HC Deb 01 July 1947 vol 439 cc132-3W
8. Mr. Pryde

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what the percentage of passes was in the recent higher leaving certificate examination in Peebles; and how this percentage compares with the previous five years.

Mr. Westwood

As the percentage of passes in relation to presentations at the examination for the senior leaving certificate depends partly on the extent to which schools include among their candidates pupils who have little or no chance of attaining the required standard, comparison of one year's percentage with that of another is apt to be misleading. For this reason I prefer to continue our past practice of publishing only the number of certificates awarded each year. The number awarded at Peebles High School this year was 15; for the five years 1942 to 1946 the figures were 23, 20, 27, 16 and 12.