have opted to discover their results by text and/or email through its MySQA service.

It is not only school pupils who are being recognised for their achievements today. Thousands of college students and adult learners of all ages will also be receiving their results. In addition to Nationals, Highers and Advanced Highers, a range of vocational-based qualifications are being awarded, including National Progression Awards, National Certificates, Skills for Work and SQA Awards.

To ensure fairness for learners, SQA used a ‘sensitive approach’ to awarding for 2023. This recognised that learning and teaching are still in the recovery phase from the pandemic, and took that into account while maintaining the credibility and high standards of Scotland’s qualifications.

The headline figures for 2023 are:

	National 5	Higher	Advanced Higher
Entries	321,360	191,810	27,750
A-C attainment rate	78.8%	77.1%	79.8%
A attainment rate	38.6%	32.8%	33.0%

Overall, results in 2023 are between 2019, the last exam year before the pandemic, and 2022, when a ‘generous approach’ was applied to awarding for the first year of the return to exams.

Number of qualifications at Scottish Credit & Qualifications Framework (SCQF) levels 1-6 attained:

Qualifications at SCQF level 1-6	Number attained
Awards	32,695
National Certificates	2,555
National Progression Awards	23,570

 

	National 5: A-C attainment	Higher: A-C attainment	Advanced Higher: A-C attainment
2019	78.2%	74.8%	79.4%
2023	78.8%	77.1%	79.8%
2022	80.8%	78.9%	81.3%

*Note: There have been different approaches to awarding in each year since 2019. This means that comparisons of attainment between years should be treated with significant caution and do not allow for conclusions to be drawn on changes in education performance during this time.

	Course entries	Numbers attained	% attained
National 2	3,030	2,095	69.2%
National 3	22,480	18,930	84.2%
National 4	138,670	121,810	87.8%
Skills for Work	16,515	13,305	80.6%

Fiona Robertson, SQA’s Chief Executive and Scotland’s Chief Examining Officer, said: “Our warmest congratulations to the 140,000 learners receiving their certificates today. They should be proud of their achievements.

“Learners can be confident that the qualifications that they have earned – by demonstrating their knowledge and skills - provide a solid foundation for the next stage in their learning, training or employment. We wish them all continued success.

“These strong results also prove the resilience of Scotland’s learners, whose success has been enabled and supported by the hard work of teachers, lecturers and the wider education community.

“This year does not mark a return to normal for learners and educators. But it marks another significant and positive step on the path back to normal awarding, following the years of disruption to learning and teaching caused by the pandemic.

“Our sensitive approach to awarding this year was developed with and supported by the education community. It has given learners the best chance of performing to the best of their abilities.

“Together, we have delivered fairness for all learners while maintaining national standards and the credibility of our qualifications in Scotland and beyond – and learners can have confidence in their grades.

“I wish everyone all the very best with their next steps, whatever they are. For those who have a concern about a grade, our free direct appeals service is now open.”

Among the achievements being celebrated today, in addition to National Qualifications, are awards in areas including leadership, employability and personal finance, as well as a range of Skills for Work courses, Awards, National Certificates and National Progression Awards. Many of these are seeing increases in uptake.

The results show strong attainment in a number of these qualifications, as learners continue to engage positively with our increasing breadth of qualifications - including in areas such as Mental Health and Wellbeing, Computer Games Development, Sports and Fitness: Team Sports, Employability, Personal Finance, Modern Languages for Life and Work and Sports Development.

Fiona Robertson added: “We are also celebrating real breadth of achievement today, as well as those who receive their certificates throughout the year, including Higher National and Scottish Vocational Qualifications learners and those undertaking Foundation Apprenticeships.

“The wide range of qualifications is supporting young people in reaching their full potential as they progress to college, university, apprenticeships, other learning, training and employment.”

2023 in numbers: National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher

• Around 130,000 learners from 500 schools, colleges and training providers took these courses
• More than two million exam papers and more than 200,000 items of coursework
• Around 6,500 markers and 130 Principal Assessors (experienced teachers and lecturers)
• Around 140 Grade Boundary meetings

Support for learners

• SQA’s Appeals 2023 service is free of charge and opens at 9am on Results Day. More information has been sent to learners’ homes and is available at sqa.org.uk/appeals
• If learners have a query about their certificate, they can call SQA’s Candidate Advice Line on 0345 279 1000
• Skills Development Scotland’s Results Helpline: 0808 100 8000
• UCAS: 0371 468 0468 /Clearing resources can be found at ucas.com/clearing-launch

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