...And I won’t say sorry for results mess, says SQA boss
SCOTLAND’S qualifications boss has refused to apologise for the exam results fiasco, claiming she was only acting on John Swinney’s orders.
Fiona Robertson, chief executive of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), defended the controversial moderation process as nearly 125,000 results were downgraded.
During a heated Holyrood education committee meeting, she insisted that the SQA had carried out the instructions of Education Secretary Mr Swinney.
But despite being asked to apologise several times over the fiasco, which has led to youngsters missing out on university places, she refused to say sorry to pupils or teachers.
Appearing before MSPs, Mrs Robertson said that evidence collected by the SQA shows that teacher estimates have a less than 50 per cent accuracy rate. The SQA chief, who earns between £125,000 and £129,000 a year, was at the Scottish parliament less than 24 hours after Mr Swinney announced a major U-turn over this year’s results.
Initially, teachers had been asked to use their judgment to award National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher pupils a grade they believed they had achieved based on their performance and prelim results.
This result was then modified by the SQA, taking into account the school’s past performance, which led to 125,000 results being downgraded.
However, on Tuesday, Mr Swinney announced those grades would now be ruled invalid, with new awards issued based on teacher judgment.
Both First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Mr Swinney have apologised over the fiasco, but Mrs Robertson refused to say sorry to those affected yesterday.
Asked why there had been no apology from her following a 15-minute introductory speech, or the SQA, Mrs Robertson said: ‘Of course, it was difficult to see the reaction to last week’s results, but we were asked to fulfil a role. Part of that role was to maintain standards across Scotland.
‘It was a commission from ministers after exams had been cancelled and, in an extraordinary set of circumstances, I think we did our very best to deliver.
‘But, also, I fully appreciate that young people felt that their achievements had been taken outwith their control. I absolutely get that and, of course, I regret how young people have felt about this process.’
Scottish Tory education spokesman Jamie Greene said: ‘Given that the First Minister and her deputy were humiliated into saying sorry, it’s gobsmacking that the SQA didn’t think to apologise to pupils or teachers for their shambolic handling of the exam grade debacle.
‘And John Swinney has a whole new set of serious questions to answer from the SQA chief’s comments.
‘When did he really know about the marking down methodology? How involved was he in this process? Who made the final decision to mark down those from our most deprived communities? That’s why we need the SNP Government to urgently release all documents related to this fiasco.
‘The secretive, murky approach that the SNP have taken so far is the very reason we landed in this mess in the first place. This issue will not go away quickly or quietly.’
‘We did our very best to deliver’