31st August 2026
Highland Council’s strategy to raise attainment in the region is making good progress, with encouraging early data emerging from this year's examination results.
Last week councillors on the education committee noted the work undertaken in Highland Council's Education and Learning Improvement Plan (ELIP) and the associated Raising Attainment and Achievement Strategy (RAAS).
A presentation by Hannah Flavell, Head Teacher at Thurso High School, outlined how measures taken there have helped to improve educational outcomes.
The report to the committee detailed how Area Quality Improvement Managers and support teams across Highland have helped to strengthen collaboration and improve communication between school leaders and education teams.
Additional opportunities to highlight and share effective practice is being valued across school teams, with a new Raising Attainment Board helping to better utilise data to track and monitor change and promote greater consistency across all schools.
Some of the headline messages from the initial analysis of attainment in senior phase national awards, when compared to 24/25, indicates:
S6 attainment has shown some of the strongest improvements - the proportion of S6 pupils achieving three or more awards at Higher at grades A-C rose by 7.1% to 29.1%.
In S5, 15.7% of young people achieved five Higher awards at grades A-C. While this represents a slight decrease from 15.9% in 2025, attainment remains above the 13.6% recorded in 2024.
Pupil presentation and attainment in S4 have increased, with 41.9% of S4 pupils now gaining five or more awards at A-C grade.
There were also noticeable improvements in English and Maths for S4 pupils.
Attainment among young people from our most deprived areas also showed encouraging progress in several areas, including:
In S4, 20.2% of pupils in Quintile 1 achieved 5 awards at National 5 A-C (up from 20.1% in 2025 and 18.6% in 2024).
In S6, the proportion of Quintile 1 pupils gaining at least 1 Higher A-C rose significantly to 24.6% (up 6.6% from 18.0% in 2025).
The proportion of Quintile 1 S6 pupils gaining 3 or more Highers A-C increased to 9.1% (up from 3.8% in 2025),
Chair of the Highland Council Education Committee, Councillor John Finlayson, said: "It is encouraging to see the positive progress being made across our schools. The commitment of our teachers, staff, children and young people is helping us build a culture of steady improvement and increased expectations across Highland.
"The early signs of improving attainment and the progress being made through the strategic change we have introduced demonstrates that we are moving in the right direction for the benefit of all learners."
A more detailed analysis of senior phase attainment for 2026 will be brought to committee in November.
Read the full report here (Item 6): https://www.highland.gov.uk/meetings/meeting/5390/education-committee
MEANWHILE, other items on Wednesday’s agenda included a spotlight on the council’s ongoing partnership with Eden Court, and the highly successful efforts to promote, improve and advance the arts across Highland.
The committee heard a presentation from Eden Court Chief Executive Rebecca Holt which outlined the organisation’s varied creative engagement work with schools and communities throughout the region.
It is estimated that the council’s grant of £300,000 to Eden Court unlocks £1million of funding from other sources annually.
Read the full report here (item 9): https://www.highland.gov.uk/meetings/meeting/5390/education-committeem
Watch the web cast HERE
The section on the education plan starts about 6 minutes in.