One in 10 exam board staff quit as union launches strike ballot over pay
SCOTLAND’S exams body (SQA) has been plunged into new turmoil as one in ten staff have left, while the rest are considering strike action as ministers are accused of failing to come up with a coherent plan to scrap it.
Union leaders’ warning of staff shortages come as talks to avoid potential strike action at the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) which could severely disrupt the appeals process for school pupils have so far failed to reach a breakthrough.
Staff have previously complained that they have been “locked out” of discussions over their futures and a proposed new educational standards body – which is due to be phased in this winter.
The Scottish Government announced in June that the SQA is to be scrapped as part of a “substantial” overhaul of education.
The exams body is to be broken up and replaced, with pupils, parents and teachers to be consulted on changes.
Three new education bodies will be created – a qualifications body, a national agency for Scottish education, and an independent inspection body.
The SQA has been under fierce criticism from pupils, teachers and opposition politicians for allegedly failing pupils.
In 2020, the exams body used a now infamous algorithm to lower the grades of thousands of pupils after exams were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Last year, it cancelled Nat 5 exams, but committed to physical exams for Highers and Advanced Highers to take place, only to U-turn months before exams were set to begin.
The government said in June last year that the changes would be made in response to an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report on the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) which backed the curriculum as a whole but it said there was too much focus on exams in later years of schooling.
The pandemic also brought particular focus onto the school qualifications system, with criticism about how grades were decided after formal exams were cancelled two years running.
In response to this, the government announced that the SQA was to be replaced, with schools agency Education Scotland also set for a shakeup and a new independent system for school inspections to be set up
ducation Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said at the time there would be a “period of change” to “improve, to achieve more and to deliver for Scotland’s pupils”.
But union leaders say that since then morale has slumped amongst the 1000 staff within the SQA with, still, little information of what will happen in the new regime.
According to the union Unite, which represents hundreds of workers at the exams body, some 130 people have left SQA since last year, combined with a rise of sickness absences at four per cent, while the vacancy rate is at 11.6%.
It is feared that the absences will hit the organisation’s ability to do its job.
Sickness up
UNITE regional officer Alison Maclean said: “The staff have been forgotten about and treated terribly, tarred with the brush of being part and parcel of the SQA without any distinction drawn to the fact they are not decision makers and have been left to pick up the pieces for terrible decisions which ultimately brought about the scrapping of the SQA.
“They had no say in this and have no idea about their futures hence why there are so many vacancies, turnover is high and there is increased sickness absence.
“The proposed pay uplift only adds insult to injury hence why they’ve had enough. The blame lies right at the Scottish Government’s and senior management’s door.”
Professor Ken Muir, the former chief executive of the General Teaching Council, has been leading efforts to replace the SQA with a new specialist agency for curriculum and assessment and investigate moving the inspection function away from Education Scotland.
But Ms McLean said moves to gain certainty over the re-organisation have been “as slow as treacle” leaving staff in limbo.
Concerns have been raised about a lack of assurances over job roles and locations, conditions and pay within any new organisation.
The government has committed to the new model being fully operational by 2024.
But Ms MacLean said: “There is nothing moving on it. It has almost come to a standing stop. They were talking about having an operational model by November this year but we haven’t seen or heard anything about that.
“In terms of the longer term for the staff at SQA, they don’t know whether or not if there is a bun fight for jobs. We don’t know what organisation they are going to be involved in.
“We have a perfect storm here. We have staff that are disgruntled anyway to begin with because their future isn’t clear. They are going to have to go through the biggest organisation that they have every been involved with. The whole organisation is being disbanded and put back together again.”
The offer is worth a maximum of four percent for some staff but a significant number of longserving SQA staff will get just 1.7 percent, just as inflation has soared to nearly 10%. Unite say lower grades should get 7.6% and those on higher incomes would get 4.3%.
The union has now launched an industrial action ballot.
Unite say the strikes or industrial action short of strikes would hit the appeals process for students, which is expected to be busier than normal.
Operating models of the new organisations were due to be developed this winter before a period of so-called ‘shadow operation’ for the new bodies ahead of them being fully operational in 2024.
At this point, the SQA and Education Scotland will cease to exist.
Disappointed
THE new examinations body will take on the SQA’s remit for the design and delivery of Scotland’s qualifications such as Nat 5s and Highers.
It will also take on responsibility for the exam diet, including writing exams and marking, alongside certification.
An SQA spokesman said: “We’re really disappointed by these comments, and in a week in which learners across Scotland received their results. SQA staff have pulled out all the stops to deliver for Scotland’s learners in very challenging circumstances and we’re now focussed on ensuring we deliver our appeals service and preparing for the new academic year.
“We continue to attract and retain talented, committed staff and remain in dialogue with our trade unions on pay and the Scottish Government’s reform programme.”
We have a perfect storm. We have staff that are disgruntled because their future isn’t clear