Swinney’s private fears over Higher fail rates

A SECRET probe into Scotland’s exam performance was ordered by John Swinney – despite him publicly rejecting concerns.

He dismissed opponents’ fears about the increasing failure rate at Higher level by insisting the rise was just ‘annual variation’.

But new documents have revealed that the Deputy First Minister privately ordered his officials to conduct in-depth research into the failure rate.

The proportion of pupils achieving an A to C pass mark at Higher fell from 76.8 per cent last year to 74.8 per cent, prompting fresh concern that the school curriculum is failing children.

Scottish Conservative education spokesman Liz Smith said: ‘Quite frankly, no one believed John Swinney when he said that the four-year decline in Higher pass rates was down to ‘annual variation’.

‘Clearly, it was not. There were more serious concerns – and that message was coming to him from civil servants and senior officers within the education agencies. It was therefore disingenuous for Mr Swinney to try to paint a rosy picture about this year’s Higher exam pass rates when alarm

‘Alarm bells were ringing within his own office’

bells were ringing within his own office. The public, and especially parents, pupils and teachers, have a right to know exactly what is going on.’

The documents show that, in a meeting with the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), Education Scotland and the Association of Directors of Education, Mr Swinney asked them to ‘provide him with distilled analysis around the 2019 results, what these may suggest about the current system, and what specific actions are required to help support the best possible outcomes for learners’.

Following the publication of exam results, Mr Swinney dismissed the decline as ‘annual variation’ and criticised opponents for talking down Scottish education. However, documents initially obtained by The Times through a freedom of information request and subsequently published online by the Scottish Government revealed that officials were ordered to examine the results in greater depth to ‘consider what they might suggest about the current health of the education system’.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘We are committed to regular monitoring and understanding of the performance of our education system, and the Scottish Government, SQA and Education Scotland are analysing the 2019 exam results to consider any required actions.’