Congratulations to those Upper School pupils who received exam results today, Tuesday 4th August.
Edinburgh Steiner School’s Higher exam results in 2026 were very good, with particularly strong performances in English, sciences and modern languages. The overall pass rate (A-C) for Edinburgh Steiner School (ESS) Higher results was 82%. While this headline is lower than last year’s figure of 98%, a closer look at the numbers reveals a continuing positive trend.
This year’s Class 12 was unusually small, with a relatively low number of presentations at Higher level, meaning that just a few results either way had a dramatic effect on the overall percentages. Nevertheless, the majority of pupils who passed their Highers tended to hit the top grades. The proportion of Higher results in 2026 graded ‘A’ was 65%, which is extremely high, and comparable to the figure of 66% achieved in 2025, while the combined percentage of ‘A’ and ‘B’ grade results totalled 78%. Several ESS pupils received the coveted string of ‘straight As’.
Edinburgh Steiner School tracks exam results over the long term to account for fluctuations caused by small sample sizes. The 5-year running mean for Higher results (grades A-C), which takes an average of results for the years 2022-2026 stands at just over 88% (against 92% in 2025). The national pass rate (which might include the D grade ‘course award’) for 2026 is 76.7%. On August 4th the BBC published a figure for the A-C Higher pass rate in 2026 across all independent schools in Scotland, which was given as 92.3%. ESS has exceeded this pass rate in two of the last four years.
The ESS pass rate (A-C) for National 5 (for exam courses which were sat mostly by pupils in Classes 10 and 11) was very good (90%)—a slight increase on 2025—with the vast majority (80%) of ESS results at grades A or B; again, slightly higher than in 2025. Well over half (63%) of all National 5 results in 2025 were at grade A (continuing an upward trend over the last three years) and a large proportion of ESS pupils received ‘straight As’. Notably, every candidate who attempted National 5 English in 2026 achieved a grade A, B or C, with a significant majority achieving a grade A. The national pass rate (which might include the D grade ‘course award’) was 79.2%.
Advanced Higher results (Maths, Art & Design, modern languages) were also excellent (100% A-C), with 81% of results graded ‘A’ or ‘B’.
Of the 5 presentations for National 4, all candidates passed.
Almost all of those pupils who applied for further education and univeristy courses have been accepted into their first choice institution. (Graph above shows 2025 destinations)
The results are a well-deserved reward for all the hard work and commitment demonstrated by Upper School pupils and their teachers.
