A FALL in National 5 pass rates across Stem subjects should be “of deep concern to us all,” a former headteacher has warned.

The Commission on School Reform has analysed pass rates for whole year groups between 2019 and 2026 rather than those who sat exams.

It found A-C passes fell from 44.5 to 39.7 per cent in maths, 20.1 to 17.9 per cent in physics and 9.3 to 8.8 per cent in computing science.

Commission member and former headteacher Carole Ford warned the figures should be of “deep concern.”

A “generation of children whose outcomes have been suppressed because there is no national push towards academic excellence,” she added.

“Most exam data is presented by the government as a success, but that is based on those who take the exam.

“We must stop sweeping the realities of school performance under the carpet.”

A Scottish government spokesperson insisted its measures were “long-established and well understood.”