Eva writes to Swinney to tell of her ‘devastation’
DEVASTATED Eva Peteranna has written to John Swinney to tell him she has been penalised because of the school she goes to.
Eva, 17, attends Sgoil Lionacleit on the island of Benbecula in the Western Isles.
She had been predicted to achieve three As, a B and a C in her Highers but was instead given three Bs, a D and an F.
She is now appealing the grades and has written an open letter to the Education Secretary and the head of education in the Western Isles.
In her letter, she says she and others were told they “needed to work harder than those on the mainland if we want to achieve our goals” but that “we should never let it get in the way of where we want to go in life”.
She adds: “As a pupil who has always been determined to go to university and work in my dream job in the medical field, I worked hard.
“I spent most evenings staying behind after school where possible to make sure I understood everything taught during that day.
“On August 4, I received the results given to me by the SQA and to say I am devastated is an understatement.”
Her letter to Swinney adds: “To have my grades knocked down so significantly has not only made me completely reconsider my career path but has also made me lose confidence in myself.
“The method the SQA has
BY JON HEBDITCH used to moderate results is nothing but unjust and has ended up creating a further divide between those who come from deprived areas and those who are more affluent.”
Eva shared the letter on Twitter, where it quickly went viral.
She is still coming to terms with the impact the results downgrade has had on her since she received the news by text.
Eva told the Record: “It was a very strange feeling for me, somehow I still believed that without sitting the exam I would get a fair result.
“I stared at the text in my phone for a while. Every grade in the text took me by surprise and were grades that had never been discussed with me at school. I think I just spent the whole day pretty upset.
“My family were really disappointed and upset. They know what I deserved and how much I have given up to get where I want to be.”
She added that the letter had initially been a way for her to vent her frustrations and urged others in a similar position to do the same.
She added: “I wasn’t going to send it. I purely wrote it to get my frustrations out.
“I showed it to my mum and she told me to turn it into a letter and send it.
“I then posted it on Twitter for my classmates so they knew someone was trying to get answers for all of us.
“I did not expect any sort of reaction, I only posted it for my 30 classmates to see, although I am glad that others in the same position have seen it.
“Hopefully they can feel empowered to write their own letters and feel less alone. “All careers in the medical field interest me, all of which require high grades which I have not been given.
“For me, the next steps are to appeal three of my results, hopefully that will boost my grades a bit although it won’t bring me to the level I was expecting.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We are grateful to Eva for her letter and will be in touch shortly.
“We would encourage any young person disappointed by their results to speak to their school and use the free appeals process.
“This year has been exceptionally challenging. Processes were developed to allow certification that is fair for all learners.
“There was a rise in pass rates at National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher, and the SQA results show a narrowing of the gap between pupils from the most deprived to the least deprived groupings.”
Hopefully others will write their own letters
EVA PETERANNA ON THE WAY AHEAD