HC Deb 03 December 1985 vol 88 cc199-200W
Mr. George Robertson

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has as to the proportion of B passes in the awards made in 1985, 1984, 1983 and 1982 in the Scottish certificate of education higher grade examination.

Mr. Allan Stewart

The information requested is as follows:

Higher grade presentations (all candidates, all subject) Band B awards (post appeals) Per cent. achieving Band B
1985 168,309 36,791 21.9
*1984 172,220 38,221 22.2
*1983 177,711 39,572 22.3
*1982 173,509 37,259 21.5
* Source: Scottish Examination Board annual reports for 1982, 1983 and 1984 (1985 figures also from the board but are not yet published).

Mr. George Robertson

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when he expects to make a statement regarding the possibility of candidates having a direct right to appeal to the Scottish Examination Board against failure in Scottish certificate of education examinations.

Mr. Allan Stewart

The Scottish Examination Board will decide the appeals arrangements to operate in 1986 in the new year, in the light of the implications of the boycott by the Educational Institute of Scotland of examination procedures. The question of allowing candidates or their parents to apply directly to the board for a remarking of scripts will be one of the points for decision at that time.

Higher grade—all candidates—all subjects
Year Presentations Awards
A A B B C C
per cent. per cent. per cent.
1985 168,309 18,872 11.2 36,791 21.9 55,657 33.1
1984* 172,220 19,598 11.4 38,221 22.2 57,779 33.6
1983* 177,711 20,344 11.5 39,572 22.3 59,781 33.6
* Source: Scottish Examination Board annual reports for 1983 and 1984.

Mr. George Robertson

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has as to how many candidates were presented for (a) higher and (b) ordinary grade Scottish certificate of education examinations in 1985; and what was the pass rate for the following subjects (a) music, (b) history, (c) mathematics, (d) English, (e) French, (f) biology and (g) secretarial studies.

Mr. Allan Stewart

The information requested is in the following tables:

TABLE 1
1985 Total candidates and presentations
1985
Candidates presented for one or more ordinary grade but no highers 81,645
Candidates presented for one or more higher grade 61,002
Number of ordinary grade presentations (all candidates—all subjects) 446,008
Number of higher grade presentations (all candidates—all subjects) 168,309
TABLE 2
1985 Results by subject
Subject Number of candidates presented A-C awards Percentage achieving A-C awards
Music ordinary traditional 378 234 61.9
Music ordinary alternative 2,250 1,629 72.4
Music higher (10 permutations of options) 1,083 721 66.6
History ordinary traditional 2,675 1,694 63.3
History ordinary alternative 16,950 10,935 64.5
History higher traditional 3,324 2,495 75.1
History higher alternative 6,167 4,412 71.5
Mathematics—ordinary 43,554 27,322 62.7
Mathematics—higher 23,554 14,624 62.1
English—ordinary 72,952 41,966 57.5
English—higher 38,698 24,988 64.6
French ordinary traditional 18,740 13,140 70.1
French ordinary alternative 5,834 4,007 68.7
French higher 8,351 5,940 71.1
Biology ordinary 24,069 13,087 54.4
Biology higher 12,148 7,285 60.0
Secretarial studies ordinary 17,800 11,647 65.4
Secretarial studies higher 4,987 3,378 67.7

Mr. George Robertson

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has as to how many A, B and C passes were awarded in the higher grade of the 1985 Scottish certificate of education examinations; and how these figures compare with 1984 and 1983.

Mr. Allan Stewart

The information requested is as follows:

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