Dunces! Exam bosses get Mary’s execution date wrong

HER life as a political prisoner and execution at the age of 44 is one of the most iconic stories in Scottish history.

But despite living one of the most comprehensively documented lives of the 16th century, blundering examiners managed to hand thousands of students exam papers containing the wrong date for the death of Mary, Queen of Scots.

The National 5 exam wrongly stated that Mary Stuart died in 1567, 20 years before her execution was ordered by her cousin, Elizabeth I. The mistake was made by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), which has promised candidates will not be disadvantaged as a result of the blunder.

The error was printed in an introduction to the source material for the question, which was ‘from the diary of a lady in waiting who accompanied Mary during her imprisonment in England... written in 1567’. Pupils were asked to ‘evaluate the usefulness of Source B as evidence of the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots in 1567. (You may want to comment on what type of source it is, who wrote it, when they wrote it.)’

Sir Tom Devine, emeritus professor of history at the University of Edinburgh, said for the SQA to be out by 20 years was ‘unacceptable’. A history teacher, who did not want to be identified, said the error had confused and upset many of his pupils. He said: ‘It is shambolic that a mistake like this managed to get through SQA’s quality assurance and into the exam.

‘It will have wrong-footed pupils sitting an intense two-and-a-half hour exam, and has led to some of mine second-guessing their knowledge, which really upset them. It’s not good enough.’

The SQA said: ‘We will take the error into consideration when the paper is marked to ensure no candidate is disadvantaged.’