Reaching 32,370 acceptances, this marks almost a 2% increase from 2025 data.
This year marks a record number of Scottish students receiving acceptance to university or college with this year’s exam results showing more than 148,000 students. It is the first set of results published by Scotland’s new exam board, Qualifications Scotland, following the dissolution of the SQA.
According to UCAS figures released on 4 August 2026, 32,370 students aged between 17 and 18 years old have been admitted into university or college, an increase from 31,850 in 2025. The report also noted that there was an increase in the number of young people from the country’s most deprived areas going on to attend university or college.
The highlight of this year’s exam results also include an increase in the pass rate across all qualification levels. For National 5 qualifications, the pass rate increased 0.8-points to 79.2% this year. For Higher qualifications, it increased 0.8-points to 76.7%, and for Advanced Higher qualifications, it increased 0.9-points to 77.6%.
Qualifications Scotland’s report for this year’s results also noted that the attainment gap – the disparity in educational outcomes between those from the most deprived and the least deprived economic backgrounds – had narrowed slightly. However, the attainment gap is still considered wide enough to be of notable concern for the Scottish Government and teachers and institutions across all of Scotland.
Scotland’s Education Secretary, Mairi McAllan, congratulated all students on their results, and celebrated the rise in pass rates and the narrowing of the attainment gap, claiming that “This is testament to the breadth and strength of Scotland’s education system, the professionalism of our teachers and school staff and the hard work of our young people.”
Opposition MSPs and parties, though celebrating the success of students, disagree that the current state of Scotland’s education system is one to be praised.
Andrew Bowie, a Scottish Conservative MSP, argued that “plummeting teacher numbers and spiralling levels of school violence” has caused disruption and frustration for students. The Scottish Greens argued that Scotland’s exam system should be reformed to utilise a form of continuous assessment instead of the current end of year, “high-stakes exams”. The education spokesperson for Scottish Labour, Katherine Sangster, said in reference to the wide attainment gap that “No child should be held back by their postcode or their background, but it’s clear far more must be done to tackle the damaging inequalities in our education system.”
While the record numbers achieving their places at university or college are to be lauded, these students are entering into a system of further and higher education that is becoming increasingly fraught with financial difficulty, staff cuts and shortages, and cuts to degree programmes that could severely impact their education and their future career prospects.
