Over 4300 youngsters in the Falkirk Council area were anxious to learn how they had fared in this year's Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA) exams.

But instead of waiting for their certificate to pop through the letterbox on Tuesday, teenagers were able to sign up to have results sent to them either by e-mail or texted to their mobile phone.

Text messages and e-mails were sent to pupils between 8 a.m and 9 a.m.
Around 1800 S4 pupils were waiting on results from Standard Grade and
Intermediate exams, together with over 500 pupils from Falkirk and Larbert High Schools who sat exams in all their subjects in S3 rather than S4.

A number of S3 pupils in other locals schools sat one or two Standard Grades, usually English or maths.

Over 2000 S5 and S6 pupils are anxiously waiting on results from their Intermediate, Higher and Advanced Higher exams.

Education chiefs at Falkirk Council declined to comment on results until they had been looked at in greater detail and a clearer picture emerged of how the authority's schools had performed.

However, education director Julia Swan praised the youngsters. She said: "I would like to offer my congratulations to all pupils who have successfully achieved their SQA qualifications this week.

"This year, for the first time, we have seen large numbers of S3 pupils taking SQA examinations and we are keen to see how they have coped with the new arrangements.

"We would expect a far clearer picture of how our pupils performed by early September once a full analysis has been completed and we are confident they will continue to bring credit to their schools."

Any youngsters with queries about their certificate or any other general issues can contact the SQA candidate advice line on 0845 278 8080. It will operate from 8 a.m. till 6 p.m. until tomorrow (Friday).
However, they cannot discuss an individual's results and these should be referred to schools.

The SQA website - www.sqa.org.uk - features information which should answer many general enquiries. Candidates can also e-mail enquiries to results@ sqa.org.uk.