DETAILED exam results show “good progress” in improving results for pupils from poorer backgrounds.

West Dunbartonshire Council’s education committee considered one of its twice yearly reports this week outlining the August SQA exam numbers.

Literacy and numeracy have broadly slipped at Dumbarton Academy but continued to improve at Our Lady and St Patrick’s and at Vale of Leven Academy.

Individual schools are now compared to a virtual one as opposed to each other, but overall the local authority saw national 5 attainment go up two per cent and highers by one per cent. National 4s went down two per cent. Advanced highers were also up one per cent compared to 2016.

Subject areas such as expressive arts, health and wellbeing, languages, mathematics, technologies and RME all went up. But science and social studies went down.

A total of 2,165 pupils sat 9,927 exams and qualifications.

The report concludes: “We continue to make good progress in closing the poverty related attainment gap.”

A number of graphics are used to explain the complex results system against social deprivation “deciles”, measuring “tariff points” for “benchmarks”. Some information was also left out because education bosses said it could identify pupils.

Ultimately, the destinations pupils go to after school is the more meaningful for West Dunbartonshire families – and those results aren’t compiled until a report in February.

This week’s report adds: “A significant and increasing number of our pupils are taking courses with partner providers such as West College Scotland and WD Leisure Trust in a variety of areas including construction, motor vehicle engineering, hospitality, hairdressing, early education and childcare, sport and recreation, beauty and photography.

“For the first year, some of our young people have embarked upon ‘foundation apprenticeships’, which we will report on at this time next year.

There large improvements at the Choices Programme in literacy and numeracy but no pupils got three or more national 4s or better.

Kilpatrick School had 100 per cent of pupils achieve units at level 1 or higher.

The education committee meets on Wednesday at the council headquarters in Garshake.