BCHS kids top of the class as exam results hailed
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THERE was plenty to celebrate as the exam results came out over at Buckie Community High School where five students saw their hard work and talent rewarded with five As at Higher.
Ebony Geddes, Cerys Goodall, Lanaya Herbert, Brodie Hutchison and Bruce Newlands all swept the board with As, while Jack Hutchison was left delighted with his four Higher grade As and a Level 6 Leadership.
There was plenty to shout about in the Nat 5 scores, with six students gaining seven As and seven earned six top grades.
Taking seven As were: Milly Findlay; Neve Findlayson; Ellie McLaren; Arwen Mitchell; Alex Thomson; Eden Wojcik.
With six As were: Kallum Aitchison (plus a Higher B); Scott Davidson (plus a Nat 5 B); Jude Ewen; Sara McCormack (plus a Nat 5 B); Samuel McLean (plus a Nat 6 B), Abby Phimister (plus a Nat 5 B); Finlay Wood (plus a Nat 5 B).
BCHS rector Neil Johnson said the school were delighted with the results, especially as it was the first time the students had sat a formal exam.
"I'm so glad for the pupils as it was a real stress for them sitting what was their first formal exams," he said.
"They worked very hard indeed.
"In fact, for some of our newer teachers, this was the first time they had prepared pupils for formal exams.
"While it's early days, overall we're very happy with the results, they look very good.
"The results don't include those pupils who took more practically-based qualifications such as the National Progression Award or Skills for Work, which come out later in the year. A few years ago we had hardly any doing these qualifications and now we have a lot – the landscape has changed and for the good.
"There was an uplift last year as pupils were well assessed on their work throughout the year, whereas this year they were back to being judged on how well they did on the day of exam.
"One of our main priorities has been looking at attainment in Level 6 and we're now reaping the rewards of this."
Comparing this year's performance with 2018, there was an uptick from 84.3 per cent to 85.5 per cent in those students gaining one Nat 5. Those earning five Nat 5s rose by almost 12 per cent from 21.4 per cent to 33.1 per cent, while those awarded six Nat 5s nearly doubled from 13.6 per cent to 26.2 per cent.
The figures for Highers were also on the up over the same time period. This year's cohort saw 70.2 per cent earning one Higher (62 per cent in 2018), 35 per cent awarded three Highers (28.1 per cent) and 14 per cent gaining five Highers (10.7 per cent).
