The next generation of talented Bankies were showing off their exam results last week, as council officials hailed a “fantastic” set of results.

In total, 98 per cent of pupils sitting exams across West Dunbartonshire achieved at least one award, with an 81 per cent pass rate in one or more exams at Advanced Higher and 85 per cent of Higher students recording one or more passes.

At the National 5 level, 88 per cent of candidates passed one or more exams, with a 98 per cent rate at National 4 level.

Councillor Karen Conaghan, convener of educational services, said: “The fact that so many of our pupils have achieved one or more qualifications in this year’s exams is fantastic.

“We are committed to ensuring all of our pupils leave our schools with the skills, experience and qualifications they need to succeed in future.

“These results go a long way towards that and are testament to the hard work of our pupils, the support of their parents and carers and the commitment of our education staff.”

After the SQA results were delivered via post, email and text on August 8, the Post caught up with students and teachers from each of the local secondaries about their results and exam day experience.

Kirsty Adair, 17, served up straight-A success after notching up six top grades, and she now plans to head to Strathclyde University to pursue a course in computing and maths, with the future aim of becoming a computer programmer.

The Clydebank High pupil told the Post: “It was a really good feeling to open up the results because it’s what I wanted and it allows me to go to university.

“I did feel quite stressed but I knew that it would be worth it in the end and I also started studying earlier in the year because I knew that was the way to go rather than trying to cram it all at the end.”

Classmate Jonathan MacDonald, 17, revealed his results have helped him gain entry onto a motor and vehicle apprenticeship at West College Scotland.

Speaking about his plans for the future, he said: “I woke up and kind of felt sick because you don’t know whether it’s going to be good or bad, but I opened the post with my family and they were chuffed and happy.

“The plan is to do the course and then go for a job in the motor vehicle industry, probably in the mechanics side of things. I’ve always had an interest in taking things apart, seeing how they work and checking if I can put it back together.”

There were more success stories among St Peter the Apostle High’s contingent, with 16-year-old Matthew Quinn and 15-year-old Shannon Burke both preparing to take part in foundation apprenticeships following this year’s results.

The foundation apprenticeships are schemes set up by Skills Development Scotland, which typically see pupils spending time out of school at college or with employers, with the chance to gain real-life work experience and an industry-standard qualification.

Matthew, who will be taking part in a software development apprenticeship, said: “The apprenticeships are really sought after by employers, so the chance of getting a job afterwards is quite high, plus the qualification counts as a Higher.”

Meanwhile, Shannon is going on to do an apprenticeship in social services, focusing on children and young people after receiving her first ever set of exam results.

The teenager said: “I’m doing the apprenticeship because I enjoy working with children and I’m quite good at it.

“I actually thought I was going to do badly, but I ended up doing really well and my mum cried when I got the results.”

Another St Peter the Apostle pupil reaching for the stars is 17-year-old Philan Mathew, who is planning to do astrophysics at St Andrews.

Philan said: “I’ve always quite liked space, and so when I read about astrophysics, I sort of knew that’s what I wanted to go into.”

Their headteacher Linda Booth was full of praise for the pupils’ results.

Ms Booth said: “We’re very pleased with the results, and it’s been another year of real success across the board. It’s just testament to the commitment of the young people, support from parents and the hard work of staff and that team approach has paid off once again.”

Laura Mason, chief education officer for West Dunbartonshire Council, said: “As a council we’re delighted that so many of our young people are gaining qualifications and receiving this recognition for their hard work.

“These results are also testimony to our dedicated teaching staff who continue to motivate our students.

“Over the last five years we have made steady progress in raising attainment across West Dunbartonshire and we are all committed to maintaining that focus going forward and ensuring that all of our young people reach their potential.

“We are particularly pleased that we are steadily closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged young people.”