The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Letters reveal parents’ exam shambles fury
Documents lay bare backlash over ‘national embarrassment’
SCOTLAND’S education secretary was hit by criticism from parents and pupils after this year’s exam results fiasco, it has emerged.
In the hours following exam results being issued on August 4, one angry parent told John Swinney the system was in “shock and paralysis”. Another described it as “a national embarrassment”.
The Scottish Conservatives submitted a Freedom of Information request for correspondence sent to Mr Swinney on August 4 between noon and 11pm.
Critics claimed the way of deciding grades in the pandemic resulted in a “postcode lottery” that unfairly hit pupils from more deprived backgrounds.
A Scottish Government spokesman said changes were being made after a review into the process.
Parents and pupils bombarded John Swinney with criticism in the immediate aftermath of this year’s exam results as fury erupted over grades issued in the pandemic.
An FoI request by the Scottish Conservatives to the Scottish Government asked for correspondence sent to Mr Swinney on August 4 – exam results day – from noon to 11pm.
Eighteen documents were recovered, which revealed the extent of anger at the way results had been handled after cancellation of formal exams due to the coronavirus.
The row centred on the moderation process put in place by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), which was applied to teachers’ estimates of grades based on a pupil’s classroom performance.
Critics said it resulted in a “postcode lottery” that unfairly hit pupils from more deprived backgrounds as the SQA considered the previous performance of schools when allocating final results.
The outcry led to calls for Mr Swinney to resign and led to a U-turn.
One parent emailed the education secretary to tell him his daughter had been a “straight A” student the previous year, but her dream of a law degree had been put “in jeopardy” by her Higher results “randomly calculated and guessed at by your charges”.
The parent wrote: “We have an education system in a state of shock and paralysis prepared to condemn our rising talent to the dustbin. This, Sir, happened on your watch. I hope your nights will be as sleepless as ours.”
One individual who signed an email “a former SNP supporter ” wrote: “This is a national disgrace. My daughter was predicted AABBB and was awarded ABDDD. Her prelims and class work obviously not taken into consideration at all. There will be children the length and breadth of this country absolutely broken today and could be tragedies.
“From a country that has produced some of the leading experts in the world, this is a national embarrassment. Hang your heads in shame. Today is a sad day for Scotland.”
Scottish Conservative education spokesman Jamie Greene said: “John Swinney was rightly inundated by a blitz of criticism from furious parents and youngsters over his exam debacle.
“It seems astonishing that he wouldn’t have been aware of the anger that was being instantly felt.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Following the release of results in August by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) we were determined that every student should get a grade that reflected the work they had done.
“The deputy first minister took swift decisions that all downgraded awards would be withdrawn and directed the SQA to reissue those awards based solely on teacher or lecturer judgement, or SQA moderated teacher and lecturer estimates where these were higher. He also took the view it was important this information was announced to the Scottish Parliament at the first available opportunity.
“We have always been clear that lessons needed to be learned from this process and that is why the deputy first minster commissioned a rapid review of the process, which has subsequently reported.
“The government has accepted eight of the nine recommendations and is already working to implement the necessary changes.”