EXAM pass rates in mathematics, languages and sciences are all down, according to the latest analysis by council bosses.

The trend in maths is down for the second year in a row to 75.6 per cent passing, from a high in 2017 of 83.1 per cent.

Languages were down to 85.9 per cent from a high of 90.3 per cent in 2017, and sciences dropped from last year’s high to 77.4 per cent.

Technologies subjects also saw a drop for a second straight year, while health and wellbeing slipped slightly.

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Expressive arts, though down, remained second highest with a 90.5 per cent success rate. Religious and moral education has jumped from 79.1 per cent in 2017, to 89.2 per cent last year, to a near perfect 97.6 per cent this year.

But the educational services committee report ahead of their next meeting says they have calculated that attainment rates in literacy and numeracy are up.