Edinburgh schools have achieved their highest-ever levels of attainment among senior-phase pupils, marking a significant milestone for education across the city.
A report presented to the Education, Children and Families Committee on 3 November highlighted the achievements and progress made by pupils during the 2025–26 academic year, reflecting continued improvements in educational outcomes.
Pupils in S4-S6 achieved the best attainment on record for the Council for almost all key breadth and depth measures, including the number gaining good passes in National 3-5, Higher and Advanced Higher. The number of vocational qualification passes also improved from 914 in 2023 to 2216 in 2026.
In primary schools, literacy and numeracy has improved on last year.
Despite the positive progress, there is more to be done to close the poverty related attainment gap and guidance and support continues to be offered to schools to make closing the gap a priority.
Commenting on the report, Councillor James Dalgleish, Education, Children and Families Convenor said:
“This report shows the highest ever recorded attainment for young people in Edinburgh.
“The achievement shines a light on the hard work of our pupils, teachers and school staff. The National and Higher results are fantastic and to have over 2000 people achieve vocational passes is incredible work. These courses help young people make informed choices and also offer a route into work.
“While attainment overall has improved, the gap between the richest and poorest in Edinburgh is still too wide. I am committed to working closely with officers to understand why this is the case and how we can work to close the poverty related attainment gap.”
