In Scotland, girls may be the minority in the computer science classroom, but their results prove they’re a majority in making the grade. Byte by byte, they’re changing the narrative.
The latest National 5 and Higher Computing results across Scotland have delivered a headline-worthy feat: girls have outperformed boys once again, achieving a higher proportion of top grades at both levels, even as their overall representation in the subject remains low.
Results Breakdown
National 5 Computing Science: This year, 82% of all applicants secured A-C grades, marking a 3.2% increase from 2024. Girls, though making up only about 20% of the entries, were more likely to score top marks than their male peers. Almost 50% of girls were awarded a grade A, compared to around 40% for boys.
Higher Computing Science: The achievement gap persisted at Higher level, with 76.1% of female entrants attaining an A-C grade compared to 71.8% of males. Despite female students remaining just below a fifth of the cohort, their pass rate consistently outpaces that of males.
Toni Scullion, computing science teacher and co-lead of Scottish Teachers Advancing Computing Science (STACS), praised the positive direction:
“It’s great news with female figures going up at all levels, which is really great to see. This is a huge credit to the teachers on the ground who are doing amazing work daily. For me the subject is still not on steady ground as the recruitment issues of computing science in terms of new teachers coming through with the number of teachers dropping to the lowest on record.”
Persistent Challenges
Despite girls’ stellar performance, the gender gap at the point of entry remains stubborn. Girls account for just one fifth of National 5 entries and less for Highers and Advanced Highers.
Experts warn that without more qualified teachers and greater encouragement for girls to enter computing, this progress could plateau. Scullion stresses that “equity of access” is still lacking and urges real interventions on recruitment and retention of teachers.
