Exam staff ‘not paid living wage’

THE Scottish Qualifications Authority is being investigated over claims invigilators have been paid below the living wage.

Scotland’s exam body is a living wage employer, in accordance with Scottish Government policy, but invigilators claim they are not being paid enough.

The Poverty Alliance – the charity in charge of Scotland’s living wage accreditation – said it was investigating complaints passed on by Labour MSP Daniel Johnson.

Invigilators, who earn fixed rates for exam sessions, claim they receive £6 an hour for the longest Higher and Advanced Higher examinations, well under the living wage of £8. 5 per hour stipulated for Scottish public sector bodies.

SQA said it applied the same wage policy to invigilators as it did to its staff. But Peter Kelly, of the Poverty Alliance, said it had asked SQA to prove that it monitors the pay earned by its 6,000 invigilators over an exam season to ensure wages are fair.

He said: ‘We rely a lot on the good faith of employers to do the right thing. There is clearly an issue here.’ He added that the body could be stripped of its living wage employer status if it failed to show that invigilators were paid appropriately.

Mr Johnson said he had written to Angela Constance, and her successor as education secretary John Swinney, and tabled questions at Holyrood asking for evidence that SQA was following wage rules.

He added: ‘The living wage is a hugely important campaign. It would be a scandal if a key government agency was in breach of living wage accreditation.’

A statement issued by SQA said: ‘On average, due to variations in exam duration, SQA invigilators are paid £ 7.15 for each exam session they conduct. Nearly three-quarters of our exams last less than

.5 hours. This proportionate rate is above the living wage.

‘Guidance is provided to chief invigilators to ensure that invigilators are assigned to a variety of exam sessions with differing lengths of duration.’