FIGURES showing the success rate of exam appeals at secondary schools in the Clydebank area have been revealed.

The statistics, obtained from the Scottish Qualifications Authority, show that almost half of all pupils from St Peter the Apostle High who appealed their Highers results last year were successful.

It's the first time detailed school-level appeals data has been available - but the figures show wide variations between institutions.

A total of 149 Higher exams out of 713 taken at St Peter the Apostle High, Clydebank High and Drumchapel High were sent to the SQA to get a second look at their marks - and 74 of those appeals were successful.

Clydebank High had 109 appeals out of 594 exams, and only 25 were successful - about one in five.

But Drumchapel High's success rate was even lower, with just five successful appeals out of 52 submitted from a total of 172 exams taken.

Knightswood Secondary only had six successful appeals out of 59 amongst the 724 Highers exams sat.

Drumchapel had no successful appeals of its Advanced Higher results, out of 38 exams. Clydebank High had just one successful Advanced Higher appeal, and St Peter's had five successful out of 25.

Knightswood didn't appeal any of its seven Advanced Highers results.

At National 5 level, there were 1,086 entries at St Peter's and 201 appeals. A total of 43 were successful.

Clydebank High had 70 appeals out of 958 entries and just 16 positive results. There were 17 new grades amongst 57 appeals in Drumchapel.

The figures were obtained by reporter James McEnaney.

Knightswood had 1,137 entries for Nat 5s but only appealed 20 results. Five of those were successful.
But critics have questioned the SQA's unwillingness to explain their reasoning for the marks they awarded.

And an entirely new system of qualifications has been proposed after years of concern about how the SQA runs exams, particularly during the pandemic.

Last year, pupils sitting exams for the first time since Covid had an appeals system where teachers sent in predicted grades, based on in-school assessments and class work.

If an exam result was below expectations, they could appeal, with the school giving evidence, such as prelim papers.

The SQA rejected more than two thirds of more than 58,000 appeals across Scotland.

Bruce Adamson, children and young people’s commissioner for Scotland, told the Post's sister title, The Herald, that the SQA should engage with pupils in full and to ensure that their rights are respected.

He said: “Any indication of disparity in the appeals process for young people across Scotland is worrying.

"The SQA should be transparent about their decision making and any request from a pupil to understand the reason for an appeal being declined should be responded to in full.

"A rights-compliant appeals process must have the child’s best interests as its primary consideration.”

An SQA spokesperson responded: “Because each appeal was based on an individual review of a learner’s alternative evidence, and due to the volume of appeals (over 60,000), it was agreed with partners from across the education community that providing detailed individual feedback would not be possible.”

On Friday, the Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment published their interim report suggested a new "Scottish Diploma of Achievement".

A final report is due in May.