WHY ARE WE WAITING?
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NICOLA Sturgeon was facing furious demands last night to fix the SQA exam results “shambles” as it emerged that unhappy pupils could face a nine-month appeal process.
The fresh row came as students
SQA exam results protest leader Erin Bleakley was joined by an army of angry pupils yesterday at a rally to demand a change of heart from Nicola Sturgeon.
Erin, who lives in one of Scotland’s poorest postcodes, was one of thousands of teenagers left fuming after their results were downgraded.
The 17-year-old pupil from St Andrew’s High School in Glasgow’s east end organised a demonstration in the city’s George Square after she got her Higher results on Tuesday – and was overwhelmed when pupils travelled from across Scotland to back the protest.
Chants of “No classist SQA” and “What do we want? Fair grades” were heard as young people gathered, armed with signs calling for an end to the “postcode lottery”.
Erin told the Record: “We are here today protesting this because our grades have been lowered due to the area in which we live.
“This is a display of solidarity and shows that we will not sit back and take this. Our postcode does not define us as people.”
Heather Barbour, Shannon Ritchie and some classmates travelled on a 4am bus from Fraserburgh to Glasgow, where they joined hundreds of students with homemade banners.
Heather, 17, of Fraserburgh Academy, had her dreams of studying law at Edinburgh University dashed after being downgraded from four Bs and an A to four Cs and a B.
She said: “I had to be here today. I had a conditional for law at uni and I really thought I was going to uni this year – my teachers thought I was getting in. I’m going to have to try
again next year and it feels like five years of my life have gone to waste.” Shannon, 16, said: “I have been fixated on studying medicine since I was a child and always knew the odds were against me, being from a deprived school. “I got all As through the years and I woke up on Tuesday to 4 Bs and an A and my dreams were crushed.
“I will appeal but I do not think I should have to appeal just because of where I am from.” The Scottish Qualifications Authority took the unprecedented decision to cancel this year’s exams after the country went into lockdown in March.
Teachers were asked to assess the grades to be awarded to their pupils. However, a moderation system then resulted in about a quarter of these predicted marks being adjusted.
The system took account of a school’s previous performance, meaning thousands of children from poorer areas saw their grades lowered.
The pass rate in the most deprived areas was reduced by 15.2 per cent from teacher estimates – but for pupils from the most affluent backgrounds it dropped by only 6.9 per cent.
Paris Stevenson, 16, who attends
Ardrossan Academy in Ayrshire, said: “No one is asking for something that they do not deserve.
“We are asking for the grades which reflect our prelims and what our teachers predicted we could get.”
Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie told the pupils: “I have no doubt that we are going to force the Scottish Government into a U-turn.”
Labour MSP Neil Findlay, who also attended the protest, said: “I’ve had 200 emails in the last 24 hours from young students, parents, families and their carers that are outraged at what has gone on.”
Thomas Kerr, a Tory councillor in
Glasgow and a former pupil at the city’s Eastbank Academy, said: “If what had happened this year happened to me, I would never have been in the position I am in today.”
An SQA spokesman said: “We believe we have delivered fairness to learners, through a consistent, evidence-based approach in the absence of exams.
“The most disadvantaged young people have achieved better results in 2020 compared to both 2019 and the average results for the last four years.”
A free appeals service opened on Tuesday.