This afternoon Cabinet Secretary for Education John Swinney MSP made a statement to the Scottish Parliament about the SQA exam results. Mr Swinney has confirmed that all downgraded results will be withdrawn and replaced by teacher estimates.
After the results were released last Tuesday many young people and their parents/guardians and teachers were left disappointed due to their grades being lower than what they expected. There had been concerns that pupils grades were moderated based on the previous performance of their school and their local area.
Yesterday First Minister Nicola Sturgeon apologised to pupils and acknowledged that the Scottish government “did not get this right“. Today Mr Swinney also began his speech by apologising to pupils and their parents and revealed that he had spoken to young people who had contacted him directly.
Here are the highlights from Mr Swinney’s speech to the Scottish Parliament:
- All downgraded SQA results will be replaced by the estimates made by teachers and lecturers. Any results that were upgraded will not be changed and will remain the same.
- The SQA will issue new certificates to candidates.
- UCAS will be informed of all changes as soon as possible to allow university and college applications to progress.
- The Scottish Government will make provision for additional university and college places to ensure no young person loses a place that they would otherwise have been given.
Further, an independent review will take place on the 2020 SQA exam procedures which will examine areas including the procedures followed after the cancellation of SQA exams and the alternative arrangements put in place, teacher estimates, moderation of results, appeals process, impact on candidates and feedback from teachers.
A consultation will also take place on the arrangements for SQA exams in 2021.
