Pupils’ exam results in Dundee still lagging behind average

Dundee schools have once again delivered some of the poorest exam results in Scotland despite a slight improvement in some areas.

City councillors will hear tomorrow that the number of school pupils in Dundee who achieved awards at levels five and six last year was considerably below the Scottish average.

Education convener Stewart Hunter admitted the figures show the city is quite a bit behind the rest of the country, but is trying to improve.

“We have been behind the Scottish average over the past years and we are playing catch up a bit,” he said.

“We are working hard to try to improve but we do still have some way to go.”

The figures show that, last year, 28% of fourth and fifth year pupils in Dundee gained five or more awards at level five the worst result in Scotland. The Scottish average was 39%.

Exam success at level six was not much better, with 22% of pupils gaining five or more awards at this level, compared to the Scottish average of 26%.

Mr Hunter said, although the figures were well below the national average, they were an improvement on the previous year’s figures when only 26% gained five or more awards at level five and 20% at level six.