CHILDREN living in poverty in East Renfrewshire are more than twice as likely to excel in exams compared to children in other areas of the country.

Data collected by research and development charity the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows that more than half of pupils from deprived backgrounds achieved five or more National 5 qualifications in the seven local authority schools.

In total, 56 per cent of children from poor neighbourhoods achieved this level of academic success in 2016/17, a rise of 16 per cent in the previous five years.

Councillor Paul O’Kane, convener for education and equalities, said: “This success has been about investing, particularly in the lowest 20 per cent of children in classrooms.

“The children who perform the worst academically often come from difficult backgrounds and extra teaching time spent with them means we are now seeing a return on our investment.

“This relentless focus has been great but it is never complete and we need to continue with projects like our Reading Recovery scheme for children with low literacy levels.”

Despite the impressive results, Cllr O’Kane pointed out that there was more to success in school than exam results.

Pupils across East Renfrewshire are now recognised for a range of non-academic achievements, including in sport, community involvement and overcoming adversity.

Cllr O’Kane added: “One thing that we have done is to promote other ways of recognising achievement.

“We now have a lot of vocational options in our schools and great facilities, like those at the new Barrhead High, are perfect for developing skills in the kitchen and in beauty.

“Undoubtedly the basis for a lot of this comes from qualifications, and we are very happy with how our pupils are performing.”

While significant improvements have been made in East Renfrewshire, as well as East Dunbartonshire who performed marginally better, there were areas of Scotland where only a quarter of children from deprived backgrounds gained five or more National 5s.

Neighbouring authorities Renfrewshire and Glasgow both had around 40 per cent of pupils from these deprived backgrounds achieve this.

Bosses at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation pointed to this inconsistency as evidence more needs to be done in Scotland’s schools.

Jim McCormick, associate director for the charity in Scotland, said: “These figures show a wide variation in attainment by young people across relatively disadvantaged places in Scotland.

“Schools serving pockets of disadvantage in East Renfrewshire are faring much better than average.

“We think this is down to high expectations, good relationships with families and communities, consistently good teaching standards and good use of data.

“Young people in these areas are beating the odds and enhancing their prospects.

“That’s an encouraging finding for other areas to learn from.”