West Lothian schools get report cards

Jan 28 2010 by Alistair Watson, West Lothian Courier

SCHOOLS in West Lothian have been given their report cards with the release of the annual school exam league tables.

The percentage of fourth year pupils passing five or more standard grades at level four or better increased from last year to 79 per cent — two per cent above the national average.

However, it wasn’t such good news when it came to the percentage of fifth year pupils who passed three or more Highers which fell by one per cent to 21 to lag two per cent behind the average across Scotland.

The best performing school in the county for standard grade results was James Young High with 88 per cent of pupils gaining five or more closely followed by Linlithgow Academy which had 87 per cent. The lowest figure was found at Inveralmond Community High where 64 per cent gained five or more standard grades. The best improvement in results was found at Deans Community High where the percentage jumped from 64 in 2008 to 80 per cent in 2009.

Linlithgow Academy, which has the biggest school role at 1192, led the way in Highers results with 41 per cent gaining three or more — way out in front of St Margaret’s Academy and St Kentigern’s Academy which achieved 28 and 27 per cent respectively.

Once again Inveralmond Community High had the lowest figure at just 10 per cent gaining three highers. Whitburn Academy had 14 per cent but it and St Kentigern’s were the only two schools in West Lothian to show an increase in achievement from the previous year.

Linlithgow Academy also had the highest percentage of its pupils going on to higher education at 57 per cent, followed by Livingston’s St Margaret’s Academy at 45. Whitburn Academy and Inveralmond brought up the rear with 21 and 22 per cent respectively.

A West Lothian Council spokesman said their results faired well with its comparable local authorities .

The spokesman added: “We are happy that West Lothian’s exam results continue to outperform similar authorities, and are close to, or better than, the national average in most key measures. Our Standard Grade statistics are improving all the time, and we are well above the average for our comparator authorities and ahead of the national average.

“Achievement in Highers has been static at around the national average for the last five years, but we continue to perform better than average

“Although each year of pupils is unique and results can vary, it is pleasing to see sharp increases in positive results in Standard Grades for Deans and in Highers for St Kent’s this year. Steady improvements have also being made towards making sure young people leaving school in West Lothian have positive outlooks.”