THE hashtag #nowrongpath took over Twitter in Scotland yesterday as TV presenters, politicians and executives shared their work stories on exam results day.
The campaign was launched by workforce development agency DYW Glasgow on the day 137,000 learners got their grades.
Candidates passed 150,010 Highers, with an attainment rate of 77 per cent, down just 0.2 per cent on last year.
Figures also show a pass rate of almost 93 per cent at National 4 level, with 107,631 passes, while pupils achieved 233,005 passes at National 5, with a success rate of around 79 per cent.
The figures are almost identical to those recorded last year.
However, Advanced Higher passes fell to 19,283, with a pass rate of 80 per cent.
Dr Janet Brown, chief executive of the SQA, said: “I think it shows a very stable system.
“One of the things that we absolutely have to ensure is that standards are maintained, and we can see that candidates are reaching those standards and attaining as they have done in the past.”
However, social media users spent the day telling youngsters there was more than one route to a great job.
STV newsreader Halla Mohieddeen told how she “flunked” German at university before forging a media career, with Glasgow’s Lord Provost recalling how she went from being an archaeologist in Sweden to the civic head of Scotland’s largest local authority.
Angela Crolla of West Livingstone homecare firm Lucerne Scotland revealed how pregnancy and dyslexia caused her to fail school exams before she became a company director. And Perth and North Perthshire MP Pete Wishart said he “left school with poor highers” before co-founding the band Big Country and later becoming Scotland’s longest-serving MP.
Maths attainment was up slightly at Higher this year, while the English rate dipped and there was an increase in the number of pupils taking and passing qualifications in skills-for-work and personal development courses.
Visiting Bannerman High in Glasgow, Education Secretary John Swinney said: “The whole country should rightly be proud of the excellence and achievement in Scottish education demonstrated by these results.”
However, Labour’s Iain Gray said planned reforms would harm attainment, stating: “These results have been achieved by pupils and teachers in spite of SNP government cuts to education budgets, teacher numbers and support staff.”
Admissions body Ucas said figures showed that more learners from Scotland had secured university places on exams results day than in any previous year, with a 13 per cent increase in placed applicants from Scotland’s most deprived communities.
Almost all successful applicants – 27,830 – are registered to attend Scottish universities.
Those celebrating included three sets of twins from St Ninian’s in East Renfrewshire, which consistently achieves high pass rates.
Emma and Vivien McAinsh, 17, Joseph and Michael Lowrie, 17, and Niamh and Roisin Kelly, 16, notched up 30 top grades between them.
Michael said: “I’m not completely sure of my career route yet, but I’m pleased with the results I’ve got that all options are still open to me.”
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