So what exactly does it mean for the pupils?

SCOTTISH Political Editor MICHAEL BLACKLEY assesses what caused the exams fiasco – and how SNP ministers finally tried to fix it.

How did this problem start?

THE coronavirus pandemic meant that Scotland’s schools had to close in March and the normal exams process was unable to go ahead for the first time since 1888. This meant pupils had to be issued grades without the normal assessment taking place.

How were grades initially worked out?

TEACHERS were asked to use their professional judgment to estimate grades for pupils based on performance over the school year, including prelims, coursework and general attainment, and were asked to rank pupils in order. This information was then sent to the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) to work out a final result.

What did these results show?

HAD they been unchanged, attainment at grades A-C would have increased by 10.4 percentage points for National 5s, by 14 percentage points for Highers, and by 13.4 percentage points for Advanced Highers.

What did the SQA do?

THE exams quango was instructed by ministers to devise a process of ‘moderation’ to ensure results were not unusually high and were consistent across schools. This took into account results from schools in previous years.

A maximum and minimum pass rate for each course was based on a school’s four-year average, with flexibility for any year-to-year changes.

As a result of the moderation process, 134,000 teacher estimates were adjusted, with nearly 76,000 candidates having one or more grades lowered when compared with the teacher estimate. Of the 134,000 adjustments, more than 124,000 were lowered.

Why were people angry about this?

IT meant that pupils’ grades were being lowered through no fault of their own and led to concerns that those in deprived areas were hit hardest – despite the SNP’s promise to tackle the attainment gap.

Why did ministers eventually do a U-turn?

BOTH John Swinney and Nicola Sturgeon defended the process for the best part of a week but changed their position after concerns that pupils in deprived areas will believe that, no matter how hard they work, the system will always be against them.

What happens to their grades now?

THEY will automatically revert to the grades awarded by teachers. This means the new pass rates are substantially higher than ever before.

The National 5 pass rate is now 88. per cent, which is 10.7 percentage points higher than last year, while the Higher pass rate increased by 14.4 percentage points to 8 .2 per cent. The Advanced Higher pass rate is now 3.1 per cent, which is 13.7 percentage points higher than last year.

Will anyone have their grades lowered as a result?

NO. The 10,000 grades which were increased as a result of the moderation process will remain unchanged.

John Swinney said it would be unfair to lower these grades if pupils who received them had gone on to secure college or university places.

What will it mean for university and college places?

IT is estimated that the inflated grades will mean an additional 3,000 pupils will be eligible to attend university and college, including some who have been awarded conditional places.

The Scottish Government has said that it will provide extra funding and insisted that no students will be ‘crowded out’ as a result of this process but has not yet agreed details with universities and colleges.

What will happen next year?

SCHOOLS have now reopened and ministers will hope the normal exam diet can go ahead as normal.

However, they are working on a contingency plan in case this can’t happen and a review is to be set up, led by Professor Mark Priestley of Stirling University, which will produce recommendations on the approach for this coming year within five weeks.