Entries rose at all three graded levels of Scotland’s National Qualifications in 2026, and attainment at grades A to C rose with them. Advanced Higher entries were up 3.8% and its A to C rate reached 77.6% — while its grade A rate went the other way, falling to 30.9%.
The figures below come from Qualifications Scotland’s Provisional Attainment Statistical Summary 2026. They are the results-day figures, and the word “provisional” is doing real work in that title. This page sets out what the numbers say, what the awarding body says about comparing them, and the two traps that make citations of this release go wrong.
The headline figures
| Level (SCQF) | Entries 2026 | Change on 2025 | A–C 2026 | Grade A 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| National 5 | 339,760 | +1.7% (from 333,995) | 79.2% | 40.3% |
| Higher | 207,980 | +2.7% (from 202,490) | 76.7% | 30.9% |
| Advanced Higher | 29,700 | +3.8% (from 28,610) | 77.6% | 30.9% |
Two patterns are worth naming. First, the proportional increase in entries gets larger as the level gets higher — 1.7%, 2.7%, 3.8% — so the narrowest, most specialised tier is growing fastest, from much the smallest base.
Second, A to C and grade A are not moving together at the top level. Advanced Higher A to C rose 0.9 percentage points on 2025, but its grade A rate fell 0.5 points, from 31.4% to 30.9%. More candidates passed; slightly fewer got the top grade. Reporting “Advanced Higher results improved” is true of one measure and false of the other.
Every rate is still below 2022 — and the awarding body says do not compare them
Each 2026 rate is presented against both 2025 and 2022, and against 2022 all six headline rates are down:
| Level | A–C: 2026 vs 2022 | Grade A: 2026 vs 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| National 5 | 79.2% vs 80.8% (−1.6pp) | 40.3% vs 40.3% (−0.1pp) |
| Higher | 76.7% vs 78.9% (−2.2pp) | 30.9% vs 34.8% (−3.9pp) |
| Advanced Higher | 77.6% vs 81.3% (−3.7pp) | 30.9% vs 33.7% (−2.8pp) |
Here is the part almost every secondary write-up drops. The same document that publishes those comparisons also states: “The different awarding arrangements in place between 2022 and 2026 means that it is not possible to compare attainment across these years without full consideration of this contextual information.”
So the 2022 column is not a baseline showing decline. 2022 sat under different awarding arrangements, and the publisher is explicit that the comparison does not stand on its own. If you cite the 2022 gap, you have to carry that caveat with it — otherwise you have manufactured a trend the source refuses to assert.
“Provisional” means these numbers will change
The summary states that it “reflects current information at a particular point in time (22 July 2026) and the figures are subject to change later in the year due to processes including appeals and late amendments.”
That gives you a specific extraction date to quote, and a specific reason the figures move: appeals and late amendments. If you are writing something that will be read after the final release, say which version you used and when it was extracted. A provisional figure cited as final is the most common way this particular dataset ends up misquoted.
The Scottish Baccalaureate is very small, and shrinking
The Scottish Baccalaureate sits at SCQF Level 7 and is available in four subject areas — Science, Languages, Social Sciences and Expressive Arts. It consists of a coherent group of Higher and Advanced Higher qualifications plus an Interdisciplinary Project.
In 2026 it drew 215 entries nationally, with a total attainment rate of 65.3%. The trend is a sustained decline: 66.1% in 2025, 71.9% in 2024, 75.7% in 2023 and 72.2% in 2022.
Treat that rate with care precisely because the base is so small. At 215 entries, a handful of candidates moves the percentage by a full point, and one centre withdrawing changes the national picture. It is a real figure, but it is not a robust one, and it should never be set alongside National 5’s 339,760 entries as though the two were measured with equal precision.
The trap: the published rates do not reproduce the published changes
This one is worth checking yourself, because it will make you look careless if a marker checks it first.
The release reports National 5 grade A at 40.3% in 2026 and 40.3% in 2022 — and describes the movement between them as a decrease of 0.1 percentage points. Subtract the two published figures and you get zero. Similarly, National 5 A to C is given as 79.2% in 2026 against 78.4% in 2025, a difference of 0.8 points, and reported as an increase of 0.9.
Nothing is wrong. The changes are computed from unrounded underlying data and the rates are published rounded to one decimal place, so the two disagree at the margin. But it has a hard practical consequence:
Quote the change the publisher states. Do not derive it by subtracting two rounded percentages. If you do, your number will differ from the official one and you will have no way to defend it.
This is the same discipline as quoting a reporting window rather than just a year. The arithmetic that looks like a sanity check is the thing that introduces the error.
Centre type
The release also breaks results down by centre type, and reports that “Over time, attainment rates are higher for independent centres than education authority centres, and this continued to be the case in 2026.”
It also warns that further education colleges are not comparable with the other centre types, because of what their candidates are entered for. If you are comparing centre types, read that background note before drawing a conclusion — a raw college figure set against a school figure is not measuring the same thing. A gap of this kind also intersects with wider participation patterns, which we cover in our higher education gender gap statistics.
What this means if you are applying to university
Advanced Higher is the tier that matters most for competitive admission, and it is growing faster than the levels beneath it — which means the field is getting slightly larger, not smaller. Its A to C rate is healthy at 77.6%, but the grade A rate of 30.9% is the number that reflects the competitive band, and that one edged down.
How these qualifications are actually treated varies by institution, and by course far more than applicants expect. Our guides to Oxford admission requirements and the Cambridge application process cover how Advanced Highers are read alongside other qualifications.
How to cite these figures
- Name the release and its status. “Qualifications Scotland, Provisional Attainment Statistical Summary 2026” — the word provisional belongs in the citation, not in a footnote.
- Give the extraction date — 22 July 2026 — because appeals and late amendments will move the figures.
- Quote stated changes, never derived ones. The rounded rates do not reproduce the published percentage-point movements.
- Carry the 2022 caveat if you use the 2022 comparison, because the publisher states the years are not comparable without context.
- Do not treat the Scottish Baccalaureate rate as equivalent evidence. 215 entries is a different order of precision from 339,760.
Getting the reference itself right matters as much as the number; our Harvard referencing guide covers how to format an official statistical release properly.
Frequently asked questions
How many students sat Advanced Highers in 2026?
There were 29,700 Advanced Higher entries in 2026, an increase of 3.8% from 28,610 in 2025. Note that entries count course entries rather than individual candidates, since one candidate normally sits several.
What is the Higher pass rate in 2026?
The overall attainment rate at grades A to C for Higher was 76.7% in 2026, an increase of 0.8 percentage points on 2025. Attainment at grades A to C is what Qualifications Scotland refers to as the attainment rate.
Did Scottish exam results improve in 2026?
At grades A to C, yes, at all three graded levels. At grade A the picture is mixed: National 5 and Higher rose slightly, while Advanced Higher fell 0.5 percentage points to 30.9%. Which measure you use changes the answer.
Are 2026 results worse than 2022?
All six headline rates are lower than in 2022, but Qualifications Scotland states that different awarding arrangements were in place between 2022 and 2026 and that it is not possible to compare attainment across those years without full consideration of that context. The gap should not be presented as a straightforward decline.
Are these figures final?
No. They are provisional, reflecting information as at 22 July 2026, and are subject to change through appeals and late amendments later in the year.
How many people take the Scottish Baccalaureate?
215 entries in 2026, with a total attainment rate of 65.3%. That is down from 66.1% in 2025, 71.9% in 2024 and 75.7% in 2023. The base is small enough that the rate moves sharply on very few candidates.
Why does the published change not match the published percentages?
Because the percentage-point changes are calculated from unrounded data while the rates are published to one decimal place. National 5 grade A appears as 40.3% in both 2026 and 2022 but is reported as a 0.1 point decrease. Always quote the stated change rather than subtracting the rounded figures.
What Tesify does not do
Tesify does not interpret these statistics for you, and it should not. Every hard judgement on this page — whether a 2022 comparison is admissible, whether a rate built on 215 entries carries the same weight as one built on 339,760 — is exactly the reasoning your marker is assessing, and it depends on caveats that live in the publisher’s background notes rather than in the headline table.
What it does is keep the mechanics clean: references to official releases formatted consistently, and an AI-use declaration you can submit alongside your own analysis.
Citing official statistics is where careless referencing is easiest to check and hardest to defend. Keep your sources formatted consistently from the first one you record.
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