Calls for reform as SQA scrapped

Opposition politicians have welcomed confirmation the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) is to be scrapped, but warned that sweeping reforms to Scotland’s education system are still needed.

In response to recommendations from an OECD report into the Curriculum for Excellence (CFE), the Scottish Government said it would entirely scrap the SQA – just weeks after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon pledged that she had “full confidence” in the examinations body.

The government also pledged to take on all 12 recommendations laid out by the OECD report, Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence Into the Future.

The Scottish Green party said teachers were “stuck teaching to a century-old assessment system” and called for a major overhaul.

The OECD report pointed to a gap between the Cfe’s aims and the schooling offered to those at the top end of Scottish high schools.

Meanwhile, the head of the SQA said that disbanding her organisation was an “opportunity for significant change”.

Larry Flanagan, general secretary of teaching union the EIS, said: “It is essential that any new body is properly configured and is accountable to the profession through a model of governance based on educational, rather than political, considerations and with a teacher voice at its heart.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said: “There has been an impenetrable bubble at the top of Scottish education for far too long. After years of campaigning by Scottish Liberal Democrats and others, it looks as though that bubble may finally be set to burst."

Scottish Labour education spokesman Michael Marra said: “It has become increasingly clear that the organisation stood as a barrier to realising the full potential of CFE.”