WATCH: Slight drop in Higher passes as pupils open exam results

There's been a slight drop in the number of Scottish pupils passing their Highers this year.

But exam chiefs say the 2017 results remain largely in line with attainment rates.

Just under 137,000 students are receiving their results by text, email or post throughout Tuesday.

There were some delays for pupils who signed up to get them by email, but the SQA said they were all sent out and said some systems may have been running slowly.

Candidates passed 150,010 Highers, with an attainment rate (grades between A and C) of 77%, down slightly from 152,701 passes with a rate of 77.2% last year.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) said the results were evidence of a very stable system''.

The total number of Highers sat in 2017 was just under 195,000 compared to almost 198,000 last year.

Figures from the SQA also show a pass rate of 92.8% for the National 4 exams, with 107,631 passes, while pupils achieved 233,005 passes at National 5, with a success rate of 79.5%.

The figures are broadly in line with 2016 figures when the attainment rate for National 4 was 93.2% and 79.4% for the National 5.

Advanced Higher passes fell to 19,283, with a pass rate of 80%.

Dr Janet Brown, chief executive of the SQA, said: "I think it shows a very stable system.

"One of the things that we absolutely have to ensure is that standards are maintained and we can see that candidates are reaching those standards and attaining as they have done in the past.''

In Maths the attainment rate rose to 74% from 73.5% last year at Higher, while in English the attainment rate dropped from 78.8% in 2016 to 77.3% this year.

Pass marks were around 50% with no repeat of the problems with the 2015 maths exam.

Dr Brown said: "Everything has worked as we would expect and our systems have worked as we wanted them to, to ensure candidates achieve what they deserve and allows them to go to the next phase of their lives.'