Stats show Stonelaw pupils faced huge exam mark down
Nearly one in five pupils at a Rutherglen school had their exam results downgraded from a pass to a fail earlier this year.
18.1 per cent of Stonelaw High pupils faced reduced marks until the Scottish Government reversed their initial decision.
However, only one per cent of pupils at fee paying Fernhill saw their grades changed in the same manner.
New figures show that 6.7 per cent of Cathkin pupils, three per cent of Trinity and 22.4 per cent of Castlemilk High pupils were facing the prospect of their passes being downgraded to fails.
The moderation process saw far fewer pupils marked upwards.
Aca d e m i c s hav e claimed the system shows that disadvantaged pupils were being penalised more harshly than those from more affluent areas.
Lindsay Pat e r s o n , professor of education policy at the University of Edinburgh, said:“This careful research has confirmed beyond doubt that the SQA’s algorithm was, in effect, if not by intention, biased against the teacher judgements of socially deprived students by pulling down these teacher estimates.
“Although results of that algorithm were abandoned a week after the results were announced, the legacy of distrust shown by the SQA towards teachers is likely to take many years to heal.
“The research also shows for the first time that the algorithm was biased against the socially deprived in a further way, by upgrading their estimates far less often than it upgraded the estimates for students in more advantaged circumstances.” Research was carried out by Barry Black, a University of Glasgow researcher and associate of the Urban Big Data Centre, and reviewed by Professor Catherine Lido, also of the university.
It was then published by investigative journalism website the Ferret at the weekend.
Labour list MSP James Kelly said the figures were proof of an “in-built bias” against disadvantaged pupils.
He blasted: “This new data shows in great detail how each individual school would have been impacted by John Swinney’s dodgy SQA system and it’s clear pupils across Rutherglen and Cambuslang would have been unfairly penalised.
“It’s astounding that almost one in five Higher passes at Stonelaw were due to be downgraded to a fail.
“This is even more shocking when compared with Fernhill School, where only 1.4 per cent of Higher passes would have been overturned by the SQA, and 2.2 per cent of all grades were adjusted up.
“John Swinney should never have authorised a system with a clear built-in bias towards pupils from poorer areas.”
There was uproar in August from pupils and teachers after it emerged thousands of teenagers were having their marks downgraded by the SQA.
With no exams able to take place due to the pandemic, teachers judged grades based on class work and prelim exams.
These were then adjusted by the SQA using various factors, such as the school’s performance in previous years.
That prompted a storm of complaints, with critics saying the changes would unfairly penalise youngsters from poorer schools.
The Scottish Government then announced the initial grades would stand, prior to adjustment. A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Following the release of results on August 4, the Deputy First Minister announced that all downgraded awards would be withdrawn and directed the SQA to re- issue those awards based solely on teacher or lecturer judgement, or SQA moderated teacher and lecturer estimates where these were higher.
“We accepted the risk of undermining the value of qualifications was outweighed by a concern young people, particularly from less advantaged backgrounds, may have been adversely affected.
“We will look to learn lessons from the process to awarding qualifications this year that will help to inform any future actions.
“Decisions on the 2021 exam diet have been i n f o rmed by Professor Priestley’s r e commendat i o n s , widespread consultation by the SQA on the exams timetable and course assessment modifications, and by listening to the views of pupils, teachers, parents, education experts, local authorities and other stakeholders.”