We’ve been let down

Mum blasts SQA after downgrading

A furious mum has blasted the SQA after her straight-A student daughter had her exam results downgraded.

Calderhead High pupil Amy Wilson, 16, had worked hard all year to get the results she needed to allow her to pursue her dream of becoming a vet.

But her results, estimated by the exam authority, we not as good as she, or her family, were expecting.

Her mum Gayle told the Wishaw Press: “We just couldn’t believe it when we saw the results that she received.

“It was a complete shock to everyone when the text came in.

“She has been a straight-A pupil all her time in school and was predicted to get all As in her highers this year.

“For some of her results to be graded down, is just baffling to us.”

This year, the SQA took the teachers’ predicted grades and altered them according to how the school performed in exams in previous years.

This led to pupils who go to schools higher up the league table performing better than those further down.

Gayle continued: “We have spoken to teachers and they told us that she was predicted for five straight As – they just don’t understand why three of them have been marked down.

“I think it is a disgrace that because of where someone goes to school they receive better grades.

“Calderhead is a lot further down the table, so I think that is definitely why some pupils are receiving grades that they weren’t predicted for.

“Amy and six other girls made the news last year when they received seven As at National 5, surely that shows that she is capable of achieving well?”

Amy needed the grades so that she could send an application away to be a vet, something she has dreamed of becoming since she was very young.

Applications for veterinary studies have to be sent a lot earlier than most, adding another level of worry and stress.

Gayle said: “It is Amy’s lifelong goal to be a vet and she has worked so hard towards that goal. She is self-driven and such a hard worker. She has done all her work experience at vet surgeries and that is all she wants to do.

“We just hope that the appeals can come back how we hope soon enough so she can get her application ready and sent away.”