Teachers left in the dark as SQA gets ‘F’ for fail again

First exams f iasco, now quango misses own curriculum deadline

TEACHERS are still waiting to find out what they should be teaching – weeks after the beginning of term.

In the latest scandal to engulf Scotland’s beleaguered qualifications body, the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), classroom staff are yet to be told what to include in courses, or what form this term’s exams will take.

After the recent exams fiasco which saw 124,000 grades downgraded, the body launched a major consultation on courses and assessments for this academic year.

The SQA and the Scottish Govwill both promised that vital information about teaching and exams would be published in the week starting August 31.

However, in an extraordinary new failure, they have missed their self-imposed deadline.

It means that more than four weeks after schools reopened, and with crucial prelims looming, teachers still do not know if what they are covering in class is still part of the curriculum.

Last night, Mike Corbett of teachers’ union the NASUWT, said the delay was ‘simply unacceptable’.

He said it had ‘caused unnecessary angst to teachers and pupils at an already stressful time, and

undoubtedly have led to some teachers and pupils wasting time on studying parts of courses which are to be dropped or significantly amended’.

Coronavirus laid waste to the education system, with children sent home in March and exams cancelled for the first time.

Education Secretary John Swinney ordered the SQA to find a way to assess pupils in the absence of exams.

The SQA said grades would be based on teacher estimates but when results were published on August 4 some 124,000 awards were ‘moderated’ downwards by an algorithm. A week later Mr Swinney overturned moderation in favour of grades based wholly on teacher recommendations.

The focus then turned to concerns over lost class time for pupils studying for qualifications next year, and uncertainty over whether or not those exams would take place. The SQA launched a consultation on what changes to coursework, assessments and exams could be made to maximise teaching and learning time, while maintaining the integrity of the qualifications.

Scots Tories’ education spokesperson Jamie Greene said: ‘There is still a lack of urgency to provide any clarity to teachers over what is going to be happening in terms of next year’s exam diet.’

Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the EIS teaching union, said: ‘Working towards a normal diet of exams seems hopelessly optimistic on the part of both the Scottish Government and the SQA, given even the current levernment els of disruption being faced in schools, let alone the threat of a second wave of the virus.’

An SQA spokesman said: ‘Current plans are for a full exam diet to take place next year for students studying at National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher levels.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The SQA have consulted on measures to modify course assessment, and the outcomes will be published shortly.’

In August, Mr Swinney announced that Professor Mark Priestley, of Stirling University, would review the exams debacle and make recommendations for the future. His report will be published at the end of this month.

‘Unnecessary angst to teachers and pupils’ ‘Still a lack of urgency to provide any clarity’