Scottish exam pass rates rise as students find out results

A record total of 120,485 vocational and technical qualifications were achieved at levels 1-6, an increase of 9.1% compared to 2025.

More than 131,000 people sat exams in over 460 schools, colleges and training centres this year.

The attainment gap between the results achieved by students in the least deprived parts of Scotland and those in the most deprived closed a little in this year’s figures – but still remains significant.

At Nat 5, the gap is 15.6 percentage points, down from 16.4%. The gap is the difference between the 86.6% of better-off students who got A to C grades this year, compared to 71% of those in the most deprived areas.

At Higher, the gap is 15.9 percentage points, down from 16.8 last year, and at Advanced Higher it is 12.1, down from 13.3.