Exam results out today
Still time to book tickets for the Book Festival
Airbnb organises Fringe meet up
Leith Walk by-election – UKIP announce candidate
Edinburgh Food Festival a success
The anxious wait is finally over for thousands of pupils across Edinburgh as they received their exam results today (Tuesday 4 August).
It appears that Edinburgh’s overall good performance has been maintained.
We spoke to 17 year-old Mathew Moir who attained his Nat4 History in spite of having to overcome ill health and you can read that article in our News section here.
All the stats on the Edinburgh exam results are here.
Students across Scotland achieved a record 156,000 Higher passes this year – up 5.5 per cent on 2014.
Results certificates have been sent to 142,862 candidates sitting a wide range of qualifications – including new Highers for the first year and Nationals for the second year; and existing Access, Intermediates, Highers and Advanced Highers.
Figures released by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) show attainment is again high this year, with Higher English passes up 17.7 per cent to 27,902, and Higher modern languages passes increasing by 15.2 per cent to 7,419.
The pass rate for the new Maths Higher was 70.8 per cent, similar to that in previous years. The SQA awarding process continues to take into account the level of difficulty of the exam.
Advanced Higher passes have increased by 4.0 per cent to a record level of 18,899.
This year also saw significant shifts onto the new National Qualifications at other levels, as the process of transition into the new system continued. For example, there was a large increase in National 5 course entries, particularly among those taken beyond fourth year – with 229,870 A-C grades awarded.
There has also been strong performance in qualifications related to wider skills for life and work, with attainment in Awards, National Certificates and National Progression Awards up 22.8 per cent, to 33,931.
Well done to all of you! (and commiserations to others. Don’t worry Richard Branson doesn’t have too much in the way of exam passes….)
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There are many events which are sold out (although you always have the chance of getting a returned ticket on the day) but there is still time to book something at the Book Festival which starts next week.
Here is the programme:
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To encourage a meeting of cultural minds and local knowledge sharing, Airbnb is hosting an exclusive variety show-style evening of performances during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe that are open exclusively to its community of hosts and guests.
The evening, which will take place on 18th August in a unique loft-style home listed on the platform in Leith, will be hosted by cabaret superstar Ali McGregor and feature an exciting line up of Fringe performers including Lynn Ruth Miller of Britain’s Got Talent fame and pop music comedy duo Die Roten Punkte.
Anyone who hosts in Edinburgh during the Fringe will receive an invitation for themselves and their Airbnb guest to attend this exclusive event, thrown by home-sharing platform Airbnb in celebration of their role as an official accommodation partner of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2015.
Leith-based James Ley has been hosting visitors for years and says: “The Fringe is a fantastic time of year and I love being able to help my guests make the most out of their experience. There are some great bars off the beaten track that the locals go to, and they can be a really good place to pick up tips on shows and restaurants from those that have been living through the Fringe for twenty years.”
James McClure, Airbnb UK Country Manager, comments, “We know our community is already very excited about welcoming people from all over the world for the Fringe. Over the past year, we have seen Edinburgh listings grow by 86%; more and more people are coming to Edinburgh to stay with our hosts and experience the city like a local, in fact we’ve seen more than a 120% increase in guests year on year. We were simply looking for a way to give back to our community and what better way than to host an exclusive evening featuring some fabulous Fringe performers in a truly unique Airbnb listing.”
Kath Mainland CBE, Chief Executive, Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society says: “It’s fantastic that people visiting the wonderful festival city of Edinburgh for the Fringe will be able to have a truly great experience with Airbnb; experiencing the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, with all its creativity and excitement, as a local. Every single day at the Fringe, the world’s largest arts festival, is inspiring, crazy, and eclectic and at the end of each day, Airbnb visitors will be able to rest soundly in homely surroundings and prepare to experience it all again – and more – the next day!”
For more information visit www.airbnb.com
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Alan Melville has been selected as the UKIP candidate for the upcoming Leith Walk By-Election.
A former student President at Napier University (twice) and former student at York and Chichester Universities Alan laughingly admits that he has more letters after his name than he does in his actual name. Alan is a big supporter of adult education and would like to see more evening and part-time courses offered by Edinburgh’s Universities and College instead of seeing them cut like the SNP has on an industrial scale. On education he said “Scotland has a proud tradition of education going back to the 12th century. We need to get back to that. We let too many people fall by the wayside in the name of equality; People should be encouraged – and have the facilities to improve their lives”
“UKIP are opposed to the further expansion of trams especially down Leith Walk as it has done nothing but cause disruption to residents and businesses have suffered as a result.
“We want to keep council tax as low as possible and want to prioritise local housing and services for local people.
“We are also heavily opposed to the sinister SNP Named Person Scheme
UKIP councillors are not expected to tow the party line and operate a “no-whip” system meaning that UKIP councillors will vote for what they feel is best for their electorate
Alan joined UKIP in 2014 as he was angry at the lack of accountability in British politicians and says “Real democracy should hold it’s officials both elected and unelected to account”
He was recently the UKIP candidate for Edinburgh North and Leith in the General Election.
Upon his selection Alan stated. “it is time for Leith Walk to select a real person and not another careerist politician who will resign their duties to contest a seat over 100 miles away”
The Edinburgh Reporter interviewed him before the General Election and you can watch that here:
#GE2015 Alan Melville UKIP from Phyllis Stephen on Vimeo.
Alan Melville is standing as a UKIP candidate for Edinburgh North and Leith.
We hope to catch up with him again soon!
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Assembly’s first Edinburgh Food Festival has been judged to be an overwhelming success.
The five-day food and drink celebration attracted an international audience of over 20,000 visitors to the site in George Square, with over 2,000 people revelling in the free talks and demonstrations.
The Food Festival, which is supported by EventScotland, VisitScotland and Scotland Food & Drink as part of the Scotland’s Year of Food and Drink 2015 featured food stalls and a variety of artisan producers.
Sharon Burgess, Managing Director of Assembly Festival Ltd said: “We didn’t really know what to expect but the turnout proved there is a huge appetite for a free festival celebrating Scottish food and drink. Even the poor weather didn’t dampen the spirits!”
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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
