2025 marks a landmark year for Scottish learners, with 147,000 students receiving their results today and notable gains in attainment, equity, and skills development.

Key Trends for student Recruitment

• A-C attainment increased across National 5, Higher, and Advanced Higher levels.
  
  
• The poverty-related attainment gap narrowed at every level which is an important signal for widening access initiatives.
  
  
• Higher entries exceeded 200,000 – the highest since Curriculum for Excellence launched in 2014.

For the first time ever, over 100,000 vocational and technical qualifications were awarded. 110,390, up 22.6% year-on-year.

These skills-based qualifications span areas such as:
 - Cybersecurity, Computer Games Development

 - Mental Health & Wellbeing, Employability, Personal Finance

 - Modern Languages for Life and Work

 - Sports and Fitness: Team Sports

This growth reflects a wider national effort to broaden curriculum choices and enhance life-readiness and employability.

On The Student Room, Scottish students are actively discussing their results, university offers, and next steps. Many are seeking advice on near misses, course requirements, and alternative options.

I got 4 A's including Maths and B in Physics in highers. I got conditional offer in Edinburgh university with 5 A's. Not sure if Edinburgh University will accept this near miss in Physics?

Can I still do medicine with AAABB at higher?

As Results Day approaches, students are at very different stages in their university journey. Some confident in their choices, others still waiting or uncertain. Our recent poll from May 2025 reveals how offer status is shaping student mindset before results are released. Many are seeking clarity and support to feel prepared for what comes next.

Half of Year 13s are ready to make their choices - 50% of respondents say they’ve received all their university offers, meaning many are now focused on firming up decisions ahead of Results Day.

1 in 10 students are still in limbo with 10% have either received no responses or only rejections, leaving them in a state of uncertainty as Results Day approaches.

Over a third (37.9%) are navigating a mixed bag of offers, rejections or pending responses, highlighting the need for clear information and reassurance during this crucial period.

With Results Day just around the corner, students are reflecting on their exam experiences, and the picture is more mixed than ever. Compared to last year, perceptions of difficulty are more divided, with some feeling caught off guard and others pleasantly surprised. This variability is shaping how confident, or uncertain, students feel about what lies ahead.

Student sentiment on exam difficulty is more polarised this year. Fewer students felt their exams were “as expected” in 2025, with a rise in those who found them harder and a small increase in those who found them easier (+2.49% vs 2024).

A growing number of students felt underprepared. The increase in students reporting exams as harder than expected suggests rising uncertainty, which could influence confidence in the lead-up to Results Day.

Balanced experiences, but mixed emotions . While there’s no clear trend pointing to Results Day outcomes, students are entering this period.