The Scottish Greens have issued a call to scrap school exams in a bid to tackle Scotland's persistent attainment gap after this year's results show the Higher pass rate is down from last year.

This year the SQA has been criticised for making changes to the appeal system, scrapping progressive measures that were introduced in 2022 that introduced a "no detriment" clause and allowed provisions for pupils facing exceptional circumstances.

Plans were announced to replace the Scottish Qualifications Authority with a new exams body, which have not yet happened - and the Scottish Greens also issued fresh calls for the SQA to be scrapped.

Ross Greer, the party's education spokesperson, said moving from a system of high stakes exams and towards more continuous assessment is critical to closing the attainment gap.

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Mr Greer praised learners for a set of "very strong results" this year as a tribute to the work of young people and their teachers.

But he added:"Exams are a far less accurate way of measuring a young person's knowledge and abilities than ongoing assessment throughout the year.

"That is why the Greens have long called for a move away from Scotland's Victorian-era high-stakes end-of-term exam system, where a learner who has excelled all year can currently have their future altered by a single bout of anxiety or a bad cold affecting their performance on the day.

That's not to mention the disadvantage faced by those from chaotic household situations who might not have slept the night before their exams.

"That is exactly why the Scottish Greens secured the review of qualifications and assessments which became the Hayward report on the exams system.

"We were delighted by the bold changes that the review recommended and look forward to the discussion with teachers, students and parents/carers on how they can be taken forward.

"I am frustrated though that the SQA has reversed the important changes made to the appeals system last year. This will only entrench the attainment gap between pupils from the most and least disadvantaged backgrounds and penalise students who have faced exceptional circumstances.”

Figures published today by the SQA show the attainment gap for A grades at Highers is at its widest level since 2017.

Scottish Conservatives education spokesman Liam Kerr said this year's results show "16 years of SNP neglect" and said the widening attainment gap is a "source of shame" for Scottish Government ministers.

Mr Kerr added: "The widening attainment gap should be a source of shame for ministers - pupils from the most disadvantaged backgrounds have been let down year after year by the SNP.

"For a government that claims to be 'progressive', it represents an abject and shameful failure."

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Lib Dem education spokesman Willie Rennie said: "Every young person deserves our congratulations for their results and recognition for the effort in achieving them.

"I recall the great anticipation I felt at that age about what was to come next and planning for the future.

"Yet the yawning poverty-related attainment gap is a warning for the SNP Government which promised to close the gap, but instead the gap is as wide as ever.

"If the SNP worked as hard as young people, we may not have such a wide poverty-related attainment gap."

The Higher attainment gap between the most and least deprived areas of Scotland has grown wider since last year, while remaining below pre-pandemic levels.

Tuesday's exam results figures show that the gap in attainment of A to C grades between the fifth most-deprived and fifth least-deprived areas stood at 16 percentage points for 2023.

This has risen from 2022's figure of 14.9 percentage points.

However, it is below the last pre-pandemic level in 2019, when an attainment gap of 16.9 percentage points was recorded.

For the attainment gap at National 5 level, there was a similar trend with the gap becoming smaller from last year while remaining narrower than the 2019 level.

Meanwhile, the attainment gap at the Advanced Higher level has grown narrower than 2019.

This stood at 13.2 percentage points in 2019, remaining at 13.2 percentage points in 2022 before falling to 11.5 percentage points in 2023.

Scottish Labour education spokesperson Pam Duncan-Glancy shared her congratulations with Scotland's young people but joined criticisms of the poverty-related attainment gap.

Ms Duncan-Glancy said: "The data published this morning shows that the poverty-related attainment gap is still persisting across subjects and that pupils from more deprived backgrounds continue to be failed.

"The fact is that after over a decade and a half of SNP rule, progress on tackling the attainment gap for people from deprived backgrounds, people with ASN and minorities is stalling.

"The results have basically gone back to 2019 levels, but we knew then the system was unequal. A return to pre-covid is not good enough.

"The young people of Scotland deserve better than SNP failure."

Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth said that across the three levels, the attainment gap was lower than pre-pandemic.

She said: "While we know that the pandemic has disproportionately impacted young people from more disadvantaged backgrounds, these results show that the gap in attainment levels between the least and most deprived areas remains narrower than it was in 2019.

"We are determined to build on the progress that has been made and we are investing a record £1 billion in the Scottish Attainment Challenge during this parliamentary term."