Parents in backlash over ‘brutal’ exams
FURIOUS parents have blasted the Scottish Qualifications Authority for ‘failing’ children after it issued a ‘brutally’ difficult maths exam.
More than 25,000 people have signed two online petitions complaining about the questions in the ‘outrageous’ National 5 Mathematics exam, which pupils sat on Thursday.
Exam bosses yesterday defended the test as ‘fair’, despite the complaints from pupils and parents.
It follows the debacle over last year’s Higher maths exam, which saw the pass mark plummet after thousands of students complained it was too difficult.
This week’s ‘ridiculous’ exam was so hard, it is claimed, children were left ‘shell- shocked’ and ‘in floods of tears’. There are demands the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) lower the pass mark, as it did for last year’s ‘impossible’ Higher maths.
The National 5 papers at the centre of the row were sat by pupils in S4, S5 and S6 across the country. Some will rely on their marks for a place at university or college.
Despite the criticism, the SQA has maintained that the test was fair and ‘designed in line with past and exemplar papers’.
However, pupils claim that, while the second part of the exam was fine, the first, the non-calculator paper, included incredibly hard questions they had not been prepared for, had not been taught how to do and did not appear in past papers or prelim exams.
One signatory of the petition wrote: ‘Paper One was extremely difficult and in no way appropriate for our level of learning. The paper was meant to challenge us, not be impossible.’
Another, from Edinburgh, commented: ‘It may as well have been in Chinese.’
Hilary Bell, 40, from Selkirk, has a son in S4. She said: ‘When Marcus finished he was really mad because he had put a lot of work into it.
‘It’s absolutely ridiculous. How can it happen? He was on course for a good grade and now he said he thinks he’s totally failed it.’
Calling for the pass mark to be lowered, she said: ‘The SQA’s failing our children, and they need to get a grip. It’s a joke, a total farce.’
Emma Sproat, 38, from Gretna, Dumfriesshire, has a son, Sean, who she said ‘really struggled with the questions – he hadn’t been taught how to do them’.
Nicola Munro, 32, from Coalsnaughton, Clackmannanshire, who is studying for a primary teaching Post Graduate Diploma in Education, said: ‘I’ve worked so hard, only to be let down by the SQA.
‘This exam was unlike any past papers and totally unfair. This could hold many back towards their future goals, including myself.’
Margaret Young, from Edinburgh, said: ‘Top marks to the bright sparks who thought it would be a good idea to reward our teenagers for all their hours of hard work with one massive kick in the teeth.’
In 2015, the Higher maths pass mark was dropped to 33.8 per cent after 20,000 students signed petitions complaining the questions bore little relation to the syllabus.
An SQA spokesman said: ‘We are confident the National 5 maths exam provided candidates with a fair opportunity to show their understanding of the subject.
‘It was designed in line with past and exemplar papers and according to our course and assessment specifications. We know the exams period can be a stressful time for young people and their families and are aware of the concerns which have been raised.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘SQA takes its role extremely seriously in ensuring that candidates get fair treatment each year and has assured us that this year’s National 5 paper is on standard and in line with its course and assessment specifications.’
A spokesman for the Educational Institute of Scotland teachers’ union said: ‘Pupils are under severe pressure as a result of some current assessment procedures, and it is for the SQA to address these concerns and offer reassurance to pupils that the qualifications process remains robust and fair.’
Not again! New row erupts over ‘too tough’ exam 20,000 protest at the National 5 maths test Yesterday’s Daily Mail ‘This exam was totally unfair’