IT was not only successful pupils opening their exam results who could breath a little more easily yesterday.

The same could also be said of Education Secretary John Swinney and chief executive of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) Dr Janet Brown.

The focus on educational performance in Scotland of late has been so intense any significant slip in standards would have ushered in another feeding frenzy.

There may well be those who still choose to interpret the results as a failure either of government or the SQA, but pass rates are broadly similar to recent years and small fluctuations up or down should be seen as a measure of a strong system.

Given the problems the SQA has had in recent years with mistakes in computing studies and a mathematics exam that was “too hard” it was also vital for its credibility that officials delivered a successful exam diet in 2017.

There was more good news in a statistical release from university admissions body Ucas which highlighted important progress in the drive to get more students from poorer backgrounds into higher education.

The likelihood of applicants in more affluent areas securing a place still far outweighs the chances of those from disadvantaged areas, but a 13 per cent increase gives hope Scotland can devise a fairer system.

However, there are concerns in the wider results with a significant decline in the number of pupils sitting some modern languages.

While Spanish continues to flourish both French and German have seen yet more decline and there are no signs the Scottish Government’s languages policy is having an impact in secondary.

The main concern from some teaching unions, however, centred on another sharp decline in the number of pupils sitting National 4.

The qualification was introduced as part of the scrapping of Standard Grade, but rather than act as a seamless replacement it has proved controversial since its introduction.

In 2014 the SQA argued National 4 would be seen as the equal of other qualifications, but since then it has come under significant pressure with pupils, parents and some teachers arguing the lack of an external exam makes it a second class citizen to National 5.

An 11 per cent decline in interest since 2015 with entries dropping from more than 130,000 to just over 116,000 is statistically significant and cannot be explained by a fall in pupil numbers.

It has also been argued that in previous years numbers sitting National 4 were artificially inflated as teachers, grappling with a new system, hedged their bets by also presenting at National 5.

If schools are now more confident in the new qualifications then that is to be welcomed. But it is clear there are also reputation issues.

Getting qualifications right at that stage of schooling is vital because for many pupils it will be the certificate they take with them when they leave to find a job or seek a college course.

Whether the drop in National 4 entries is driven by dislike, a previous belt and braces approach or both, the ongoing work of the SQA to review the qualification is crucial.