Scotland's recent exam results indicate a slight reduction in the attainment gap between students from the most and least deprived areas, though the disparity persists. The attainment gap is defined as the difference in grades achieved by students in the wealthiest 20% of the population compared to those in the bottom fifth, as measured by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD).
This year's statistics reveal that at the National 5 level, the gap has decreased to 15.6 percentage points from 16.4 percentage points in the previous year. This improvement is due to 86.6% of students from more affluent backgrounds achieving grades A to C, compared to 71% of students from the most deprived areas.
At the Higher level, the gap has narrowed from 16.8 percentage points to 15.9 percentage points. Similarly, the gap at the Advanced Higher level has seen a reduction, standing at 12.1 percentage points, down from 13.3 percentage points.
The methodology for calculating SIMD was updated this year, leading to revisions in some prior figures. More than 130,000 students across Scotland received their exam results.