Pupils faced five exam downgrades as SNP accused of ‘ knowingly failing’ them
The moderation system initially backed by education secretary John Swinney would have seen hundreds of school pupils have five or more of their grades downgraded by the SQA.
Opposition parties said figures that showed more than 11,000 Scottish pupils would h ave s e e n t h r e e o r more grades lowered by the qualifications authority should have been a clear red flag to both Mr Swinney and the SQA that the system was fatally flawed.
Most starkly, 408 students would have seen five or more of their grades lowered by the SQA’S algorithm.
The Scottish Conservatives said the figures confirmed the SNP’S ‘ shambolic’ handling of the 2020 exams while Scottish Labour said the fact Mr Swinney tried to defend the statistics after seeing the impact on pupils was “hardly believable”.
The Priestley report, which examined the failures of the 2020 exam results fiasco, was unable to access the datasets around the algorithm and further research into its impact is the only recommendation from the report not accepted in full by the Scottish Government.
The SQA maintain they hold “no regret” in respect of the moderation approach used.
For the first time since exam results were announced, the scale of the impact of what pupils labelled a postcode lottery can be outlined.
Of more than 122,000 learners, 22,716 students would have seen two grades marked down by what the Priestley report labelled an “arbitrary” system.
Another 8,594 pupils would have seen three or more of their grades l owered, with 2,219 being hit by the disappointment of f our of t heir grades being lowered.
S cottish Labour l abelled the fact 408 pupils faced five grades or more being lowered “astonishing”.
Overall, 75,000 would have seen at least one grade down
graded by the SQA. Both the S c ot t i s h Government and t he SQA were criticised i n the Priestley report for ‘ overfocusing’ on the narrowing of the attainment gap rather than understanding the impact the moderation system had on individuals.
Scottish Conservative education spokesman Jamie Greene said: “This latest revelation once again confirms how the SNP shambolically handled this year’s exams.
“The fact that over 400 students would have had t his many grades downgraded is outrageous. For a party which proclaims to be champion of every part of Scotland, they knowingly failed those from our most deprived communities.
“John Swinney has f ailed to offer any certainty how or if next year’s moderation of results by the SQA will be any different or any fairer to young people.”
Scottish Green education spokesperson Ross Greer said it was “no wonder” the Scottish Government refused to hand over details of the algorithm ahead of results day.
He s a i d : “The s e f i g u r e s confirm ever ything I spent months warning t he SQA a n d Jo h n Swi n n e y a b o u t before results day. A system actually designed to get the right outcome for each indivi dual would have i mmediately r ed- f l agged f i ve of their grades being lowered.”