2025 National Qualifications Awarding:
Equalities Monitoring Report
Contents
- Purpose and structure of this report
- Background and context
- Background to 2025 National Qualifications (NQ) awarding
- SQA’s equalities obligations
- Equality Impact Assessment of 2025 awarding
- Equalities monitoring and analyses of the 2025 outcomes
- National 5 entries by characteristics
- Higher entries by characteristics
- Advanced Higher entries by characteristics
- Distribution of 2025 attainment across different groups
- Attainment by age
- Attainment by sex
- Attainment by SIMD quintile
- Attainment by additional support needs (ASN)
- Attainment by declared or assessed disabled status
- Attainment by urban / rural classification
- Attainment by ethnicity
- Feedback
Purpose and structure of this report
The Equalities Monitoring Report
The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) considers the equality impacts of its activities as a strategic objective as well as a statutory duty. During the course of developing the awarding approach for 2024, SQA undertook a number of Equality Impact Assessments (EqIAs) to identify and mitigate potential equality impacts.
The purpose of this equalities monitoring report is not to repeat assessments undertaken in those EqIAs, but to report on the outcomes of the 2025 awarding process from an equality perspective.
Accordingly, this report should be read alongside the other publications released by SQA on Results Day 2025, including the official statistics publications that set out national 2025 attainment outcomes. This report is intended to be an important supplement to those publications in that it provides additional reporting on how the 2025 results are distributed across groups of candidates who share particular characteristics.
Structure of the report
The main body of this report provides the background and other contextual information for the descriptive analyses presented in the section ‘Equalities monitoring and analyses of the 2025 outcomes’ of the report. It includes a brief recap of the approach to awarding in 2025, and the steps that SQA took during the development of that approach to consider and mitigate possible equality impacts.
The section ‘Equalities monitoring and analyses of the 2025 outcomes’ sets out the descriptive analyses of the distribution of 2025 results across specific groups of candidates, and the methodology underpinning those analyses.
The report does not set out to explain or attribute causes for the distribution of results presented in the final section.
Background and context
Background to 2025 National Qualifications (NQ) awarding
SQA made modifications to National Qualification course assessments — such as removing elements of coursework — as a temporary arrangement at the height of the pandemic and extended them until the 2022–23 session, to help limit the impact of disruption on learning and teaching. Following discussions with learners, teachers, lecturers, parents, carers and others, coursework and exams in some practical subjects were reintroduced in 2024, which remains unchanged for 2025.
The longstanding exceptional circumstances service was also in place for those learners who were unable to sit an exam or whose performance was affected by personal circumstances. A free and direct appeals service, which will give all learners the right to request a review of their marked exam papers, will be available from Tuesday 5 August.
National Qualifications 2025 Strategic Group
The National Qualifications Group was established to co-create and implement the Alternative Certification Model (ACM) for 2021. The group is reconvened annually to coordinate the support provided to senior phase learners undertaking SQA courses, up to and including 2024–25.
The National Qualifications 2025 Strategic Group’s membership comprised representatives from the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES), Colleges Scotland, Education Scotland, the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), NASUWT The Teachers Union, National Union of Students Scotland, School Leaders Scotland (SLS), the Scottish Council of Independent Schools (SCIS), Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association, Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), Scottish Government, the National Parent Forum of Scotland, the Scottish Youth Parliament, and Universities Scotland.
SQA’s equalities obligations
Obligations under the Equalities Act
Section 149(1) of the Equality Act 2010 requires SQA to have due regard to a number of needs, including the need to advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.
The Equality of Access to SQA Qualifications policy outlines SQA’s commitment to promoting and facilitating access to our qualifications. In practice this means that SQA takes every reasonable step to ensure that it:
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produces qualifications based on national standards, which are as accessible as possible. This involves undertaking equality reviews of qualifications to identify any adverse impacts on candidates who share particular characteristics, and seeking to remove such adverse impacts wherever possible, or minimise them where it is not possible to remove them altogether.
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develops methods of assessment and quality assurance which are sensitive to the needs of all candidates, but which do not compromise SQA’s overarching aims of fairness and consistency.
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provides assessment arrangements to allow disabled candidates and those with additional support needs to access the assessment without compromising its integrity. For disabled candidates, this includes making reasonable adjustments in accordance with the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 section 96(7).
Public Sector Equality Duty
The Public Sector Equality Duty requires SQA to have due regard to the need to:
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eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010.
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advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not.
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foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not.
SQA takes a number of steps to meet its public sector equality duty. This includes working with schools, colleges, universities, industry and government, to ensure that qualifications, including National Courses, are:
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inclusive and accessible to all
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recognise the achievements of candidates, and
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enable progression to further learning or employment.
SQA’s Awarding Body Code of Practice
SQA’s Awarding Body Code of Practice guides the organisation’s approach to ensuring that its qualifications are of a high quality and are fit for purpose, and that the assessment of these qualifications is monitored and maintained to a consistently high standard. The code sets out the framework by which SQA safeguards the integrity of its qualifications and assessment standards to ensure public confidence.
The code of practice is based on a set of 13 Governing Principles that govern how SQA meets its statutory duties and regulates its activities. These principles also apply to SQA qualifications that are regulated by other organisations.
In the context of equalities, Governing Principle 7 of the code of practice states that:
‘SQA will ensure that all qualifications and assessments are as fair and accessible as possible and that the needs of candidates are met in the administration of its assessments.’
Equality Impact Assessment of 2025 awarding
As part of developing the approach to awarding in 2025, SQA completed equality impact assessments (EqIAs) and Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessments (CRWIAs) for the full end-to-end process. The aim was to ensure that we identified and mitigated any potential impacts of the awarding approach on one or more groups of candidates with protected characteristics. The EqIAs and CRWIAs considered and acted upon key equalities evidence throughout the development and finalisation of the 2025 awarding approach.
This section is a summary of each equality impact assessment for each part of the overall process. This is useful context information for consideration of the 2025 results — the published equality impact assessments are available on our website.
EqIA of the Exam Exceptional Circumstances Consideration Service (EECCS)
The EECCS supports learners who have been unable to attend an exam, or whose performance in the exam may have been affected by personal circumstances or an unplanned incident on the day. EECCS is a service unique to Scotland, in which alternative evidence can be submitted by schools, colleges and training providers on behalf of their learners. This is a longstanding SQA service and is of benefit to learners who find themselves in these circumstances.
Following the development of the 2025 exam timetable, we were aware that there were exam combinations that mean learners with extra time as an assessment arrangement were required to sit over six hours of exams, which SQA had a working rule to avoid. In order to best support learners who might be impacted by this, an update was made to the EECCS document for centres. This allowed centres to notify SQA of an exceptional circumstance request in advance of an exam, and on the day as required, from April. We were also aware that some learners booked a holiday over exam dates which did not appear in an earlier version of the timetable. As learners, parents, carers and centres were not informed that the timetable was subject to change, the EECCS document for centres was updated to explain that impacted learners could access the service if:
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they could demonstrate that their holiday was booked before 3 February when the exam timetable was amended, and
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their centre has approved this, where applicable, under the criterion ‘Exceptional Absence’.
This change will also allow learners, subject to the same evidence requirements as holiday bookings, to access EECCS if they have made overseas travel arrangements for other activities, such as attending events outwith Scotland.
EqIA of 2025 awarding and grade boundaries
Awarding is a key component of SQA’s statutory duties and responsibilities, as outlined in the SQA Awarding Code of Practice.
Every year, SQA’s role is to evaluate performance in assessments in an equitable and fair way, while ensuring standards are maintained so that qualifications remain credible — and this year was no different. Learners’ demonstrated attainment — evidence of a learner’s knowledge and skills in a course, measured against the required national standard — is at the core of our approach.
SQA returned to well-established awarding procedures, in line with our Awarding and Grading for National Courses Policy, which is available on our website.
EqIA of the Appeals 2025 Service
The 2025 appeals service follows the approach taken in 2024. The appeals service was developed after gathering extensive feedback on the 2022 post-results services and taking advice from the wider education community. This included learner, parent and carer, practitioner, school, college, local authority, and teacher and lecturer union representatives on the National Qualifications 2023 Group and SQA’s Advisory Council.
Offering the appeals service (marking review) addresses the balance between the needs of the system (variable quality and volume of alternative academic evidence submitted by schools, colleges and training providers) and the needs of learners (equity for all learners). Evidence available to SQA showed that learners did not always benefit from the 2022 approach to appeals, which was based only on alternative evidence provided by their school, college or training provider. The variable quality and volume of evidence meant that the evidence made available was not always comparable. This made it difficult for SQA to ensure there was a consistency in the outcomes reached.
The service in 2025 will remain free of charge, and learners can submit a request directly to SQA, which removes barriers learners may have otherwise faced in accessing the services. It also eliminates any potential teacher or lecturer bias related to submitting an appeal request. In providing the appeals process, SQA is striving to provide reassurance to learners who believe an error was made in the initial marking process, and to ensure that learners receive a qualification and grade that is a fair and accurate reflection of their knowledge, understanding and skills. As in previous years, the marking review will be carried out by an experienced marker. Marking reviews are subject to quality assurance to ensure that they are carried out in line with the national standard.
Equalities monitoring and analyses of the 2025 outcomes
This section sets out the descriptive analyses that SQA has conducted on the 2025 results for groups of candidates who share specific equalities characteristics.
Additionally, analyses have been undertaken to assess the 2025 results based on candidates’ urban / rural status, and levels of deprivation as ranked by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), the Scottish Government’s standard approach to identify areas of multiple deprivation in Scotland.
The full set of candidate characteristics considered in this section are set out in the Methodology section below.
Methodology
Data sources and contributions
Some of the data used in this report is owned by SQA and some by Scottish Government.
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SQA holds data on attainment and candidate age (calculated from date of birth), sex and postcode.
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Scottish Government holds personal, sensitive personal information, including protected characteristics data from the Pupil Census.
Previously, Scottish Government produced analysis on SQA’s behalf for protected characteristics data and urban / rural status, which was included in SQA’s Equalities Monitoring Report.
In 2024, SQA applied to process candidate level equalities data from the Pupil Census for the purpose of producing the statistical results contained in this Equalities Monitoring Report.
In this report, the analysis for 2020 to 2025 relating to candidates’ protected characteristics was undertaken by SQA. The analysis for additional support needs, disability and ethnicity for 2019 comes from the Equalities Monitoring Report 2023 which was previously produced by Scottish Government. All commentary has been produced by SQA.
The figures are produced by independent statistical staff in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics.
The data in this publication is defined as being statistical for the purposes of information governance and data protection. This primarily means that the associated processing is not carried out for the purposes of measures or decisions with respect to a particular data subject. Further information on this processing category can be found in the appropriate data protection legislation.
Limitations
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The Pupil Census only collects and holds protected characteristics data for candidates from education authority (EA) schools. Analyses by protected characteristics in this report are therefore based on only a subset of the total cohort. Education authority schools provide the majority of candidates at National 5, Higher, and Advanced Higher, but this does mean that only one of the many centre types is represented.
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For clarity, it should be noted that the analyses undertaken by SQA on age, sex, SIMD, and urban / rural classification is based on the full cohort of candidates. See Table 1.1 and 1.2 for a full breakdown of cohort coverage for each characteristic analysed.
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SQA provides results data annually to Scottish Government following post-results processes, including appeals. In this report, analysis by Scottish Government for additional support needs, disability and ethnicity for 2019 is based on December post-results data, whilst analysis for 2020 to 2025 is based on August results (prior to appeals and other post-results processes). Caution is advised in comparing the figures for 2019 to 2020 onwards due to the data source and methodological differences.
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For urban / rural classification and SIMD analysis, candidates with postcodes that matched their centre’s postcode were excluded due to risk that this match was due to an administrative error (see section 6.6). Previously, analysis was carried out for Education Authority candidates only. Postcode matching to urban / rural categories was improved by compressing postcode data to remove spaces.
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Approach to missing data: Candidates with missing values for any of these characteristics were removed for each analysis individually. This maximised the number of candidates included in the analyses but means that the statistics report on slightly different cohorts for each of the characteristics.
Equalities characteristics | Cohort |
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Additional support needs (ASN) | Education authority candidates |
Declared or assessed disabled | Education authority candidates |
Ethnicity | Education authority candidates |
Age | All candidates |
Sex | All candidates |
Additional characteristics | Cohort |
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Urban / rural | All candidates |
SIMD | All candidates |
Protected characteristics
Protected characteristics data was taken from the September ‘Scottish Pupil Census’, for the relevant year, for education authority school candidates. This does not include: candidates attending publicly-funded special schools; candidates attending private independent schools; candidates educated outside the school education system (for example, at home); or adults attending publicly-funded secondary schools. The census is carried out through the Scottish Exchange of Educational Data (ScotXed) project.
The information for the different protected characteristics was available for all education authority candidates in the dataset, and the same dataset was used for each category. The analysis excludes grant aided special schools and schools that are not listed in the school census.
Candidate characteristics are taken from the Scottish Government pupil census carried out in September — prior to the release of the exam results — and merged with attainment data. For example, the 2025 analysis uses the characteristics from the 2024 pupil census.
The census collects a range of information for each individual. This includes:
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Additional support needs status: Candidates with an additional support need (ASN) include candidates who have a Co-ordinated Support Plan (CSP), Individualised Education Programme (IEP) or child’s plan, and are assessed or declared disabled, or as having another support need.
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Declared or assessed disabled status: Candidates may be assessed as having a disability by a qualified professional or be declared as having a disability by themselves or their parent / carer.
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A pupil who was not recorded as having ASN or being disabled in the pupil census would be considered as non-ASN and non-disabled respectively.
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Ethnic background: Ten ethnic backgrounds covering the full list of categories are used in this report:
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White - Scottish
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White - non-Scottish
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Mixed or multiple ethnic groups
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Asian - Indian
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Asian - Pakistani
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Asian - Chinese
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Asian - Other
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African / Black / Caribbean (includes ‘African’, ‘African - Other’, and ‘Caribbean or Black’)
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All other categories (includes ‘Other - other’ and ‘Other - Arab’)
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Not Disclosed / Not known (refers to the pupils whose ethnicity was not available)
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Urban / rural classification
Urban / rural categories were applied to SQA data based on candidate postcodes.
A candidate’s home address is assigned to one of six categories that indicate how urban or rural the area is. These categories are: Large Urban Areas, Other Urban Areas, Accessible Small Towns, Remote Small Towns, Accessible Rural, and Remote Rural.
Urban / rural categorisation is from the Scottish Statistical Postcode Lookup 2025-1 for 2019 to 2025, which contains the 2022 Scottish Government Urban Rural classification (6 fold).
For 2019 to 2025 attainment data, the Urban Rural Classification 2022 was used for analysis. In the 2024 Equalities Monitoring Report, the classification was based on Urban Rural Classification 2020. Further information about the differences between the 2020 and 2022 measures can be found on the Scottish Government website. Furthermore, data used to assign a classification in 2024 was sourced from the Scottish Postcode Directory (SPD). In line with guidance issued by the National Records of Scotland in April 2025 that all statistical productions should use the Scottish Statistical Postcode Lookup (SSPL) and not the SPD, from 2025 onwards the Urban Rural Classification will be sourced from the most up to date SSPL data (Scottish Statistical Postcode Lookup 2025-1 for 2025).
Candidates with a missing postcode or the same postcode as the centre (suggestive of an administration error) were excluded from the analysis (<1% of dataset).
Age
Date of birth was used was used to calculate a candidate’s age in years on 31 May (typically the completion date for NQs) in the given year.
The age categories were set as: ‘below 15’, ‘15 to 18’ and ‘above 18’ years, with approximately 99% of candidates falling in the age bracket of 15 to 18.
Sex
SQA has adopted the International Organization for Standardisation (ISO), and Information Standards Board for Education, Skills and Children’s Services (ISB) categories for legal sex type.
These standards allow the use of the following values: Male, Female, Not Known, and Not Applicable.
Consistent with Provisional Attainment Statistics publications, candidates with a legal sex status Not Known and Not Applicable were removed from the analysis related to sex due to low volumes.
Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) data
The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) is a relative measure of deprivation across 6,974 small areas (called ‘data zones’), which can be grouped into five bands (quintiles), each containing 20% of the data zones. Quintile 1 contains the 20% most deprived data zones in Scotland. The population size of data zones can vary and have ‘roughly equal populations’.
Attainment data for the whole cohort for 2019 to 2025 was joined with a SIMD postcode lookup using candidate postcodes to generate SIMD quintiles for each candidate.
Candidates with a missing postcode or the same postcode as the centre (suggestive of an administration error) were excluded from the analysis (<1% of dataset). The most recent version of the SIMD postcode look-up file (SIMD 2020 version 2) was used for all SIMD analyses in this report.
Further notes around the methodology
National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher are treated separately.
Individual candidates entered for qualifications at different levels may be included in at each relevant level.
Percentages are rounded and may not always sum to 100%. Percentage values less than 0.05% are denoted by the shorthand ‘[low]’. Percentage point differences are calculated prior to rounding.
‘N’ refers to No Awards in the grade breakdown tables.
In 2025, age was calculated by subtracting 31 May (of the appropriate year) from the candidate’s date of birth. This resulted in the difference in terms of days which was then divided by 365.25 to give the age in years.
In 2024, the approach to rounding was changed to round half up – for example 0.5 rounded to 1. In 2023, the approach to rounding was to round to even – 0.5 rounded to 0.
Variation in assessment and awarding arrangements
When reviewing the analyses presented in this report, readers should note the different awarding arrangements in place between 2019 and 2025. This means that it is not possible to compare attainment between years without full consideration of the essential contextual information outlined in the background information section.
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The approach to Awarding in 2025 was based on established awarding processes, in line with our Awarding and Grading for National Courses Policy.
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The approach to Awarding in 2024 is summarised in the National Qualifications 2024 Methodology Report.
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The approach to Awarding in 2023 is summarised in the National Qualifications 2023 Methodology Report.
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The approach to Awarding in 2022 is summarised in the National Qualifications 2022 Methodology Report.
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The approach to Awarding in 2021 is summarised in the National Qualifications 2021 Methodology Report.
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The approach to Awarding in 2020 is summarised in the National Qualifications 2020 Methodology Report.
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The approach to Awarding in 2019 was based on established awarding processes.
For consistency with Provisional Attainment Statistics – August 2025, figures for 2025 are generally presented with reference to attainment in the previous year (2024) and to 2019 (the most recent year prior to the pandemic).
National 5 entries by characteristics
National 5 entries by age, sex, SIMD, and urban / rural classifications
The majority of National 5 entries are from 15 to 18 year-olds in all years from 2019 to 2025.
In 2025, the percentage of entries from female candidates was 49.8% and from male candidates was 50.2%.
The percentages of candidate entries from SIMD 1, SIMD 2, SIMD 4 and SIMD 5 have increased in 2025 compared to 2024, with corresponding decreases in percentages from SIMD 3. Historically, SIMD data has shown a greater percentage of National 5 entries from candidates from the least deprived SIMD quintiles.
The percentage of candidate entries from Large Urban Areas has increased compared to historic levels. Large Urban Areas make up 39.8% of National 5 entries in 2025 compared to 38.0% in 2019, with corresponding decreases in other urban / rural categories.
Age Category | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
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15 to 18 | 98.8 | 98.9 | 99.1 | 99.3 | 99.3 | 99.3 | 99.3 |
Below 15 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
Over 18 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
Sex | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
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Female | 51.5 | 51.1 | 50.4 | 50.1 | 50.2 | 50.2 | 49.8 |
Male | 48.5 | 48.9 | 49.6 | 49.9 | 49.8 | 49.8 | 50.2 |
SIMD Quintile | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
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SIMD 1 | 16.2 | 16.4 | 16.6 | 16.5 | 16.6 | 17.0 | 17.1 |
SIMD 2 | 17.0 | 17.3 | 16.8 | 17.1 | 17.0 | 17.2 | 17.2 |
SIMD 3 | 18.9 | 18.7 | 18.7 | 18.4 | 18.3 | 18.2 | 17.9 |
SIMD 4 | 22.3 | 22.2 | 22.5 | 22.5 | 22.6 | 22.5 | 22.6 |
SIMD 5 | 25.6 | 25.3 | 25.5 | 25.5 | 25.6 | 25.1 | 25.2 |
Urban/Rural Classification | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
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Accessible Rural | 13.6 | 13.2 | 13.2 | 13.5 | 13.0 | 12.9 | 12.7 |
Accessible Small Towns | 10.4 | 10.5 | 10.4 | 10.3 | 10.4 | 10.2 | 10.5 |
Large Urban Areas | 38.0 | 37.8 | 38.5 | 38.2 | 39.0 | 39.6 | 39.8 |
Other Urban Areas | 31.5 | 32.2 | 31.7 | 31.7 | 31.6 | 31.1 | 30.8 |
Remote Rural | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 4.4 |
Remote Small Towns | 2.0 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.8 |
National 5 entries by protected characteristics (EA schools only)
The percentage of National 5 entries from EA candidates with ASN in 2025 was 37.5%, an increase from 34.8% in 2024. Since 2019 the percentage of entries from EA school candidates with ASN has increased year-on-year, with corresponding decreases in candidates with no ASN identified via the Pupil Census.
The Pupil Census attributes the year-on-year increase as ‘likely due in part to continued improvements in recording and the introduction of the additional need types’, rather than any change in the population.
The percentage of entries from EA candidates declared or assessed disabled has varied at National 5 from 1.7% to 2.5% in the period 2019 to 2025.
The largest ethnicity category is White — Scottish, which makes up 72.5% of entries in 2025. In general, this percentage has declined year-on-year between 2019 and 2025 with corresponding increases in the other ethnicity categories.
Characteristic | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
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ASN | 23.8 | 26.4 | 28.5 | 30.1 | 32.1 | 34.8 | 37.5 |
No ASN | 76.2 | 73.6 | 71.5 | 69.9 | 67.9 | 65.2 | 62.5 |
Not declared or assessed disabled | 98.3 | 98.3 | 98.0 | 97.9 | 98.1 | 97.8 | 97.5 |
Declared or assessed disabled | 1.7 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 2.2 | 2.5 |
White - Scottish | 83.1 | 81.9 | 81.3 | 78.8 | 76.5 | 74.5 | 72.5 |
White - non-Scottish | 8.9 | 9.3 | 9.4 | 11.2 | 12.2 | 13.0 | 13.6 |
Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.7 |
Asian - Indian | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.5 |
Asian - Pakistani | 2.2 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 2.5 |
Asian - Chinese | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.1 |
Asian - Other | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.2 |
African / Black / Caribbean | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 2.5 | 3.0 |
All other categories | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 1.4 |
Not Disclosed / Not known | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
Higher entries by characteristics
Higher entries by age, sex, SIMD, and urban / rural classifications
The majority of entries for Higher are from candidates in the 15 to 18 age bracket, with year-on-year increases over time between 2019 to 2025.
The percentage of entries from female candidates at Higher in 2025 was 53.9% and from male candidates was 46.1%.
The percentages of candidate entries from SIMD 1 and SIMD 2 have increased in 2025 compared to 2024, with corresponding decreases in percentages from SIMD 3, SIMD 4 and SIMD 5. Historically, SIMD data has shown a greater percentage of Higher entries from candidates from the least deprived SIMD quintiles.
The percentage of candidate entries from Large Urban Areas has increased compared to historic levels. Large Urban Areas make up 41.3% of Higher entries in 2025 compared to 39.0% in 2019, with corresponding decreases in other urban / rural categories.
Age Category | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
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15 to 18 | 97.7 | 98.1 | 98.5 | 98.8 | 99.0 | 99.2 | 99.3 |
Below 15 | [low] | [low] | [low] | [low] | [low] | [low] | [low] |
Over 18 | 2.3 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.7 |
Sex | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
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Female | 56.0 | 55.8 | 54.8 | 53.7 | 53.7 | 54.1 | 53.9 |
Male | 44.0 | 44.2 | 45.2 | 46.3 | 46.3 | 45.9 | 46.1 |
SIMD Quintile | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
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SIMD 1 | 13.6 | 13.3 | 13.4 | 13.8 | 13.8 | 14.0 | 14.5 |
SIMD 2 | 15.2 | 15.2 | 15.4 | 15.2 | 15.3 | 15.2 | 15.3 |
SIMD 3 | 18.2 | 18.4 | 18.3 | 18.0 | 17.6 | 17.5 | 17.5 |
SIMD 4 | 23.6 | 23.7 | 23.6 | 23.8 | 23.7 | 23.7 | 23.7 |
SIMD 5 | 29.4 | 29.3 | 29.2 | 29.3 | 29.6 | 29.6 | 29.0 |
Urban/Rural Classification | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
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Accessible Rural | 13.8 | 13.9 | 13.5 | 13.2 | 13.4 | 13.1 | 13.1 |
Accessible Small Towns | 10.4 | 10.5 | 10.4 | 10.1 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 9.9 |
Large Urban Areas | 39.0 | 38.8 | 38.8 | 40.0 | 40.2 | 41.1 | 41.3 |
Other Urban Areas | 30.8 | 30.8 | 31.5 | 31.1 | 30.6 | 30.4 | 30.5 |
Remote Rural | 4.4 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 3.9 | 3.9 |
Remote Small Towns | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.4 |
Higher entries by protected characteristics (EA schools only)
For Higher in 2025, the percentage of entries from EA candidates with ASN was 33.4%, an increase from 30.1% in 2024. Since 2019 the percentage of entries from EA school candidates with ASN has increased year-on-year, with corresponding decreases in candidates with no ASN identified via the Pupil Census.
The Pupil Census attributes the year-on-year increase as ‘likely due in part to continued improvements in recording and the introduction of the additional need types’, rather than any change in the population.
EA candidates declared or assessed disabled accounted have accounted for 1.3% to 2.2% of Higher entries since 2019.
The largest ethnicity category is White — Scottish, which makes up 71.9% of entries in 2025. In general, this percentage has declined year-on-year between 2019 and 2025 with corresponding increases in the other ethnicity categories.
Characteristic | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
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ASN | 19.0 | 21.6 | 23.7 | 25.2 | 27.1 | 30.1 | 33.4 |
No ASN | 81.0 | 78.4 | 76.3 | 74.8 | 72.9 | 69.9 | 66.6 |
Not declared or assessed disabled | 98.7 | 98.5 | 98.6 | 98.4 | 98.3 | 98.1 | 97.8 |
Declared or assessed disabled | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 2.2 |
White - Scottish | 81.9 | 81.3 | 80.5 | 79.1 | 76.4 | 73.6 | 71.9 |
White - non-Scottish | 8.8 | 9.2 | 9.4 | 9.7 | 11.5 | 12.6 | 13.1 |
Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.8 |
Asian - Indian | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 1.6 |
Asian - Pakistani | 2.6 | 2.7 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
Asian - Chinese | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.3 |
Asian - Other | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.3 |
African / Black / Caribbean | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 3.2 |
All other categories | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 1.3 |
Not Disclosed / Not known | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.5 |
Advanced Higher entries by characteristics
Advanced Higher entries by age, sex, SIMD, and urban / rural classifications
The majority of Advanced Higher entries are from 15 to 18 year-olds in all years from 2019 to 2025.
For Advanced Higher in 2025, the percentage of entries from female candidates was 56.7% and from male candidates was 43.3%.
The percentages of candidate entries from SIMD 1, SIMD 2 and SIMD 4 have increased in 2025 compared to 2024, with corresponding decreases in percentages from SIMD 3 and SIMD 5. Historically, SIMD data has shown a greater percentage of Advanced Higher entries from candidates from the least deprived SIMD quintiles.
Age Category | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
15 to 18 | 99.6 | 99.6 | 99.6 | 99.6 | 99.5 | 99.6 | 99.6 |
Below 15 | [low] | 0.0 | [low] | [low] | [low] | [low] | [low] |
Over 18 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
Sex | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Female | 56.2 | 56.0 | 56.6 | 55.2 | 55.3 | 54.9 | 56.7 |
Male | 43.8 | 44.0 | 43.4 | 44.8 | 44.7 | 45.1 | 43.3 |
SIMD Quintile | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SIMD 1 | 8.1 | 8.6 | 8.4 | 8.9 | 9.4 | 9.1 | 9.5 |
SIMD 2 | 10.8 | 11.2 | 11.1 | 11.4 | 11.6 | 11.7 | 11.8 |
SIMD 3 | 16.6 | 15.7 | 16.9 | 16.5 | 16.0 | 15.7 | 15.5 |
SIMD 4 | 25.6 | 25.0 | 24.7 | 25.1 | 25.0 | 24.8 | 24.8 |
SIMD 5 | 39.0 | 39.5 | 38.8 | 38.1 | 38.0 | 38.6 | 38.3 |
Urban/Rural Classification | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Accessible Rural | 16.4 | 15.4 | 15.5 | 15.1 | 14.7 | 15.2 | 14.2 |
Accessible Small Towns | 10.9 | 10.2 | 10.6 | 10.4 | 9.8 | 10.0 | 10.2 |
Large Urban Areas | 39.7 | 41.7 | 40.4 | 40.2 | 43.5 | 43.6 | 45.7 |
Other Urban Areas | 27.9 | 27.5 | 27.9 | 29.1 | 27.1 | 26.4 | 25.8 |
Remote Rural | 3.8 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 3.2 |
Remote Small Towns | 1.1 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.9 |
Advanced Higher entries by protected characteristics (EA schools only)
In 2025, the percentage of Advanced Higher entries from EA candidates with ASN was 29.9%. In 2024, the percentage of entries from candidates with ASN was 26.8%. Since 2019 the percentage of entries from EA school candidates with ASN has increased year-on-year, with corresponding decreases in candidates with no ASN identified via the Pupil Census.
The Pupil Census attributes the year-on-year increase as ‘likely due in part to continued improvements in recording and the introduction of the additional need types’, rather than any change in the population.
Between 2019 and 2025, the percentage of entries at Advanced Higher from EA candidates declared or assessed disabled has ranged from 1.1% to 1.9%.
The largest ethnicity category is White — Scottish, which makes up 67.0% of entries in 2025. In general, this percentage has declined year-on-year between 2019 and 2025 with corresponding increases in the other ethnicity categories.
Characteristic | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ASN | 16.9 | 19.0 | 21.0 | 22.5 | 24.3 | 26.8 | 29.9 |
No ASN | 83.1 | 81.0 | 79.0 | 77.5 | 75.7 | 73.2 | 70.1 |
Not declared or assessed disabled | 98.9 | 98.7 | 98.8 | 98.6 | 98.5 | 98.3 | 98.1 |
Declared or assessed disabled | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 1.9 |
White - Scottish | 79.4 | 77.3 | 77.4 | 75.6 | 73.2 | 69.8 | 67.0 |
White - non-Scottish | 10.3 | 11.1 | 11.6 | 11.6 | 12.0 | 14.7 | 15.1 |
Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 1.7 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.4 |
Asian - Indian | 1.3 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 2.0 | 3.0 |
Asian - Pakistani | 2.5 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 2.9 | 3.3 |
Asian - Chinese | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 2.2 |
Asian - Other | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.7 |
African / Black / Caribbean | 0.9 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 2.6 |
All other categories | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 1.4 |
Not Disclosed / Not known | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 1.4 |
Distribution of 2025 attainment across different groups
Attainment by equalities characteristics is assessed in the sections below. As with other analyses undertaken in this report, historic attainment from 2019 to 2024 is provided for contextualisation of 2025 outcomes.
The discussion in this section focuses on grade A and grade A to C attainment rates.
Caution is advised in interpreting some of the percentage point changes for different groups over time. For some characteristics, the numbers used to calculate the grade breakdowns are small and likely to be more variable as a result.
Attainment by age
The majority of entries at National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher are from candidates aged between 15 and 18 for all years of the analysis.
Due to the small numbers of entries from candidates aged below 15 and above 18, there is limited equalities analysis that can be conducted on the age characteristic due to the risk of disclosing the identities and results of individual candidates. For this reason, further analyses of attainment by the age category are not undertaken in the rest of this report.
Attainment by sex
This section outlines 2025 attainment outcomes by legal sex. For context, 2019 to 2024 attainment outcomes are also provided.
National 5 grade distribution by sex
Female candidates’ A to C and A attainment rates are greater than those of male candidates at National 5 in each year in the period 2019 to 2024. This remains the case in 2025.
The A to C attainment rate for female candidates in 2025 was 80.4% (an increase of 1.0 percentage points from 79.4% in 2024) and for male candidates was 76.3% (an increase of 1.2 percentage points from 75.1% in 2024). The difference in A to C attainment between female and male candidates in 2025 was 4.1 percentage points. This is a decrease on the 2024 value of 4.3 percentage points.
The A attainment rate for female candidates had an increase of 1.1 percentage points from 42.6% in 2024 to 43.6% in 2025. Male candiates had an increase of 1.4 percentage points from 33.3% in 2024 to 34.7% in 2025. The difference in A attainment between female and male candidates in 2025 was 8.9 percentage points. This is a decrease on the 2024 value of 9.2 percentage points.
National 5 grade distribution by sex graphs
Note: The period between 2020 and 2021 indicates that alternative approaches to assessment, relying on teacher judgement, were used to award grades and allow learners to progress.
Year | Category | A | B | C | D | N | A to C |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | Female | 39.2 | 23.3 | 17.8 | 11.4 | 8.3 | 80.2 |
2019 | Male | 30.8 | 24.5 | 20.8 | 13.7 | 10.3 | 76.0 |
2020 | Female | 46.4 | 24.0 | 20.0 | 6.2 | 3.4 | 90.4 |
2020 | Male | 38.2 | 25.3 | 24.1 | 8.1 | 4.4 | 87.6 |
2021 | Female | 51.5 | 19.5 | 16.2 | 7.4 | 5.4 | 87.2 |
2021 | Male | 41.8 | 22.0 | 20.5 | 9.2 | 6.5 | 84.3 |
2022 | Female | 44.2 | 22.1 | 16.2 | 10.4 | 7.1 | 82.5 |
2022 | Male | 36.4 | 23.8 | 18.9 | 12.1 | 8.7 | 79.2 |
2023 | Female | 42.4 | 21.8 | 16.4 | 10.7 | 8.7 | 80.6 |
2023 | Male | 34.8 | 22.9 | 19.2 | 12.8 | 10.3 | 76.9 |
2024 | Female | 42.6 | 20.9 | 15.9 | 10.7 | 9.9 | 79.4 |
2024 | Male | 33.3 | 22.7 | 19.1 | 12.9 | 12.0 | 75.1 |
2025 | Female | 43.6 | 21.5 | 15.2 | 10.2 | 9.4 | 80.4 |
2025 | Male | 34.7 | 23.2 | 18.4 | 12.4 | 11.3 | 76.3 |
Data for 2019 to 2025 was produced by SQA based on August results day data.
Higher grade distribution by sex
Female candidates’ A to C and A attainment rates are greater than those of male candidates at Higher in each year in the period 2019 to 2024. This remains the case in 2025.
The A to C attainment rate for female candidates had an increase of 0.7 percentage points from 77.7% in 2024 to 78.4% in 2025. Male candiates had an increase of 1.5 percentage points from 71.5% in 2024 to 73.0% in 2025. The difference in A to C attainment between female and male candidates in 2025 was 5.4 percentage points. This is a decrease on the 2024 value of 6.2 percentage points.
In 2025, the A attainment rate for female candidates was 34.1%, an increase of 0.9 percentage points from 33.2% in 2024. Male candidates had an A attainment rate of 27.0% in 2025, an increase of 0.1 percentage points from 26.9% in 2024. The difference in A attainment between female and male candidates in 2025 was 7.1 percentage points. This is an increase on the 2024 value of 6.3 percentage points.
Higher grade distribution by sex graphs
Note: The period between 2020 and 2021 indicates that alternative approaches to assessment, relying on teacher judgement, were used to award grades and allow learners to progress.
Year | Category | A | B | C | D | N | A to C |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | Female | 30.3 | 24.4 | 22.0 | 14.3 | 9.0 | 76.8 |
2019 | Male | 25.6 | 23.6 | 22.9 | 16.3 | 11.5 | 72.2 |
2020 | Female | 43.3 | 26.9 | 20.7 | 6.0 | 3.1 | 90.9 |
2020 | Male | 35.9 | 26.9 | 24.4 | 8.2 | 4.6 | 87.2 |
2021 | Female | 52.1 | 21.6 | 15.7 | 6.0 | 4.6 | 89.4 |
2021 | Male | 42.2 | 22.9 | 19.7 | 8.3 | 6.9 | 84.8 |
2022 | Female | 37.9 | 24.3 | 18.9 | 11.6 | 7.3 | 81.1 |
2022 | Male | 31.2 | 24.3 | 20.9 | 13.7 | 10.0 | 76.4 |
2023 | Female | 35.4 | 24.6 | 19.6 | 12.3 | 8.2 | 79.5 |
2023 | Male | 29.8 | 23.5 | 20.9 | 14.7 | 11.0 | 74.3 |
2024 | Female | 33.2 | 24.0 | 20.5 | 13.5 | 8.8 | 77.7 |
2024 | Male | 26.9 | 22.7 | 22.0 | 15.9 | 12.5 | 71.5 |
2025 | Female | 34.1 | 24.5 | 19.8 | 13.0 | 8.6 | 78.4 |
2025 | Male | 27.0 | 23.9 | 22.1 | 15.2 | 11.8 | 73.0 |
Data for 2019 to 2025 was produced by SQA based on August results day data.
Advanced Higher grade distribution by sex
Female candidates’ A to C and A attainment rates are greater than those of male candidates at Advanced Higher in each year in the period 2019 to 2024. This remains the case in 2025.
In 2025, the A to C attainment rate for female candidates was 79.1%, an increase of 1.0 percentage points from 78.1% in 2024. Male candidates had an A to C attainment rate of 73.5% in 2025, an increase of 1.6 percentage points from 71.8% in 2024. The difference in A to C attainment between female and male candidates in 2025 was 5.6 percentage points. This is a decrease on the 2024 value of 6.2 percentage points.
The A attainment rate for female candidates in 2025 was 31.6% (an increase of 1.3 percentage points from 30.2% in 2024) and for male candidates was 31.1% (an increase of 1.4 percentage points from 29.7% in 2024). The difference in A attainment between female and male candidates in 2025 was 0.5 percentage points. This is a decrease on the 2024 value of 0.6 percentage points.
Advanced Higher grade distribution by sex graphs
Note: The period between 2020 and 2021 indicates that alternative approaches to assessment, relying on teacher judgement, were used to award grades and allow learners to progress.
Year | Category | A | B | C | D | N | A to C |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | Female | 32.0 | 25.8 | 23.6 | 8.2 | 10.4 | 81.4 |
2019 | Male | 31.5 | 23.8 | 21.5 | 8.5 | 14.6 | 76.8 |
2020 | Female | 47.6 | 29.1 | 17.8 | 3.8 | 1.7 | 94.4 |
2020 | Male | 44.8 | 26.1 | 20.5 | 5.6 | 3.0 | 91.4 |
2021 | Female | 53.2 | 23.8 | 15.2 | 4.7 | 3.1 | 92.2 |
2021 | Male | 48.1 | 22.6 | 17.0 | 6.6 | 5.8 | 87.6 |
2022 | Female | 34.6 | 27.1 | 22.2 | 11.3 | 4.9 | 83.9 |
2022 | Male | 32.6 | 24.7 | 20.8 | 13.1 | 8.7 | 78.1 |
2023 | Female | 33.8 | 26.5 | 21.9 | 12.3 | 5.5 | 82.2 |
2023 | Male | 31.9 | 24.3 | 20.6 | 13.6 | 9.6 | 76.8 |
2024 | Female | 30.2 | 24.7 | 23.2 | 14.1 | 7.9 | 78.1 |
2024 | Male | 29.7 | 22.0 | 20.2 | 15.2 | 12.9 | 71.8 |
2025 | Female | 31.6 | 25.0 | 22.6 | 13.3 | 7.6 | 79.1 |
2025 | Male | 31.1 | 22.1 | 20.3 | 14.0 | 12.6 | 73.5 |
Data for 2019 to 2025 was produced by SQA based on August results day data.
Attainment by SIMD quintile
This section outlines attainment outcomes by SIMD quintile from 2019 to 2025. Caution is advised in interpreting some of the percentage point changes for different SIMD quintiles over time. For example, the numbers used to calculate the grade distribution for Advanced Higher are small and likely to be more variable as a result.
National 5 grade distribution by SIMD quintile
For each year in the period 2019 to 2025, the A to C rate increases progressively from quintile 1 to quintile 5. In 2025, the difference in A to C attainment between the most deprived and least deprived quintiles was 16.6 percentage points. This is a decrease on the 2024 value of 17.2 percentage points. The difference in A to C rates between quintile 1 and quintile 5 across the years ranges from 8.0 to 17.2 percentage points.
For the years in the period 2019 to 2025, the National 5 A attainment rate generally increases progressively from SIMD quintile 1 (most deprived) to SIMD quintile 5 (least deprived). In 2025, the difference in A attainment between the most deprived and least deprived quintiles was 27.5 percentage points. This is a decrease on the 2024 value of 27.6 percentage points. In each of the years, candidates in quintile 5 achieved an A attainment rate of more than 25 percentage points above those in quintile 1.
National 5 grade distribution by SIMD quintile graphs
Note: The period between 2020 and 2021 indicates that alternative approaches to assessment, relying on teacher judgement, were used to award grades and allow learners to progress.
Year | Category | A | B | C | D | N | A to C |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | SIMD 1 | 21.1 | 24.0 | 23.8 | 17.4 | 13.8 | 68.8 |
2019 | SIMD 2 | 26.2 | 24.4 | 22.4 | 15.1 | 11.9 | 73.0 |
2019 | SIMD 3 | 32.4 | 24.9 | 20.1 | 13.1 | 9.5 | 77.4 |
2019 | SIMD 4 | 38.7 | 24.0 | 18.2 | 11.3 | 7.9 | 80.9 |
2019 | SIMD 5 | 48.7 | 22.5 | 14.6 | 8.5 | 5.7 | 85.8 |
2020 | SIMD 1 | 29.3 | 27.1 | 28.4 | 9.7 | 5.5 | 84.9 |
2020 | SIMD 2 | 34.4 | 26.4 | 25.5 | 8.9 | 4.9 | 86.3 |
2020 | SIMD 3 | 40.0 | 25.5 | 23.0 | 7.4 | 4.0 | 88.6 |
2020 | SIMD 4 | 45.7 | 24.1 | 20.4 | 6.4 | 3.4 | 90.2 |
2020 | SIMD 5 | 55.0 | 21.6 | 16.2 | 4.6 | 2.5 | 92.8 |
2021 | SIMD 1 | 33.7 | 23.6 | 23.9 | 11.0 | 7.8 | 81.3 |
2021 | SIMD 2 | 38.9 | 22.3 | 21.4 | 10.0 | 7.3 | 82.7 |
2021 | SIMD 3 | 44.1 | 21.5 | 19.1 | 8.9 | 6.5 | 84.6 |
2021 | SIMD 4 | 50.6 | 19.8 | 16.8 | 7.5 | 5.3 | 87.2 |
2021 | SIMD 5 | 58.8 | 18.0 | 13.5 | 5.6 | 4.2 | 90.2 |
2022 | SIMD 1 | 26.7 | 24.5 | 22.0 | 15.2 | 11.6 | 73.2 |
2022 | SIMD 2 | 31.8 | 23.7 | 20.4 | 13.7 | 10.4 | 75.9 |
2022 | SIMD 3 | 37.2 | 23.7 | 18.4 | 12.2 | 8.6 | 79.3 |
2022 | SIMD 4 | 44.3 | 22.9 | 16.5 | 9.9 | 6.5 | 83.6 |
2022 | SIMD 5 | 53.8 | 21.0 | 13.1 | 7.5 | 4.7 | 87.8 |
2023 | SIMD 1 | 25.7 | 23.2 | 22.0 | 15.8 | 13.4 | 70.8 |
2023 | SIMD 2 | 30.1 | 23.1 | 20.2 | 14.2 | 12.4 | 73.4 |
2023 | SIMD 3 | 34.9 | 23.1 | 18.9 | 12.7 | 10.4 | 76.9 |
2023 | SIMD 4 | 42.5 | 22.3 | 16.7 | 10.5 | 8.0 | 81.5 |
2023 | SIMD 5 | 52.0 | 20.8 | 13.6 | 7.8 | 5.7 | 86.4 |
2024 | SIMD 1 | 24.5 | 22.6 | 21.3 | 15.8 | 15.8 | 68.4 |
2024 | SIMD 2 | 29.1 | 22.3 | 20.0 | 14.0 | 14.5 | 71.5 |
2024 | SIMD 3 | 34.8 | 22.4 | 18.5 | 12.8 | 11.5 | 75.7 |
2024 | SIMD 4 | 41.7 | 22.1 | 16.6 | 10.6 | 9.1 | 80.3 |
2024 | SIMD 5 | 52.1 | 20.1 | 13.4 | 8.0 | 6.4 | 85.6 |
2025 | SIMD 1 | 26.1 | 23.1 | 20.7 | 14.9 | 15.2 | 70.0 |
2025 | SIMD 2 | 30.0 | 23.3 | 19.2 | 13.9 | 13.6 | 72.5 |
2025 | SIMD 3 | 35.8 | 22.9 | 17.9 | 12.0 | 11.3 | 76.7 |
2025 | SIMD 4 | 42.8 | 22.9 | 15.7 | 10.2 | 8.4 | 81.4 |
2025 | SIMD 5 | 53.6 | 20.4 | 12.6 | 7.5 | 5.9 | 86.6 |
Attainment | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A | 27.6 pp | 25.7 pp | 25.1 pp | 27.1 pp | 26.4 pp | 27.6 pp | 27.5 pp |
A to C | 17.0 pp | 8.0 pp | 9.0 pp | 14.6 pp | 15.6 pp | 17.2 pp | 16.6 pp |
Higher grade distribution by SIMD quintile
For each year in the period 2019 to 2025, the A to C rate increases progressively from quintile 1 to quintile 5. In 2025, the difference in A to C attainment between the most deprived and least deprived quintiles was 17.1 percentage points. This is a decrease on the 2024 value of 17.2 percentage points. The difference in A to C rates between quintile 1 and quintile 5 across the years ranges from 6.4 to 17.2 percentage points.
For the years in the period 2019 to 2025, the Higher A attainment rate generally increases progressively from SIMD quintile 1 (most deprived) to SIMD quintile 5 (least deprived). In 2025, the difference in A attainment between the most deprived and least deprived quintiles was 22.0 percentage points. This is a decrease on the 2024 value of 22.1 percentage points. In each of the years, candidates in quintile 5 achieved an A attainment rate of more than 20 percentage points above those in quintile 1.
Higher grade distribution by SIMD quintile graphs
Note: The period between 2020 and 2021 indicates that alternative approaches to assessment, relying on teacher judgement, were used to award grades and allow learners to progress.
Year | Category | A | B | C | D | N | A to C |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | SIMD 1 | 16.5 | 22.4 | 26.0 | 20.3 | 14.8 | 64.9 |
2019 | SIMD 2 | 20.0 | 23.1 | 25.3 | 18.7 | 12.8 | 68.5 |
2019 | SIMD 3 | 25.1 | 24.2 | 23.7 | 16.3 | 10.7 | 73.0 |
2019 | SIMD 4 | 30.0 | 24.9 | 22.0 | 14.0 | 9.1 | 76.9 |
2019 | SIMD 5 | 38.4 | 24.6 | 18.8 | 11.2 | 7.0 | 81.8 |
2020 | SIMD 1 | 28.8 | 28.3 | 28.5 | 9.2 | 5.1 | 85.6 |
2020 | SIMD 2 | 32.1 | 28.3 | 26.3 | 8.8 | 4.6 | 86.6 |
2020 | SIMD 3 | 37.7 | 27.5 | 23.4 | 7.4 | 4.0 | 88.6 |
2020 | SIMD 4 | 41.9 | 26.8 | 21.3 | 6.4 | 3.6 | 90.0 |
2020 | SIMD 5 | 49.0 | 25.4 | 17.6 | 5.2 | 2.8 | 92.0 |
2021 | SIMD 1 | 35.6 | 24.6 | 22.9 | 9.4 | 7.5 | 83.1 |
2021 | SIMD 2 | 39.4 | 23.8 | 21.1 | 8.7 | 6.8 | 84.4 |
2021 | SIMD 3 | 44.7 | 23.0 | 18.4 | 7.6 | 6.3 | 86.1 |
2021 | SIMD 4 | 49.7 | 22.1 | 16.3 | 6.8 | 5.2 | 88.0 |
2021 | SIMD 5 | 57.7 | 19.7 | 13.6 | 4.9 | 4.2 | 91.0 |
2022 | SIMD 1 | 22.1 | 23.6 | 24.5 | 17.6 | 12.2 | 70.2 |
2022 | SIMD 2 | 26.4 | 24.4 | 22.5 | 15.4 | 11.4 | 73.3 |
2022 | SIMD 3 | 30.7 | 24.8 | 21.4 | 13.8 | 9.4 | 76.8 |
2022 | SIMD 4 | 37.6 | 24.8 | 19.1 | 11.3 | 7.1 | 81.6 |
2022 | SIMD 5 | 45.3 | 23.8 | 16.0 | 9.0 | 5.9 | 85.1 |
2023 | SIMD 1 | 20.0 | 23.6 | 24.5 | 18.4 | 13.6 | 68.0 |
2023 | SIMD 2 | 24.5 | 23.8 | 22.7 | 16.4 | 12.6 | 71.0 |
2023 | SIMD 3 | 29.4 | 24.5 | 21.3 | 14.7 | 10.1 | 75.2 |
2023 | SIMD 4 | 34.9 | 24.5 | 19.7 | 12.5 | 8.5 | 79.1 |
2023 | SIMD 5 | 43.3 | 23.9 | 16.7 | 9.7 | 6.4 | 84.0 |
2024 | SIMD 1 | 18.7 | 21.6 | 24.8 | 19.9 | 15.0 | 65.1 |
2024 | SIMD 2 | 21.8 | 22.8 | 23.9 | 17.8 | 13.7 | 68.5 |
2024 | SIMD 3 | 26.8 | 23.6 | 22.3 | 15.6 | 11.6 | 72.8 |
2024 | SIMD 4 | 32.1 | 24.1 | 20.8 | 13.7 | 9.3 | 77.0 |
2024 | SIMD 5 | 40.7 | 23.8 | 17.7 | 10.7 | 7.1 | 82.2 |
2025 | SIMD 1 | 19.2 | 22.6 | 24.4 | 18.7 | 15.1 | 66.1 |
2025 | SIMD 2 | 23.3 | 23.9 | 22.8 | 17.4 | 12.7 | 70.0 |
2025 | SIMD 3 | 27.0 | 24.9 | 22.2 | 15.1 | 10.8 | 74.1 |
2025 | SIMD 4 | 32.8 | 24.8 | 20.5 | 13.1 | 8.8 | 78.2 |
2025 | SIMD 5 | 41.2 | 24.5 | 17.6 | 10.1 | 6.7 | 83.2 |
Attainment | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A | 22.0 pp | 20.3 pp | 22.1 pp | 23.2 pp | 23.3 pp | 22.1 pp | 22.0 pp |
A to C | 16.9 pp | 6.4 pp | 7.9 pp | 15.0 pp | 16.0 pp | 17.2 pp | 17.1 pp |
Advanced Higher grade distribution by SIMD quintile
For each year in the period 2019 to 2025, the A to C rate increases progressively from quintile 1 to quintile 5. In 2025, the difference in A to C attainment between the most deprived and least deprived quintiles was 12.8 percentage points. This is a decrease on the 2024 value of 15.5 percentage points. The difference in A to C rates between quintile 1 and quintile 5 across the years ranges from 2.9 to 15.5 percentage points.
For the years in the period 2019 to 2025, the Advanced Higher A attainment rate generally increases progressively from SIMD quintile 1 (most deprived) to SIMD quintile 5 (least deprived). In 2025, the difference in A attainment between the most deprived and least deprived quintiles was 18.3 percentage points. This is a decrease on the 2024 value of 18.7 percentage points. In each of the years, candidates in quintile 5 achieved an A attainment rate of more than 15 percentage points above those in quintile 1.
Advanced Higher grade distribution by SIMD quintile graphs
Note: The period between 2020 and 2021 indicates that alternative approaches to assessment, relying on teacher judgement, were used to award grades and allow learners to progress.
Year | Category | A | B | C | D | N | A to C |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | SIMD 1 | 22.2 | 22.5 | 25.7 | 9.8 | 19.8 | 70.4 |
2019 | SIMD 2 | 25.3 | 23.5 | 25.0 | 10.6 | 15.7 | 73.7 |
2019 | SIMD 3 | 27.9 | 24.6 | 24.3 | 9.8 | 13.3 | 76.9 |
2019 | SIMD 4 | 30.7 | 25.5 | 23.5 | 8.2 | 12.1 | 79.7 |
2019 | SIMD 5 | 37.7 | 25.6 | 20.4 | 7.0 | 9.4 | 83.6 |
2020 | SIMD 1 | 36.0 | 29.8 | 25.5 | 6.0 | 2.6 | 91.4 |
2020 | SIMD 2 | 38.6 | 30.2 | 21.6 | 6.5 | 3.1 | 90.4 |
2020 | SIMD 3 | 43.2 | 29.6 | 20.1 | 4.6 | 2.6 | 92.9 |
2020 | SIMD 4 | 45.2 | 28.7 | 19.1 | 4.6 | 2.5 | 93.0 |
2020 | SIMD 5 | 52.3 | 25.6 | 16.3 | 3.9 | 1.9 | 94.2 |
2021 | SIMD 1 | 37.9 | 27.5 | 21.7 | 7.5 | 5.4 | 87.1 |
2021 | SIMD 2 | 42.0 | 25.5 | 18.6 | 7.7 | 6.3 | 86.1 |
2021 | SIMD 3 | 47.1 | 25.3 | 16.9 | 6.4 | 4.3 | 89.3 |
2021 | SIMD 4 | 49.6 | 23.6 | 16.6 | 5.4 | 4.8 | 89.8 |
2021 | SIMD 5 | 58.7 | 20.8 | 13.2 | 4.2 | 3.1 | 92.6 |
2022 | SIMD 1 | 20.5 | 26.3 | 26.1 | 17.9 | 9.2 | 72.9 |
2022 | SIMD 2 | 24.1 | 24.0 | 25.4 | 16.3 | 10.2 | 73.5 |
2022 | SIMD 3 | 30.2 | 24.8 | 23.9 | 13.8 | 7.4 | 78.8 |
2022 | SIMD 4 | 33.6 | 26.9 | 21.6 | 11.7 | 6.2 | 82.1 |
2022 | SIMD 5 | 41.0 | 26.7 | 18.3 | 9.1 | 4.8 | 86.1 |
2023 | SIMD 1 | 22.4 | 24.7 | 25.6 | 17.8 | 9.5 | 72.7 |
2023 | SIMD 2 | 25.7 | 23.5 | 23.2 | 17.8 | 9.8 | 72.5 |
2023 | SIMD 3 | 27.8 | 26.2 | 23.8 | 14.1 | 8.1 | 77.8 |
2023 | SIMD 4 | 32.4 | 26.3 | 21.6 | 12.4 | 7.3 | 80.3 |
2023 | SIMD 5 | 40.0 | 25.6 | 18.6 | 10.1 | 5.7 | 84.2 |
2024 | SIMD 1 | 18.4 | 21.2 | 25.6 | 19.0 | 15.8 | 65.2 |
2024 | SIMD 2 | 20.9 | 22.1 | 23.8 | 18.7 | 14.6 | 66.7 |
2024 | SIMD 3 | 25.7 | 23.9 | 23.6 | 16.1 | 10.7 | 73.2 |
2024 | SIMD 4 | 29.6 | 23.5 | 22.5 | 14.4 | 10.1 | 75.6 |
2024 | SIMD 5 | 37.1 | 24.4 | 19.2 | 12.0 | 7.4 | 80.7 |
2025 | SIMD 1 | 20.1 | 21.7 | 26.7 | 16.8 | 14.7 | 68.4 |
2025 | SIMD 2 | 21.4 | 23.9 | 25.7 | 16.5 | 12.6 | 70.9 |
2025 | SIMD 3 | 26.6 | 24.6 | 22.1 | 15.3 | 11.3 | 73.3 |
2025 | SIMD 4 | 31.8 | 23.9 | 21.7 | 13.1 | 9.5 | 77.4 |
2025 | SIMD 5 | 38.3 | 23.9 | 19.0 | 11.5 | 7.3 | 81.2 |
Attainment | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A | 15.5 pp | 16.3 pp | 20.8 pp | 20.5 pp | 17.6 pp | 18.7 pp | 18.3 pp |
A to C | 13.2 pp | 2.9 pp | 5.5 pp | 13.2 pp | 11.5 pp | 15.5 pp | 12.8 pp |
Attainment by additional support needs (ASN)
National 5 grade distribution by additional support needs
In 2025, the A to C attainment rate for candidates with additional support needs was 72.1%. This was an increase of 1.7 percentage points from 70.4% in 2024. Candidates without additional support needs had an A to C attainment rate of 80.8% in 2025, an increase of 1.4 percentage points from 79.4% in 2024. The difference in A to C attainment between those with and without additional support needs in 2025 was 8.7 percentage points. This is a decrease on the 2024 value of 9.1 percentage points.
In 2025, the A attainment rate for candidates with additional support needs was 29.5%. This was an increase of 1.9 percentage points from 27.6% in 2024. Candidates without additional support needs had an A attainment rate of 42.1% in 2025, an increase of 1.6 percentage points from 40.5% in 2024. The difference in A attainment between those with and without additional support needs in 2025 was 12.6 percentage points. This is a decrease on the 2024 value of 12.9 percentage points.
National 5 grade distribution by additional support needs graphs
Note: The period between 2020 and 2021 indicates that alternative approaches to assessment, relying on teacher judgement, were used to award grades and allow learners to progress.
Year | Category | A | B | C | D | N | A to C |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | ASN | 24.0 | 23.7 | 23.1 | 15.8 | 13.4 | 70.9 |
2019 | No ASN | 36.3 | 24.6 | 19.1 | 11.6 | 8.4 | 80.0 |
2020 | ASN | 30.5 | 25.9 | 27.9 | 9.9 | 5.8 | 84.3 |
2020 | No ASN | 44.1 | 24.9 | 21.0 | 6.6 | 3.4 | 90.0 |
2021 | ASN | 33.9 | 22.8 | 23.4 | 11.3 | 8.5 | 80.1 |
2021 | No ASN | 49.2 | 20.6 | 17.4 | 7.7 | 5.2 | 87.1 |
2022 | ASN | 29.3 | 23.6 | 21.2 | 14.6 | 11.3 | 74.1 |
2022 | No ASN | 42.2 | 23.4 | 16.9 | 10.5 | 7.0 | 82.5 |
2023 | ASN | 28.4 | 22.7 | 20.9 | 14.8 | 13.3 | 72.0 |
2023 | No ASN | 40.7 | 22.7 | 17.2 | 11.0 | 8.4 | 80.6 |
2024 | ASN | 27.6 | 22.1 | 20.6 | 14.8 | 14.8 | 70.4 |
2024 | No ASN | 40.5 | 22.2 | 16.7 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 79.4 |
2025 | ASN | 29.5 | 22.9 | 19.7 | 14.0 | 13.9 | 72.1 |
2025 | No ASN | 42.1 | 22.8 | 15.9 | 10.3 | 8.9 | 80.8 |
Data for 2019 is from Equalities Monitoring Report 2023 and was produced by Scottish Government based on December data. Data for 2020 to 2025 was produced by SQA based on August results day data.
Higher grade distribution by additional support needs
In 2025, the A to C attainment rate for candidates with additional support needs was 70.7%. This was an increase of 1.7 percentage points from 69.0% in 2024. Candidates without additional support needs had an A to C attainment rate of 76.9% in 2025, an increase of 1.3 percentage points from 75.7% in 2024. The difference in A to C attainment between those with and without additional support needs in 2025 was 6.2 percentage points. This is a decrease on the 2024 value of 6.7 percentage points.
In 2025, the A attainment rate for candidates with additional support needs was 24.4%. This was an increase of 1.2 percentage points from 23.2% in 2024. Candidates without additional support needs had an A attainment rate of 31.1% in 2025, an increase of 0.8 percentage points from 30.3% in 2024. The difference in A attainment between those with and without additional support needs in 2025 was 6.7 percentage points. This is a decrease on the 2024 value of 7.0 percentage points.
Higher grade distribution by additional support needs graphs
Note: The period between 2020 and 2021 indicates that alternative approaches to assessment, relying on teacher judgement, were used to award grades and allow learners to progress.
Year | Category | A | B | C | D | N | A to C |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | ASN | 20.3 | 22.8 | 24.8 | 18.6 | 13.4 | 67.9 |
2019 | No ASN | 27.8 | 24.6 | 22.9 | 15.1 | 9.7 | 75.3 |
2020 | ASN | 31.5 | 27.0 | 27.0 | 9.5 | 5.0 | 85.5 |
2020 | No ASN | 39.9 | 27.4 | 22.2 | 6.8 | 3.6 | 89.6 |
2021 | ASN | 37.7 | 23.3 | 21.9 | 9.2 | 7.9 | 82.9 |
2021 | No ASN | 48.1 | 22.6 | 17.2 | 6.9 | 5.2 | 87.9 |
2022 | ASN | 26.0 | 24.0 | 22.7 | 16.0 | 11.2 | 72.8 |
2022 | No ASN | 35.1 | 24.7 | 19.9 | 12.2 | 8.2 | 79.6 |
2023 | ASN | 24.7 | 23.4 | 22.9 | 16.8 | 12.2 | 71.0 |
2023 | No ASN | 32.9 | 24.7 | 20.2 | 13.1 | 9.1 | 77.8 |
2024 | ASN | 23.2 | 22.3 | 23.5 | 17.7 | 13.3 | 69.0 |
2024 | No ASN | 30.3 | 24.2 | 21.2 | 14.3 | 10.0 | 75.7 |
2025 | ASN | 24.4 | 23.4 | 22.9 | 16.7 | 12.6 | 70.7 |
2025 | No ASN | 31.1 | 24.9 | 20.9 | 13.6 | 9.5 | 76.9 |
Data for 2019 is from Equalities Monitoring Report 2023 and was produced by Scottish Government based on December data. Data for 2020 to 2025 was produced by SQA based on August results day data.
Advanced Higher grade distribution by additional support needs
In 2025, the A to C attainment rate for candidates with additional support needs was 72.0%. This was an increase of 1.5 percentage points from 70.5% in 2024. Candidates without additional support needs had an A to C attainment rate of 74.9% in 2025, an increase of 1.7 percentage points from 73.1% in 2024. The difference in A to C attainment between those with and without additional support needs in 2025 was 2.8 percentage points. This is an increase on the 2024 value of 2.6 percentage points.
In 2025, the A attainment rate for candidates with additional support needs was 25.5%. This was an increase of 0.9 percentage points from 24.6% in 2024. Candidates without additional support needs had an A attainment rate of 27.8% in 2025, an increase of 1.4 percentage points from 26.4% in 2024. The difference in A attainment between those with and without additional support needs in 2025 was 2.3 percentage points. This is an increase on the 2024 value of 1.8 percentage points.
Advanced Higher grade distribution by additional support needs graphs
Note: The period between 2020 and 2021 indicates that alternative approaches to assessment, relying on teacher judgement, were used to award grades and allow learners to progress.
Year | Category | A | B | C | D | N | A to C |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | ASN | 25.1 | 24.4 | 25.9 | 9.5 | 15.0 | 75.5 |
2019 | No ASN | 28.4 | 25.4 | 24.3 | 9.0 | 12.9 | 78.1 |
2020 | ASN | 38.2 | 29.4 | 23.1 | 6.5 | 2.9 | 90.7 |
2020 | No ASN | 42.8 | 29.0 | 20.6 | 5.0 | 2.6 | 92.4 |
2021 | ASN | 41.7 | 25.1 | 20.6 | 7.1 | 5.5 | 87.4 |
2021 | No ASN | 48.3 | 24.2 | 16.7 | 6.0 | 4.7 | 89.3 |
2022 | ASN | 27.0 | 25.8 | 24.9 | 14.2 | 8.1 | 77.7 |
2022 | No ASN | 30.7 | 26.6 | 22.5 | 13.0 | 7.2 | 79.8 |
2023 | ASN | 26.8 | 24.8 | 24.1 | 15.3 | 8.9 | 75.7 |
2023 | No ASN | 29.3 | 26.0 | 22.5 | 14.0 | 8.2 | 77.8 |
2024 | ASN | 24.6 | 22.2 | 23.7 | 17.0 | 12.5 | 70.5 |
2024 | No ASN | 26.4 | 23.7 | 23.0 | 15.8 | 11.0 | 73.1 |
2025 | ASN | 25.5 | 23.4 | 23.1 | 16.1 | 11.8 | 72.0 |
2025 | No ASN | 27.8 | 24.0 | 23.1 | 14.5 | 10.7 | 74.9 |
Data for 2019 is from Equalities Monitoring Report 2023 and was produced by Scottish Government based on December data. Data for 2020 to 2025 was produced by SQA based on August results day data.
Attainment by declared or assessed disabled status
This section outlines attainment outcomes by declared or assessed disabled status from 2019 to 2025
Caution is advised in interpreting some of the percentage point changes for different groups over time. For declared or assessed disabled entries, and in particular at Advanced Higher, the numbers used to calculate the percentage breakdowns for different levels are small and likely to be more variable as a result.
National 5 grade distribution by declared or assessed disabled status
In 2025, the A to C attainment rate for candidates who are declared or assessed disabled was 71.7%. This was an increase of 2.1 percentage points from 69.5% in 2024. Candidates who are not declared or assessed disabled had an A to C attainment rate of 77.7% in 2025, an increase of 1.3 percentage points from 76.4% in 2024. The difference in A to C attainment between those who are and those who are not declared or assessed disabled in 2025 was 6.0 percentage points. This is a decrease on the 2024 value of 6.9 percentage points.
In 2025, the A attainment rate for candidates who are declared or assessed disabled was 27.1%. This was an increase of 2.5 percentage points from 24.6% in 2024. Candidates who are not declared or assessed disabled had an A attainment rate of 37.6% in 2025, an increase of 1.4 percentage points from 36.3% in 2024. The difference in A attainment between those who are and those who are not declared or assessed disabled in 2025 was 10.5 percentage points. This is a decrease on the 2024 value of 11.6 percentage points.
National 5 grade distribution by declared or assessed disabled status graphs
Note: The period between 2020 and 2021 indicates that alternative approaches to assessment, relying on teacher judgement, were used to award grades and allow learners to progress.
Year | Category | A | B | C | D | N | A to C |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | Declared or assessed disabled | 21.5 | 25.5 | 23.9 | 15.9 | 13.1 | 71.0 |
2019 | Not declared or assessed disabled | 33.5 | 24.4 | 20.0 | 12.5 | 9.5 | 78.0 |
2020 | Declared or assessed disabled | 30.0 | 25.6 | 30.4 | 9.4 | 4.7 | 86.0 |
2020 | Not declared or assessed disabled | 40.7 | 25.1 | 22.7 | 7.4 | 4.1 | 88.5 |
2021 | Declared or assessed disabled | 33.5 | 23.3 | 23.9 | 11.6 | 7.6 | 80.8 |
2021 | Not declared or assessed disabled | 45.1 | 21.2 | 19.0 | 8.6 | 6.1 | 85.2 |
2022 | Declared or assessed disabled | 29.4 | 23.8 | 21.1 | 15.4 | 10.3 | 74.3 |
2022 | Not declared or assessed disabled | 38.5 | 23.5 | 18.2 | 11.6 | 8.2 | 80.1 |
2023 | Declared or assessed disabled | 27.1 | 24.0 | 22.4 | 14.9 | 11.6 | 73.5 |
2023 | Not declared or assessed disabled | 36.9 | 22.7 | 18.3 | 12.1 | 9.9 | 77.9 |
2024 | Declared or assessed disabled | 24.6 | 23.0 | 21.9 | 16.0 | 14.5 | 69.5 |
2024 | Not declared or assessed disabled | 36.3 | 22.2 | 18.0 | 12.2 | 11.4 | 76.4 |
2025 | Declared or assessed disabled | 27.1 | 23.3 | 21.3 | 14.2 | 14.2 | 71.7 |
2025 | Not declared or assessed disabled | 37.6 | 22.8 | 17.2 | 11.6 | 10.7 | 77.7 |
Data for 2019 is from Equalities Monitoring Report 2023 and was produced by Scottish Government based on December data. Data for 2020 to 2025 was produced by SQA based on August results day data.
Higher grade distribution by declared or assessed disabled status
In 2025, the A to C attainment rate for candidates who are declared or assessed disabled was 68.8%. This was a decrease of 0.1 percentage points from 68.9% in 2024. Candidates who are not declared or assessed disabled had an A to C attainment rate of 75.0% in 2025, an increase of 1.2 percentage points from 73.7% in 2024. The difference in A to C attainment between those who are and those who are not declared or assessed disabled in 2025 was 6.2 percentage points. This is an increase on the 2024 value of 4.9 percentage points.
In 2025, the A attainment rate for candidates who are declared or assessed disabled was 21.4%. This was a decrease of 0.2 percentage points from 21.7% in 2024. Candidates who are not declared or assessed disabled had an A attainment rate of 29.1% in 2025, an increase of 0.8 percentage points from 28.3% in 2024. The difference in A attainment between those who are and those who are not declared or assessed disabled in 2025 was 7.6 percentage points. This is an increase on the 2024 value of 6.6 percentage points.
Higher grade distribution by declared or assessed disabled status graphs
Note: The period between 2020 and 2021 indicates that alternative approaches to assessment, relying on teacher judgement, were used to award grades and allow learners to progress.
Year | Category | A | B | C | D | N | A to C |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | Declared or assessed disabled | 19.7 | 23.3 | 25.3 | 19.9 | 11.9 | 68.2 |
2019 | Not declared or assessed disabled | 26.4 | 24.3 | 23.2 | 15.7 | 10.4 | 74.0 |
2020 | Declared or assessed disabled | 31.2 | 26.4 | 28.9 | 9.3 | 4.2 | 86.5 |
2020 | Not declared or assessed disabled | 38.2 | 27.4 | 23.2 | 7.3 | 3.9 | 88.8 |
2021 | Declared or assessed disabled | 35.0 | 24.7 | 22.2 | 10.6 | 7.6 | 81.8 |
2021 | Not declared or assessed disabled | 45.8 | 22.7 | 18.2 | 7.4 | 5.8 | 86.8 |
2022 | Declared or assessed disabled | 25.9 | 24.1 | 23.1 | 16.6 | 10.4 | 73.0 |
2022 | Not declared or assessed disabled | 32.9 | 24.5 | 20.5 | 13.1 | 8.9 | 78.0 |
2023 | Declared or assessed disabled | 25.6 | 24.9 | 21.1 | 17.0 | 11.3 | 71.6 |
2023 | Not declared or assessed disabled | 30.8 | 24.4 | 20.9 | 14.0 | 9.9 | 76.1 |
2024 | Declared or assessed disabled | 21.7 | 22.2 | 25.0 | 18.3 | 12.9 | 68.9 |
2024 | Not declared or assessed disabled | 28.3 | 23.6 | 21.8 | 15.3 | 11.0 | 73.7 |
2025 | Declared or assessed disabled | 21.4 | 23.2 | 24.2 | 18.6 | 12.6 | 68.8 |
2025 | Not declared or assessed disabled | 29.1 | 24.4 | 21.5 | 14.6 | 10.5 | 75.0 |
Data for 2019 is from Equalities Monitoring Report 2023 and was produced by Scottish Government based on December data. Data for 2020 to 2025 was produced by SQA based on August results day data.
Advanced Higher grade distribution by declared or assessed disabled status
In 2025, the A to C attainment rate for candidates who are declared or assessed disabled was 75.3%. This was an increase of 3.9 percentage points from 71.4% in 2024. Candidates who are not declared or assessed disabled had an A to C attainment rate of 74.0% in 2025, an increase of 1.5 percentage points from 72.4% in 2024. The difference in A to C attainment between those who are and those who are not declared or assessed disabled in 2025 was 1.3 percentage points. This is an increase on the 2024 value of 1.1 percentage points.
In 2025, the A attainment rate for candidates who are declared or assessed disabled was 29.4%. This was an increase of 2.4 percentage points from 26.9% in 2024. Candidates who are not declared or assessed disabled had an A attainment rate of 27.1% in 2025, an increase of 1.2 percentage points from 25.9% in 2024. The difference in A attainment between those who are and those who are not declared or assessed disabled in 2025 was 2.3 percentage points. This is an increase on the 2024 value of 1.0 percentage points.
Advanced Higher grade distribution by declared or assessed disabled status graphs
Note: The period between 2020 and 2021 indicates that alternative approaches to assessment, relying on teacher judgement, were used to award grades and allow learners to progress.
Year | Category | A | B | C | D | N | A to C |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | Declared or assessed disabled | 22.7 | 21.8 | 28.0 | 8.9 | 18.7 | 72.4 |
2019 | Not declared or assessed disabled | 27.9 | 25.3 | 24.6 | 9.1 | 13.2 | 77.7 |
2020 | Declared or assessed disabled | 41.3 | 27.6 | 22.4 | 6.3 | 2.4 | 91.3 |
2020 | Not declared or assessed disabled | 42.0 | 29.1 | 21.0 | 5.2 | 2.7 | 92.1 |
2021 | Declared or assessed disabled | 42.6 | 26.4 | 17.7 | 6.1 | 7.2 | 86.6 |
2021 | Not declared or assessed disabled | 47.0 | 24.4 | 17.6 | 6.2 | 4.9 | 88.9 |
2022 | Declared or assessed disabled | 30.4 | 24.8 | 22.4 | 16.1 | 6.2 | 77.6 |
2022 | Not declared or assessed disabled | 29.8 | 26.4 | 23.1 | 13.3 | 7.4 | 79.3 |
2023 | Declared or assessed disabled | 29.5 | 25.0 | 22.5 | 16.0 | 7.0 | 77.0 |
2023 | Not declared or assessed disabled | 28.7 | 25.7 | 22.9 | 14.3 | 8.4 | 77.3 |
2024 | Declared or assessed disabled | 26.9 | 22.8 | 21.6 | 16.6 | 12.0 | 71.4 |
2024 | Not declared or assessed disabled | 25.9 | 23.3 | 23.2 | 16.1 | 11.4 | 72.4 |
2025 | Declared or assessed disabled | 29.4 | 23.2 | 22.8 | 14.3 | 10.4 | 75.3 |
2025 | Not declared or assessed disabled | 27.1 | 23.8 | 23.1 | 15.0 | 11.0 | 74.0 |
Data for 2019 is from Equalities Monitoring Report 2023 and was produced by Scottish Government based on December data. Data for 2020 to 2025 was produced by SQA based on August results day data.
Attainment by urban / rural classification
Urban / rural grade breakdowns of attainment have historically been more variable over time and across levels than the other equalities categories in this analysis. In general, however, where one group had higher attainment than another historically, this remained the case in 2025.
Caution is advised in interpreting some of the percentage point changes for different groups over time. For some characteristics, such as remote small towns, the numbers used to calculate the grade breakdowns for different levels are small and likely to be more variable as a result.
National 5 grade distribution by urban / rural classification
National 5 grade distribution by urban / rural classification graphs
Note: The period between 2020 and 2021 indicates that alternative approaches to assessment, relying on teacher judgement, were used to award grades and allow learners to progress.
Year | Category | A | B | C | D | N | A to C |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | Accessible Rural | 37.8 | 24.1 | 18.4 | 11.6 | 8.1 | 80.3 |
2019 | Accessible Small Towns | 35.4 | 24.3 | 19.1 | 12.5 | 8.7 | 78.8 |
2019 | Large Urban Areas | 37.3 | 23.1 | 18.7 | 12.0 | 8.9 | 79.1 |
2019 | Other Urban Areas | 31.7 | 24.2 | 20.2 | 13.4 | 10.4 | 76.1 |
2019 | Remote Rural | 34.2 | 25.3 | 19.1 | 12.7 | 8.8 | 78.6 |
2019 | Remote Small Towns | 28.0 | 25.5 | 21.0 | 14.2 | 11.3 | 74.5 |
2020 | Accessible Rural | 44.7 | 24.0 | 21.1 | 6.6 | 3.5 | 89.9 |
2020 | Accessible Small Towns | 42.1 | 24.8 | 22.1 | 7.2 | 3.7 | 89.0 |
2020 | Large Urban Areas | 44.3 | 24.3 | 21.2 | 6.7 | 3.5 | 89.8 |
2020 | Other Urban Areas | 39.6 | 24.9 | 23.1 | 7.8 | 4.7 | 87.6 |
2020 | Remote Rural | 42.2 | 26.0 | 22.1 | 6.8 | 3.0 | 90.3 |
2020 | Remote Small Towns | 34.9 | 26.8 | 25.3 | 9.0 | 4.0 | 87.0 |
2021 | Accessible Rural | 48.0 | 20.2 | 17.4 | 8.4 | 6.0 | 85.7 |
2021 | Accessible Small Towns | 45.5 | 21.0 | 19.0 | 8.5 | 6.0 | 85.5 |
2021 | Large Urban Areas | 49.3 | 20.0 | 17.3 | 7.7 | 5.9 | 86.5 |
2021 | Other Urban Areas | 44.0 | 21.4 | 19.8 | 8.8 | 6.0 | 85.1 |
2021 | Remote Rural | 46.4 | 22.4 | 17.9 | 7.9 | 5.4 | 86.7 |
2021 | Remote Small Towns | 37.6 | 22.0 | 20.8 | 10.9 | 8.7 | 80.4 |
2022 | Accessible Rural | 43.1 | 22.6 | 16.7 | 10.5 | 7.0 | 82.5 |
2022 | Accessible Small Towns | 40.2 | 23.0 | 18.1 | 11.1 | 7.6 | 81.3 |
2022 | Large Urban Areas | 43.1 | 22.4 | 16.6 | 10.3 | 7.6 | 82.1 |
2022 | Other Urban Areas | 36.5 | 23.6 | 18.6 | 12.4 | 8.9 | 78.7 |
2022 | Remote Rural | 39.1 | 24.1 | 18.2 | 11.3 | 7.3 | 81.4 |
2022 | Remote Small Towns | 30.4 | 24.3 | 20.7 | 15.0 | 9.7 | 75.4 |
2023 | Accessible Rural | 40.3 | 22.4 | 17.2 | 11.2 | 8.8 | 80.0 |
2023 | Accessible Small Towns | 37.5 | 22.8 | 18.2 | 12.0 | 9.5 | 78.5 |
2023 | Large Urban Areas | 42.3 | 21.6 | 16.7 | 10.7 | 8.7 | 80.6 |
2023 | Other Urban Areas | 34.8 | 22.8 | 18.8 | 12.9 | 10.7 | 76.4 |
2023 | Remote Rural | 35.0 | 24.3 | 19.5 | 12.3 | 8.9 | 78.8 |
2023 | Remote Small Towns | 29.4 | 22.6 | 21.5 | 14.4 | 12.1 | 73.5 |
2024 | Accessible Rural | 40.3 | 21.7 | 16.9 | 11.3 | 9.8 | 78.9 |
2024 | Accessible Small Towns | 36.9 | 22.1 | 17.8 | 12.1 | 11.1 | 76.8 |
2024 | Large Urban Areas | 41.0 | 21.1 | 16.5 | 11.2 | 10.2 | 78.7 |
2024 | Other Urban Areas | 34.4 | 22.4 | 18.6 | 12.5 | 12.1 | 75.4 |
2024 | Remote Rural | 35.3 | 23.0 | 18.5 | 12.4 | 10.8 | 76.8 |
2024 | Remote Small Towns | 27.3 | 22.6 | 19.8 | 15.0 | 15.3 | 69.7 |
2025 | Accessible Rural | 40.7 | 22.6 | 16.4 | 10.8 | 9.5 | 79.6 |
2025 | Accessible Small Towns | 38.7 | 22.5 | 17.2 | 11.4 | 10.2 | 78.4 |
2025 | Large Urban Areas | 42.5 | 21.4 | 15.7 | 10.5 | 9.9 | 79.6 |
2025 | Other Urban Areas | 35.2 | 23.3 | 17.9 | 12.3 | 11.2 | 76.5 |
2025 | Remote Rural | 36.7 | 23.6 | 18.0 | 11.7 | 9.9 | 78.4 |
2025 | Remote Small Towns | 30.3 | 21.8 | 19.8 | 14.0 | 14.0 | 72.0 |
Data for 2019 to 2025 was produced by SQA based on August results day data.
Higher grade distribution by urban / rural classification
Higher grade distribution by urban / rural classification graphs
Note: The period between 2020 and 2021 indicates that alternative approaches to assessment, relying on teacher judgement, were used to award grades and allow learners to progress.
Year | Category | A | B | C | D | N | A to C |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | Accessible Rural | 30.9 | 24.7 | 21.8 | 13.9 | 8.7 | 77.4 |
2019 | Accessible Small Towns | 28.2 | 24.2 | 22.6 | 15.3 | 9.7 | 75.1 |
2019 | Large Urban Areas | 30.8 | 23.9 | 21.3 | 14.3 | 9.7 | 76.0 |
2019 | Other Urban Areas | 24.4 | 23.9 | 23.7 | 16.5 | 11.5 | 72.0 |
2019 | Remote Rural | 26.2 | 24.9 | 24.1 | 15.7 | 9.1 | 75.2 |
2019 | Remote Small Towns | 20.0 | 23.9 | 25.0 | 19.1 | 12.0 | 68.9 |
2020 | Accessible Rural | 41.0 | 27.2 | 21.8 | 6.5 | 3.6 | 90.0 |
2020 | Accessible Small Towns | 40.6 | 27.1 | 22.0 | 6.9 | 3.4 | 89.7 |
2020 | Large Urban Areas | 42.3 | 26.2 | 21.2 | 6.6 | 3.7 | 89.7 |
2020 | Other Urban Areas | 36.6 | 27.4 | 24.0 | 7.8 | 4.3 | 88.0 |
2020 | Remote Rural | 41.3 | 28.0 | 21.5 | 6.3 | 2.9 | 90.7 |
2020 | Remote Small Towns | 32.3 | 29.3 | 27.2 | 8.1 | 3.1 | 88.8 |
2021 | Accessible Rural | 49.5 | 21.8 | 16.4 | 6.9 | 5.4 | 87.7 |
2021 | Accessible Small Towns | 47.3 | 23.1 | 17.6 | 6.7 | 5.3 | 88.0 |
2021 | Large Urban Areas | 49.6 | 21.4 | 16.8 | 6.6 | 5.6 | 87.8 |
2021 | Other Urban Areas | 44.9 | 22.8 | 18.8 | 7.6 | 5.9 | 86.5 |
2021 | Remote Rural | 46.9 | 22.6 | 17.8 | 7.4 | 5.3 | 87.3 |
2021 | Remote Small Towns | 40.9 | 23.0 | 19.9 | 9.2 | 7.0 | 83.8 |
2022 | Accessible Rural | 36.1 | 25.3 | 19.4 | 11.8 | 7.4 | 80.8 |
2022 | Accessible Small Towns | 33.3 | 25.1 | 20.3 | 13.0 | 8.3 | 78.7 |
2022 | Large Urban Areas | 37.7 | 23.6 | 18.8 | 11.7 | 8.2 | 80.1 |
2022 | Other Urban Areas | 31.6 | 24.4 | 20.9 | 13.6 | 9.6 | 76.8 |
2022 | Remote Rural | 33.0 | 25.2 | 20.9 | 12.9 | 8.0 | 79.1 |
2022 | Remote Small Towns | 26.7 | 24.0 | 23.7 | 15.5 | 10.1 | 74.4 |
2023 | Accessible Rural | 34.8 | 24.2 | 19.7 | 12.7 | 8.6 | 78.7 |
2023 | Accessible Small Towns | 32.9 | 24.4 | 20.5 | 13.4 | 8.8 | 77.8 |
2023 | Large Urban Areas | 35.2 | 23.7 | 19.3 | 12.7 | 9.1 | 78.2 |
2023 | Other Urban Areas | 29.4 | 24.4 | 21.3 | 14.4 | 10.6 | 75.1 |
2023 | Remote Rural | 30.7 | 24.7 | 21.8 | 14.1 | 8.8 | 77.2 |
2023 | Remote Small Towns | 24.6 | 23.1 | 23.0 | 17.5 | 11.8 | 70.7 |
2024 | Accessible Rural | 31.5 | 24.4 | 21.0 | 13.6 | 9.5 | 76.9 |
2024 | Accessible Small Towns | 29.9 | 24.0 | 21.2 | 14.4 | 10.5 | 75.1 |
2024 | Large Urban Areas | 33.5 | 22.8 | 20.1 | 13.8 | 9.8 | 76.4 |
2024 | Other Urban Areas | 26.5 | 23.6 | 22.3 | 15.9 | 11.6 | 72.4 |
2024 | Remote Rural | 26.0 | 24.1 | 22.2 | 16.0 | 11.7 | 72.3 |
2024 | Remote Small Towns | 20.5 | 21.7 | 25.7 | 18.5 | 13.7 | 67.8 |
2025 | Accessible Rural | 33.9 | 24.6 | 19.8 | 13.0 | 8.6 | 78.4 |
2025 | Accessible Small Towns | 30.0 | 24.6 | 21.4 | 14.1 | 9.9 | 76.1 |
2025 | Large Urban Areas | 33.3 | 23.7 | 19.9 | 13.3 | 9.9 | 76.8 |
2025 | Other Urban Areas | 27.3 | 24.6 | 22.2 | 15.0 | 10.8 | 74.2 |
2025 | Remote Rural | 27.3 | 25.0 | 22.4 | 15.6 | 9.7 | 74.7 |
2025 | Remote Small Towns | 20.2 | 24.3 | 22.4 | 18.9 | 14.2 | 66.8 |
Data for 2019 to 2025 was produced by SQA based on August results day data.
Advanced Higher grade distribution by urban / rural classification
Advanced Higher grade distribution by urban / rural classification graphs
Note: The period between 2020 and 2021 indicates that alternative approaches to assessment, relying on teacher judgement, were used to award grades and allow learners to progress.
Year | Category | A | B | C | D | N | A to C |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | Accessible Rural | 31.7 | 25.6 | 23.4 | 8.1 | 11.1 | 80.8 |
2019 | Accessible Small Towns | 29.8 | 25.6 | 23.9 | 8.6 | 12.1 | 79.3 |
2019 | Large Urban Areas | 36.2 | 24.9 | 21.0 | 7.5 | 10.4 | 82.1 |
2019 | Other Urban Areas | 26.1 | 24.0 | 24.6 | 9.7 | 15.7 | 74.6 |
2019 | Remote Rural | 31.6 | 28.1 | 21.1 | 8.1 | 11.1 | 80.8 |
2019 | Remote Small Towns | 27.9 | 21.9 | 23.4 | 10.9 | 15.8 | 73.2 |
2020 | Accessible Rural | 46.6 | 27.9 | 19.2 | 4.2 | 2.2 | 93.6 |
2020 | Accessible Small Towns | 43.7 | 29.6 | 19.5 | 4.6 | 2.6 | 92.8 |
2020 | Large Urban Areas | 50.4 | 26.1 | 17.1 | 4.4 | 2.0 | 93.6 |
2020 | Other Urban Areas | 40.9 | 29.4 | 21.7 | 5.1 | 2.8 | 92.0 |
2020 | Remote Rural | 45.4 | 30.0 | 17.7 | 5.1 | 1.9 | 93.0 |
2020 | Remote Small Towns | 34.7 | 32.4 | 23.4 | 6.8 | 2.7 | 90.5 |
2021 | Accessible Rural | 49.3 | 24.3 | 16.1 | 6.1 | 4.2 | 89.7 |
2021 | Accessible Small Towns | 50.1 | 23.4 | 16.6 | 6.1 | 3.8 | 90.1 |
2021 | Large Urban Areas | 55.6 | 22.1 | 13.7 | 4.7 | 3.9 | 91.4 |
2021 | Other Urban Areas | 46.5 | 24.5 | 18.2 | 6.1 | 4.7 | 89.2 |
2021 | Remote Rural | 46.5 | 23.0 | 18.4 | 6.5 | 5.6 | 87.9 |
2021 | Remote Small Towns | 36.7 | 25.5 | 23.8 | 6.6 | 7.4 | 86.0 |
2022 | Accessible Rural | 34.8 | 26.3 | 20.9 | 11.8 | 6.1 | 82.1 |
2022 | Accessible Small Towns | 32.2 | 25.8 | 22.2 | 12.5 | 7.3 | 80.3 |
2022 | Large Urban Areas | 38.0 | 26.1 | 19.8 | 10.8 | 5.3 | 83.9 |
2022 | Other Urban Areas | 27.6 | 26.0 | 23.7 | 14.2 | 8.6 | 77.2 |
2022 | Remote Rural | 32.9 | 26.6 | 24.6 | 10.1 | 5.9 | 84.1 |
2022 | Remote Small Towns | 30.0 | 24.3 | 20.3 | 16.7 | 8.7 | 74.7 |
2023 | Accessible Rural | 33.1 | 26.8 | 21.0 | 12.6 | 6.5 | 80.9 |
2023 | Accessible Small Towns | 28.8 | 25.8 | 22.6 | 14.0 | 8.7 | 77.3 |
2023 | Large Urban Areas | 37.7 | 25.2 | 19.5 | 11.6 | 6.0 | 82.4 |
2023 | Other Urban Areas | 26.9 | 25.5 | 23.7 | 14.6 | 9.3 | 76.2 |
2023 | Remote Rural | 29.6 | 26.4 | 23.5 | 13.2 | 7.3 | 79.5 |
2023 | Remote Small Towns | 29.1 | 21.7 | 24.0 | 18.2 | 7.0 | 74.8 |
2024 | Accessible Rural | 30.5 | 23.7 | 22.2 | 14.2 | 9.4 | 76.3 |
2024 | Accessible Small Towns | 26.2 | 23.3 | 23.7 | 16.0 | 10.8 | 73.2 |
2024 | Large Urban Areas | 33.8 | 23.9 | 20.2 | 13.1 | 9.0 | 77.9 |
2024 | Other Urban Areas | 24.9 | 23.0 | 23.1 | 16.6 | 12.3 | 71.1 |
2024 | Remote Rural | 27.7 | 23.0 | 24.1 | 15.8 | 9.5 | 74.8 |
2024 | Remote Small Towns | 21.4 | 19.7 | 29.9 | 17.1 | 11.8 | 71.1 |
2025 | Accessible Rural | 32.3 | 24.0 | 21.4 | 13.2 | 9.0 | 77.7 |
2025 | Accessible Small Towns | 27.8 | 24.2 | 21.9 | 15.7 | 10.4 | 73.9 |
2025 | Large Urban Areas | 34.9 | 23.9 | 20.5 | 11.9 | 8.8 | 79.3 |
2025 | Other Urban Areas | 26.1 | 23.5 | 22.9 | 15.9 | 11.5 | 72.6 |
2025 | Remote Rural | 26.9 | 23.4 | 26.2 | 15.2 | 8.2 | 76.6 |
2025 | Remote Small Towns | 26.4 | 20.7 | 22.4 | 13.4 | 17.1 | 69.5 |
Data for 2019 to 2025 was produced by SQA based on August results day data.
Attainment by ethnicity
In general, where one group had higher attainment than another group historically, this remained the case in 2025. For example in 2025, as in several previous years, the A rate and A to C rate was greater for Asian — Chinese compared to other ethnicity groupings.
Caution is advised in interpreting some of the percentage point changes for different groups over time. For most ethnicity groups (except White — Scottish and White — non-Scottish), the numbers used to calculate the percentage breakdowns for each of the different levels are small and likely to be more variable as a result.
National 5 grade distribution by ethnicity
National 5 grade distribution by ethnicity graphs
Note: The period between 2020 and 2021 indicates that alternative approaches to assessment, relying on teacher judgement, were used to award grades and allow learners to progress.
Year | Category | A | B | C | D | N | A to C |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | African / Black / Caribbean | 28.4 | 23.7 | 22.8 | 14.3 | 10.8 | 74.9 |
2019 | All other categories | 33.8 | 21.3 | 20.0 | 13.3 | 11.6 | 75.1 |
2019 | Asian - Chinese | 53.1 | 21.8 | 14.0 | 6.8 | 4.4 | 88.9 |
2019 | Asian - Indian | 44.9 | 21.8 | 16.6 | 10.2 | 6.5 | 83.3 |
2019 | Asian - Other | 35.0 | 23.6 | 21.5 | 12.7 | 7.1 | 80.2 |
2019 | Asian - Pakistani | 33.8 | 24.1 | 21.5 | 11.9 | 8.7 | 79.4 |
2019 | Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 42.2 | 22.8 | 17.0 | 10.7 | 7.3 | 82.0 |
2019 | Not Disclosed / Not known | 28.1 | 24.7 | 21.8 | 15.3 | 10.0 | 74.7 |
2019 | White - Scottish | 32.8 | 24.6 | 20.2 | 12.7 | 9.7 | 77.6 |
2019 | White - non-Scottish | 35.7 | 24.1 | 18.7 | 11.9 | 9.5 | 78.6 |
2020 | African / Black / Caribbean | 37.9 | 24.6 | 24.2 | 8.9 | 4.4 | 86.7 |
2020 | All other categories | 41.0 | 23.2 | 22.9 | 8.4 | 4.5 | 87.1 |
2020 | Asian - Chinese | 61.3 | 20.1 | 13.8 | 3.4 | 1.3 | 95.2 |
2020 | Asian - Indian | 53.7 | 21.8 | 16.4 | 4.9 | 3.3 | 91.9 |
2020 | Asian - Other | 41.7 | 25.9 | 22.2 | 6.7 | 3.5 | 89.7 |
2020 | Asian - Pakistani | 39.3 | 25.3 | 22.9 | 8.0 | 4.5 | 87.5 |
2020 | Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 47.6 | 24.3 | 18.3 | 6.0 | 3.8 | 90.2 |
2020 | Not Disclosed / Not known | 34.7 | 25.2 | 25.9 | 8.9 | 5.3 | 85.8 |
2020 | White - Scottish | 40.1 | 25.2 | 23.1 | 7.5 | 4.1 | 88.4 |
2020 | White - non-Scottish | 42.0 | 25.0 | 21.8 | 7.3 | 3.9 | 88.8 |
2021 | African / Black / Caribbean | 42.1 | 21.5 | 19.2 | 9.5 | 7.6 | 82.8 |
2021 | All other categories | 41.7 | 19.7 | 20.7 | 9.3 | 8.6 | 82.2 |
2021 | Asian - Chinese | 68.4 | 14.7 | 10.1 | 4.3 | 2.5 | 93.3 |
2021 | Asian - Indian | 61.8 | 17.5 | 11.7 | 5.2 | 3.8 | 91.0 |
2021 | Asian - Other | 49.4 | 21.2 | 17.0 | 7.6 | 4.9 | 87.5 |
2021 | Asian - Pakistani | 44.4 | 19.7 | 19.2 | 9.5 | 7.2 | 83.2 |
2021 | Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 53.6 | 18.6 | 14.5 | 7.8 | 5.6 | 86.7 |
2021 | Not Disclosed / Not known | 40.6 | 22.6 | 20.9 | 9.4 | 6.5 | 84.1 |
2021 | White - Scottish | 44.4 | 21.4 | 19.4 | 8.7 | 6.1 | 85.1 |
2021 | White - non-Scottish | 45.9 | 20.9 | 18.3 | 8.7 | 6.2 | 85.1 |
2022 | African / Black / Caribbean | 35.8 | 23.4 | 18.4 | 12.4 | 9.9 | 77.6 |
2022 | All other categories | 36.6 | 22.9 | 18.2 | 12.3 | 10.0 | 77.7 |
2022 | Asian - Chinese | 60.4 | 20.3 | 11.4 | 5.0 | 3.0 | 92.0 |
2022 | Asian - Indian | 54.3 | 20.6 | 13.5 | 7.1 | 4.5 | 88.4 |
2022 | Asian - Other | 46.6 | 21.3 | 16.0 | 9.5 | 6.5 | 83.9 |
2022 | Asian - Pakistani | 39.6 | 22.7 | 17.2 | 11.5 | 8.9 | 79.6 |
2022 | Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 45.5 | 22.3 | 15.2 | 9.1 | 8.0 | 83.0 |
2022 | Not Disclosed / Not known | 35.3 | 23.3 | 20.7 | 11.8 | 8.9 | 79.2 |
2022 | White - Scottish | 37.2 | 23.7 | 18.6 | 12.1 | 8.4 | 79.5 |
2022 | White - non-Scottish | 42.6 | 22.8 | 16.9 | 10.2 | 7.4 | 82.4 |
2023 | African / Black / Caribbean | 33.3 | 22.1 | 18.4 | 14.3 | 11.8 | 73.9 |
2023 | All other categories | 34.9 | 23.6 | 17.5 | 11.8 | 12.2 | 76.0 |
2023 | Asian - Chinese | 61.1 | 18.3 | 10.9 | 6.2 | 3.5 | 90.3 |
2023 | Asian - Indian | 56.0 | 18.0 | 12.5 | 7.8 | 5.6 | 86.5 |
2023 | Asian - Other | 40.6 | 23.2 | 17.1 | 10.9 | 8.1 | 81.0 |
2023 | Asian - Pakistani | 38.8 | 21.9 | 18.1 | 11.6 | 9.5 | 78.8 |
2023 | Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 46.1 | 20.1 | 15.3 | 10.4 | 8.1 | 81.5 |
2023 | Not Disclosed / Not known | 32.6 | 23.6 | 19.4 | 13.2 | 11.2 | 75.6 |
2023 | White - Scottish | 35.6 | 23.0 | 18.7 | 12.5 | 10.2 | 77.3 |
2023 | White - non-Scottish | 39.5 | 22.1 | 17.9 | 11.3 | 9.2 | 79.5 |
2024 | African / Black / Caribbean | 32.3 | 23.2 | 19.1 | 13.7 | 11.7 | 74.6 |
2024 | All other categories | 36.5 | 19.5 | 17.6 | 11.9 | 14.5 | 73.6 |
2024 | Asian - Chinese | 61.4 | 18.3 | 9.8 | 6.4 | 4.0 | 89.5 |
2024 | Asian - Indian | 52.9 | 20.0 | 12.5 | 7.8 | 6.8 | 85.4 |
2024 | Asian - Other | 43.6 | 20.8 | 15.3 | 10.6 | 9.6 | 79.7 |
2024 | Asian - Pakistani | 38.1 | 22.3 | 17.5 | 11.2 | 11.0 | 77.9 |
2024 | Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 45.5 | 21.1 | 15.0 | 9.8 | 8.6 | 81.6 |
2024 | Not Disclosed / Not known | 32.4 | 20.7 | 19.2 | 14.1 | 13.5 | 72.4 |
2024 | White - Scottish | 34.9 | 22.4 | 18.4 | 12.6 | 11.7 | 75.7 |
2024 | White - non-Scottish | 38.0 | 21.7 | 17.8 | 11.7 | 10.8 | 77.5 |
2025 | African / Black / Caribbean | 32.4 | 22.7 | 18.6 | 13.4 | 12.9 | 73.7 |
2025 | All other categories | 33.4 | 21.8 | 17.9 | 13.5 | 13.3 | 73.2 |
2025 | Asian - Chinese | 61.8 | 17.9 | 10.4 | 5.6 | 4.3 | 90.1 |
2025 | Asian - Indian | 57.1 | 18.9 | 11.5 | 6.5 | 6.0 | 87.5 |
2025 | Asian - Other | 42.0 | 20.6 | 16.3 | 11.2 | 9.9 | 78.9 |
2025 | Asian - Pakistani | 37.7 | 21.5 | 17.1 | 11.7 | 11.9 | 76.4 |
2025 | Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 46.0 | 21.7 | 14.6 | 9.3 | 8.5 | 82.2 |
2025 | Not Disclosed / Not known | 32.1 | 22.3 | 19.4 | 14.7 | 11.6 | 73.7 |
2025 | White - Scottish | 36.0 | 23.2 | 17.8 | 12.0 | 11.0 | 77.0 |
2025 | White - non-Scottish | 41.2 | 22.3 | 16.1 | 10.6 | 9.7 | 79.7 |
Data for 2019 is from Equalities Monitoring Report 2023 and was produced by Scottish Government based on December data. Data for 2020 to 2025 was produced by SQA based on August results day data.
Higher grade distribution by ethnicity
Higher grade distribution by ethnicity graphs
Note: The period between 2020 and 2021 indicates that alternative approaches to assessment, relying on teacher judgement, were used to award grades and allow learners to progress.
Year | Category | A | B | C | D | N | A to C |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | African / Black / Caribbean | 18.9 | 24.7 | 26.8 | 17.5 | 12.1 | 70.4 |
2019 | All other categories | 29.8 | 22.7 | 21.7 | 15.7 | 10.1 | 74.2 |
2019 | Asian - Chinese | 44.7 | 25.5 | 16.6 | 8.1 | 5.1 | 86.8 |
2019 | Asian - Indian | 37.1 | 24.2 | 18.4 | 12.5 | 7.8 | 79.7 |
2019 | Asian - Other | 26.4 | 24.6 | 22.3 | 16.2 | 10.4 | 73.4 |
2019 | Asian - Pakistani | 23.8 | 23.8 | 24.3 | 17.0 | 11.1 | 71.9 |
2019 | Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 30.3 | 24.2 | 22.3 | 14.4 | 8.8 | 76.8 |
2019 | Not Disclosed / Not known | 26.2 | 25.1 | 24.9 | 13.8 | 10.0 | 76.1 |
2019 | White - Scottish | 25.7 | 24.4 | 23.4 | 16.0 | 10.5 | 73.5 |
2019 | White - non-Scottish | 31.0 | 23.6 | 21.9 | 13.9 | 9.5 | 76.5 |
2020 | African / Black / Caribbean | 30.9 | 28.2 | 25.9 | 9.7 | 5.4 | 84.9 |
2020 | All other categories | 40.8 | 24.0 | 23.3 | 7.4 | 4.5 | 88.1 |
2020 | Asian - Chinese | 53.1 | 24.3 | 15.5 | 4.6 | 2.4 | 92.9 |
2020 | Asian - Indian | 45.2 | 25.0 | 19.7 | 6.2 | 3.8 | 89.9 |
2020 | Asian - Other | 37.0 | 25.8 | 24.3 | 7.0 | 5.8 | 87.2 |
2020 | Asian - Pakistani | 36.0 | 26.4 | 23.8 | 8.7 | 5.0 | 86.2 |
2020 | Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 43.1 | 26.3 | 20.4 | 6.9 | 3.3 | 89.8 |
2020 | Not Disclosed / Not known | 37.2 | 25.4 | 24.3 | 7.5 | 5.5 | 87.0 |
2020 | White - Scottish | 37.6 | 27.6 | 23.5 | 7.4 | 3.9 | 88.7 |
2020 | White - non-Scottish | 41.5 | 26.3 | 22.0 | 6.7 | 3.5 | 89.8 |
2021 | African / Black / Caribbean | 39.0 | 23.8 | 19.9 | 9.7 | 7.7 | 82.6 |
2021 | All other categories | 47.6 | 22.8 | 15.5 | 7.1 | 7.0 | 85.9 |
2021 | Asian - Chinese | 62.9 | 18.2 | 10.1 | 5.6 | 3.3 | 91.1 |
2021 | Asian - Indian | 54.4 | 20.4 | 14.8 | 5.6 | 5.0 | 89.5 |
2021 | Asian - Other | 44.9 | 20.8 | 19.2 | 7.7 | 7.4 | 84.9 |
2021 | Asian - Pakistani | 42.7 | 22.0 | 17.7 | 8.3 | 9.2 | 82.4 |
2021 | Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 52.3 | 19.8 | 16.2 | 6.3 | 5.5 | 88.2 |
2021 | Not Disclosed / Not known | 44.5 | 21.5 | 20.7 | 7.3 | 5.9 | 86.7 |
2021 | White - Scottish | 45.3 | 23.0 | 18.6 | 7.5 | 5.6 | 86.9 |
2021 | White - non-Scottish | 47.7 | 21.7 | 16.9 | 7.2 | 6.4 | 86.4 |
2022 | African / Black / Caribbean | 30.0 | 24.5 | 21.0 | 14.6 | 10.0 | 75.4 |
2022 | All other categories | 32.2 | 24.3 | 20.8 | 11.7 | 10.9 | 77.3 |
2022 | Asian - Chinese | 53.7 | 21.3 | 14.5 | 6.3 | 4.3 | 89.4 |
2022 | Asian - Indian | 42.2 | 24.1 | 17.9 | 9.7 | 6.1 | 84.3 |
2022 | Asian - Other | 34.0 | 23.5 | 21.1 | 12.6 | 8.8 | 78.6 |
2022 | Asian - Pakistani | 32.2 | 24.1 | 21.4 | 13.2 | 9.2 | 77.6 |
2022 | Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 39.3 | 25.3 | 18.0 | 10.5 | 7.0 | 82.5 |
2022 | Not Disclosed / Not known | 33.6 | 23.6 | 19.8 | 13.8 | 9.2 | 77.1 |
2022 | White - Scottish | 32.1 | 24.6 | 20.8 | 13.4 | 9.1 | 77.5 |
2022 | White - non-Scottish | 35.3 | 24.6 | 19.5 | 12.3 | 8.4 | 79.3 |
2023 | African / Black / Caribbean | 25.6 | 23.2 | 23.1 | 16.5 | 11.6 | 71.8 |
2023 | All other categories | 30.6 | 23.2 | 19.2 | 16.3 | 10.8 | 72.9 |
2023 | Asian - Chinese | 49.5 | 21.7 | 15.0 | 8.7 | 5.1 | 86.2 |
2023 | Asian - Indian | 38.9 | 27.7 | 15.9 | 10.3 | 7.3 | 82.5 |
2023 | Asian - Other | 35.2 | 23.1 | 19.7 | 12.9 | 9.1 | 78.0 |
2023 | Asian - Pakistani | 28.6 | 24.2 | 21.1 | 15.4 | 10.6 | 73.9 |
2023 | Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 37.1 | 25.5 | 18.1 | 11.3 | 8.1 | 80.7 |
2023 | Not Disclosed / Not known | 28.6 | 25.4 | 22.0 | 14.1 | 9.9 | 76.0 |
2023 | White - Scottish | 29.8 | 24.4 | 21.3 | 14.3 | 10.1 | 75.6 |
2023 | White - non-Scottish | 34.6 | 24.0 | 19.4 | 12.8 | 9.2 | 78.0 |
2024 | African / Black / Caribbean | 23.9 | 22.7 | 23.7 | 17.1 | 12.6 | 70.3 |
2024 | All other categories | 28.1 | 22.7 | 22.5 | 14.9 | 11.8 | 73.3 |
2024 | Asian - Chinese | 49.4 | 21.5 | 15.4 | 8.2 | 5.6 | 86.2 |
2024 | Asian - Indian | 42.5 | 22.0 | 17.0 | 10.4 | 8.1 | 81.5 |
2024 | Asian - Other | 28.9 | 24.5 | 21.8 | 15.6 | 9.2 | 75.2 |
2024 | Asian - Pakistani | 29.1 | 22.3 | 22.2 | 15.1 | 11.3 | 73.6 |
2024 | Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 37.0 | 23.1 | 17.2 | 12.8 | 10.0 | 77.2 |
2024 | Not Disclosed / Not known | 27.7 | 22.1 | 21.9 | 16.3 | 12.0 | 71.7 |
2024 | White - Scottish | 27.0 | 23.8 | 22.3 | 15.7 | 11.2 | 73.0 |
2024 | White - non-Scottish | 31.2 | 23.4 | 21.0 | 14.1 | 10.3 | 75.5 |
2025 | African / Black / Caribbean | 22.8 | 23.2 | 24.4 | 17.1 | 12.5 | 70.4 |
2025 | All other categories | 32.6 | 21.7 | 18.9 | 14.9 | 11.9 | 73.2 |
2025 | Asian - Chinese | 49.3 | 23.2 | 14.9 | 7.9 | 4.8 | 87.3 |
2025 | Asian - Indian | 38.4 | 22.6 | 17.6 | 12.0 | 9.4 | 78.6 |
2025 | Asian - Other | 33.0 | 23.0 | 20.1 | 12.6 | 11.3 | 76.1 |
2025 | Asian - Pakistani | 26.1 | 24.5 | 21.4 | 15.1 | 12.9 | 72.0 |
2025 | Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 35.9 | 22.8 | 19.9 | 12.4 | 9.1 | 78.6 |
2025 | Not Disclosed / Not known | 26.6 | 22.7 | 22.9 | 15.7 | 12.2 | 72.1 |
2025 | White - Scottish | 27.9 | 24.7 | 22.0 | 15.0 | 10.5 | 74.5 |
2025 | White - non-Scottish | 31.9 | 24.4 | 20.1 | 13.5 | 10.1 | 76.5 |
Data for 2019 is from Equalities Monitoring Report 2023 and was produced by Scottish Government based on December data. Data for 2020 to 2025 was produced by SQA based on August results day data.
Advanced Higher grade distribution by ethnicity
Advanced Higher grade distribution by ethnicity graphs
Note: The period between 2020 and 2021 indicates that alternative approaches to assessment, relying on teacher judgement, were used to award grades and allow learners to progress.
Year | Category | A | B | C | D | N | A to C |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | African / Black / Caribbean | 22.3 | 27.4 | 25.1 | 12.8 | 12.3 | 74.9 |
2019 | All other categories | 34.6 | 27.1 | 20.6 | 5.6 | 12.1 | 82.2 |
2019 | Asian - Chinese | 40.4 | 19.6 | 21.6 | 8.2 | 10.2 | 81.6 |
2019 | Asian - Indian | 32.5 | 32.2 | 22.4 | 5.1 | 7.8 | 87.1 |
2019 | Asian - Other | 29.6 | 21.6 | 26.8 | 7.5 | 14.6 | 77.9 |
2019 | Asian - Pakistani | 26.2 | 27.9 | 22.1 | 11.2 | 12.6 | 76.2 |
2019 | Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 32.0 | 30.5 | 20.6 | 11.1 | 5.8 | 83.1 |
2019 | Not Disclosed / Not known | 36.3 | 20.9 | 24.9 | 5.5 | 12.4 | 82.1 |
2019 | White - Scottish | 26.9 | 24.9 | 25.2 | 9.3 | 13.7 | 76.9 |
2019 | White - non-Scottish | 32.1 | 26.5 | 22.0 | 7.7 | 11.7 | 80.6 |
2020 | African / Black / Caribbean | 29.5 | 31.1 | 25.6 | 9.8 | 3.9 | 86.2 |
2020 | All other categories | 44.3 | 24.1 | 19.2 | 6.9 | 5.4 | 87.7 |
2020 | Asian - Chinese | 60.0 | 22.8 | 10.8 | 4.0 | 2.4 | 93.6 |
2020 | Asian - Indian | 45.4 | 30.6 | 15.7 | 5.6 | 2.8 | 91.7 |
2020 | Asian - Other | 33.2 | 26.6 | 27.6 | 9.5 | 3.0 | 87.4 |
2020 | Asian - Pakistani | 33.3 | 27.7 | 23.1 | 11.1 | 4.7 | 84.2 |
2020 | Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 43.1 | 25.5 | 20.4 | 6.2 | 4.7 | 89.1 |
2020 | Not Disclosed / Not known | 35.3 | 31.6 | 26.5 | 3.7 | 2.8 | 93.5 |
2020 | White - Scottish | 41.8 | 29.4 | 21.3 | 5.0 | 2.6 | 92.4 |
2020 | White - non-Scottish | 45.4 | 28.6 | 19.3 | 4.5 | 2.3 | 93.3 |
2021 | African / Black / Caribbean | 39.1 | 31.0 | 16.1 | 7.7 | 6.1 | 86.2 |
2021 | All other categories | 49.5 | 24.8 | 15.3 | 6.9 | 3.5 | 89.6 |
2021 | Asian - Chinese | 62.2 | 17.8 | 13.0 | 2.2 | 4.8 | 93.0 |
2021 | Asian - Indian | 50.0 | 22.4 | 14.6 | 5.5 | 7.5 | 87.0 |
2021 | Asian - Other | 47.2 | 20.8 | 19.0 | 7.8 | 5.2 | 87.0 |
2021 | Asian - Pakistani | 38.8 | 23.6 | 19.9 | 8.4 | 9.2 | 82.4 |
2021 | Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 55.8 | 20.3 | 14.5 | 5.5 | 3.9 | 90.5 |
2021 | Not Disclosed / Not known | 49.4 | 26.0 | 15.8 | 5.3 | 3.4 | 91.3 |
2021 | White - Scottish | 46.6 | 24.8 | 17.9 | 6.0 | 4.7 | 89.3 |
2021 | White - non-Scottish | 48.2 | 22.8 | 16.3 | 7.4 | 5.3 | 87.3 |
2022 | African / Black / Caribbean | 23.8 | 26.6 | 24.4 | 19.0 | 6.2 | 74.8 |
2022 | All other categories | 27.5 | 26.8 | 25.8 | 11.5 | 8.4 | 80.1 |
2022 | Asian - Chinese | 42.7 | 25.8 | 14.7 | 10.0 | 6.9 | 83.1 |
2022 | Asian - Indian | 37.0 | 24.1 | 20.5 | 9.9 | 8.6 | 81.5 |
2022 | Asian - Other | 29.1 | 27.4 | 24.0 | 10.1 | 9.5 | 80.4 |
2022 | Asian - Pakistani | 25.4 | 25.6 | 23.4 | 16.3 | 9.3 | 74.4 |
2022 | Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 37.3 | 23.5 | 22.1 | 11.0 | 6.1 | 82.9 |
2022 | Not Disclosed / Not known | 27.1 | 28.7 | 21.1 | 15.5 | 7.6 | 76.9 |
2022 | White - Scottish | 29.0 | 26.3 | 23.6 | 13.6 | 7.5 | 78.9 |
2022 | White - non-Scottish | 33.9 | 27.5 | 20.9 | 11.8 | 5.9 | 82.3 |
2023 | African / Black / Caribbean | 24.8 | 24.3 | 27.5 | 14.6 | 8.8 | 76.6 |
2023 | All other categories | 29.4 | 25.5 | 22.4 | 17.6 | 5.1 | 77.3 |
2023 | Asian - Chinese | 45.1 | 24.5 | 13.9 | 10.6 | 5.8 | 83.6 |
2023 | Asian - Indian | 30.9 | 24.0 | 24.9 | 10.3 | 9.9 | 79.8 |
2023 | Asian - Other | 27.6 | 29.0 | 19.3 | 15.1 | 9.1 | 75.9 |
2023 | Asian - Pakistani | 20.8 | 28.4 | 25.7 | 16.4 | 8.7 | 74.9 |
2023 | Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 36.5 | 26.7 | 19.6 | 10.4 | 6.9 | 82.7 |
2023 | Not Disclosed / Not known | 28.5 | 26.8 | 22.1 | 14.4 | 8.2 | 77.4 |
2023 | White - Scottish | 28.0 | 25.6 | 23.1 | 14.8 | 8.6 | 76.6 |
2023 | White - non-Scottish | 32.3 | 26.1 | 22.0 | 12.5 | 7.2 | 80.3 |
2024 | African / Black / Caribbean | 18.6 | 22.5 | 24.0 | 20.9 | 14.1 | 65.0 |
2024 | All other categories | 29.7 | 24.4 | 20.2 | 14.1 | 11.6 | 74.3 |
2024 | Asian - Chinese | 39.2 | 21.9 | 17.3 | 11.1 | 10.6 | 78.4 |
2024 | Asian - Indian | 28.5 | 22.9 | 19.4 | 17.5 | 11.8 | 70.7 |
2024 | Asian - Other | 28.8 | 24.5 | 20.3 | 15.6 | 10.8 | 73.6 |
2024 | Asian - Pakistani | 21.4 | 23.8 | 23.3 | 18.2 | 13.3 | 68.5 |
2024 | Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 30.1 | 24.4 | 21.0 | 15.8 | 8.7 | 75.6 |
2024 | Not Disclosed / Not known | 26.8 | 16.0 | 27.2 | 16.6 | 13.4 | 70.0 |
2024 | White - Scottish | 24.6 | 23.6 | 23.8 | 16.6 | 11.4 | 72.0 |
2024 | White - non-Scottish | 31.0 | 22.4 | 22.0 | 13.4 | 11.1 | 75.5 |
2025 | African / Black / Caribbean | 19.2 | 23.2 | 25.6 | 17.5 | 14.4 | 68.0 |
2025 | All other categories | 31.5 | 23.3 | 21.3 | 12.8 | 11.1 | 76.1 |
2025 | Asian - Chinese | 43.6 | 22.1 | 14.2 | 9.6 | 10.6 | 79.8 |
2025 | Asian - Indian | 36.4 | 24.2 | 18.6 | 11.5 | 9.4 | 79.2 |
2025 | Asian - Other | 24.8 | 23.3 | 21.3 | 17.6 | 12.9 | 69.5 |
2025 | Asian - Pakistani | 19.2 | 24.6 | 25.0 | 16.3 | 14.8 | 68.8 |
2025 | Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 30.0 | 28.8 | 20.3 | 11.4 | 9.4 | 79.2 |
2025 | Not Disclosed / Not known | 32.8 | 25.2 | 20.2 | 12.6 | 9.1 | 78.3 |
2025 | White - Scottish | 25.8 | 23.9 | 23.8 | 15.6 | 10.9 | 73.5 |
2025 | White - non-Scottish | 30.6 | 22.8 | 22.2 | 13.9 | 10.6 | 75.5 |
Data for 2019 is from Equalities Monitoring Report 2023 and was produced by Scottish Government based on December data. Data for 2020 to 2025 was produced by SQA based on August results day data.
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Date of publication: 05 August 2025
Contact name: Chris Boulter
Contact email: data.analytics@sqa.org.uk