State pupils hit by ‘unfair’ exam appeal fees, say Labour

BY TOM GORDON

PRIVATE school pupils are nearly three times more likely to appeal against their exam results than state pupils, figures have revealed. Evidence from the Scottish Qualifications Authority to Holyrood’s Education Committee showed six per cent of exam results in private schools were appealed in 2015, compared to 2.1 per cent of results from local authority comprehensives.

Scottish Labour, which highlighted the data after the 2016 grades were published last week, blamed the fees introduced by the SNP in 2014, and called for them to be scrapped.

There is no charge for a successful appeal resulting in a grade change.

But for unsuccessful appeals schools are charged £10 for a clerical check to see if marks are totalled correctly and £29.75 for a marking review, or £39.75 for a priority review.

In 2013, when the costs were met centrally, state schools made 62,486 appeals, but this plummeted to 7,056 in 2014, before rising again to 9,584 last year.

Labour education spokesman Iain Gray, who attended George Watson’s in Edinburgh, said SNP ministers “could not care less about this unfairness in the system”.

He said: “They talk the talk on equity, so they should back a fair education system by committing to scrap these unfair fees, and level the playing field for every pupil.

“An exam appeal decision can be the deciding factor between a pupil getting to college or university, with all the opportunities that may bring. Money shouldn’t come into it.

“The figures clearly show that the SNP’s introduction of exam appeal fees has put pupils from state schools at a disadvantage compared to those educated privately. That is just not fair.”

The headteachers’ body School Leaders Scotland last year said the difference in appeals between private and state schools owed more to pushy parents than costs.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “Whether the pupil is from a local authority or independent school, a review can only be requested if the school has a legitimate query about a candidate’s results. National guidance from education directors makes clear that no young person should be denied this service on the grounds of cost.”