Wick and Thurso pupils praised as they receive ‘outstanding’ exam results
Pupils at Wick and Thurso high schools have been praised for their hard work and resilience as they received their exam results on Tuesday.
Senior pupils at the schools have achieved positive results, with some outstanding grades for some pupils.
Shona Laybourne, deputy head teacher and SQA coordinator at Wick High, said they were delighted to celebrate the excellent exam results across the school.
“The pupils showed remarkable determination and resilience as they navigated their SQA courses,” she said. “Most courses had further content and assignments required this year as all components returned following Covid modifications.
“Results show that most of our pupils achieved the results required to move forward with their learning at college, university or apprenticeships.
“We are delighted to report that our S4 cohort has performed very well with increasing numbers of pupils passing their National 5 subjects.”
Seven Wick pupils passed eight National 5 subjects with passes at grade A. They were Abbey Baltazar, Antonia Beattie, Anna Durrand, Katie McDonald, Harriet McBoyle, Carmen Slavinski and Abby Swanson.
At Higher level, 21 pupils achieved five Higher level passes with two pupils achieving six Higher passes. Charly Coe and Lucy Coe achieved A grade passes in each of their six Higher subjects.
Cara Miller also achieved all A grade passes for each of her five subjects.
Mrs Laybourne added: “Wick High School is incredibly proud of all our pupils’ achievements. The results reflect their hard work, the support and encouragement of their families, and the dedication of our staff.”
At Thurso High School, outstanding attainment was achieved by S6 pupils Luke Chesters and Robert Stolde who both achieved three As at Advanced Higher and one A at Higher.
S5 pupils with outstanding attainment at Higher include Chris Brown, Isla Mackay, Shannon May and Sophie Miller, who all achieved 5 As.
At National 5, outstanding attainment of S4 pupils with all seven As include Alan Frame (with eight As), Rebecca Henderson, Arran Johnson, Julia Mackay, Alana Mackenzie, Taylor Spence and Iona Young.
Depute head teacher Anne Nicoll said: “Staff at Thurso High school are very pleased with this year’s SQA results and proud of pupil attainment.
“Special mentions go to those pupils who have overcome difficult circumstances but attained excellent results despite this, and to all pupils who worked hard to achieve at their level and to our enhanced provision pupils who attained N2 SQA awards.
“We would like to commend the hard work put in by both pupils and staff that have made these results possible.”
Highland Council congratulated pupils across the region, saying 75.6 per cent of candidates attained A to C grades at National 5 level, with an increase in the number of pupils attaining As.
Education committee chairman Cllr John Finlayson said: “This year’s data from across Highland reflects the resilience and hard work of all our young people and their teachers. There is much to celebrate across Highland in terms of this year’s results, and I would like to congratulate all who have achieved the results they hoped for.
“To those young people who are disappointed with any of their grades, please don’t forget that there is a great deal of support available to you in your school to help you to decide what your next steps will be.”
Help and advice is available for all students receiving their results from their own schools and also from Skills Development Scotland’s dedicated Exam Results Helpline, which is available for a week from results day onwards to support young people.
SQA's Candidate Advice Line service is free of charge and opens at 9am on results day.
Helplines
SQA Candidate Advice – 0345 279 1000.
Skills Development Scotland’s Results – 0808 100 8000.
UCAS – 0371 468 0468
More information is available at www.sqa.org.uk/results and Clearing resources can be found at www.ucas.com/clearing
