NAT 5 EXAMS AXED
Swinney promises no repeat of 2020 fiasco
SCOTLAND’S pupils will not sit Nat 5 exams next year because of the threat of Covid-19 – but Higher exams will go ahead.
Education Secretary John Swinney promised there would be no repeat of the exam award shambles which caused such stress in August.
He said scrapping Nat 5 exams in 2021, with grades decided by coursework, would free up time for teachers to concentrate on Higher and Advanced Higher exams.
Swinney said: “My priority is to ensure learning is assessed fairly and consistently so that pupils can be confident in the results they gain.
“Given the real risk of further disruption to education, it would not be sensible or fair to plan for a full exam diet in 2021.
“Coronavirus has not gone away. If anything, it is making a comeback.”
Thousands of pupils had their results downgraded in the summer because of a moderation process involving an algorithm based on a school’s past performance.
Swinney promised the new structure would reward hardworking pupils and not place “undue burdens on them and Scotland’s teachers”.
He said: “Awards will not be given or taken away on the basis of a statistical model nor on the basis of a school’s past performance. There will be no algorithm.
“Awards will be based on the progress of our young people and their work. This work and the judgment of the teacher supported by quality assurance to maintain standards will be the evidence on which grades are based.”
Pupils will be awarded Nat 5 grades based on between two and four pieces of teacher-graded coursework.
Higher and Advanced Higher exams will be held two weeks later than normal to help make up for some of the lost learning time.
Contingency plans will be made in case the pandemic worsens and the exams cannot go ahead.
Swinney told the Scottish Parliament that assessments would be made along similar lines to the Nat 5s if the Scottish Government has to pull the plug.
Replacing Nat 5 exams was recommended by Professor Mark Priestley in his independent review into the events following the cancellation of exams in the summer.
Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the largest teachers’ union, the EIS, welcomed the clarity given and said it enabled teachers and pupils to plan better.
He said running a full timetable of exams would have been “fraught with difficulties”. Flanagan added: “We are entirely comfortable with the use of professional judgment for making the awards.”
But he said the workload implications have still to be ironed out and voiced concerns about the risk of going ahead with Higher and Advanced Higher exams.
He added: “The numbers make it more manageable but there needs to be an early decision on whether exams are likely to be viable and if not, we need an alternative system based on professional judgment.”
Jo Bisset of parents’ organisation UsForThem Scotland said parents would be “furious” at the move.
She said: “Yet again, youngsters are paying the price more heavily when they should be counting on the Government to have their back.”
She added: “Parents will also be suspicious at the timing of this, concerned that it’s been announced on a day when it will be buried behind other significant pieces of bad news.”
Conser vative education spokesman Jamie Green said he believed a full exam diet “could and should have taken place next year” and he accused Swinney of “throwing in the towel already”.
However, Ross Greer of the Greens said cancelling all exams was “the only responsible choice”.