COULD HAVE DONE BETTER
TEENS WAIT IN HOPE AND FEAR FOR RESULTS ON TUESDAY
On Tuesday, thousands of school pupils, college students and others across Scotland will discover the outcome of the huge efforts they have made over the past months as they receive qualification results.
Such are the advances in communications over the past few years, many candidates will wake up on Tuesday morning and get confirmation via email or text message to check their grades.
That is a far cry from my experience in the early Eighties. That was all so long ago that Come on Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners was No1 in the charts.
Back then, there was no such technology and I, like many millions before me and since, had to wait nervously by the front window for the postie coming down the street with his bag stuffed with brown envelopes.
I remember the wait was excruciating but exciting and in the end I was really happy because I had worked hard and got the results I needed to get into Edinburgh University.
I went on to study history and politics and graduated with an honours degree in politics.
But if you had asked me at that time what I wanted to be or what I wanted to do, I did not know.
And I certainly would not have thought I would end up as the Deputy First Minister of Scotland.
The education landscape has changed so much since I was at school.
Back then, I was one of the first at my school to take a vocational course in media studies, alongside my Highers.
That was unusual in a system that had quite a narrow focus on O-grades and then Highers for those that stayed in school.
Now we have a whole range of qualifications and courses that young people can choose, dependent on what they want to do and – crucially – what is ultimately going to make them more employable. give pupils even more options. We will see on Tuesday the incredibly broad range of subjects and qualifications that young people are now able to study in Scotland.
If you are a pupil who is expecting results on Tuesday or if you are a nervous parent who wants the best for your child, the key thing to remember is that there are always options to help you achieve your ambitions. For
Pupils waiting for exam results this week could face a grades lottery after calls for a marking review were ignored, Scottish Labour said yesterday.
Last year, the party urged ministers to address discrepancies in pass marks after wide variations emerged.
Scottish Labour education spokesman Iain Gray voiced fears similar problems could emerge when this year’s exam results come out on Tuesday.
He said: “Labour’s call for a review of the system in 2015 fell on deaf ears from the SNP Government, if we see similar disparities this time around then John Swinney cannot ignore that call again.
“Highers are the gold standard of Scottish exams and so students, teachers, parents and employers must have confidence the exams will be consistent and fair.
“Last year’s results suggested inconsistencies in the system, which meant the subject pupils sat seemed to determined their chance of a good grade as much as their level of ability.
“It cannot be fair that such big differences exist in the marks needed for an A grade in certain subjects compared with others, and it cannot be ignored. Labour will study this year’s results to see if the problems of 2015 have been addressed.”
Labour analysis in 2015 revealed widely varying pass rates. For example, 38 per cent in maths compared with 56 per cent for English. Labour also argued the pass mark for Higher maths, at 34 per cent, was nearly half the 63 per cent needed for a pass in classical studies.
Gray said: “There shouldn’t be a subject lottery in Scottish education.”
Students will receive their results by text, email and post on Tuesday.
The SQA could not conf irm the number of students who sat exams ahead of the results being published.
Last year’s Higher maths paper proved particularly difficult.
But the Scottish Tories said by focusing on pass marks, both the Scottish Government and Labour had “failed to grasp the real issue”.
Speaking at the time, Liz Smith said: “The overwhelming concern of most pupils who sat the new Higher maths exam – and their teachers – is the fact that the coursework and prelims which they had undertaken earlier in the school session did not prepare them well enough for the final exam.
“That is a very major concern and reflects the fact the guidance provided to teachers simply wasn’t good enough.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The new national qualifications have been successfully introduced over several years.
“We are also determined to make further improvements, as made clear in our Education Delivery Plan .”