AS young people up and down the land begin sitting the exams that will play such a key role in their future, yet another storm is brewing between teaching unions and the authority that sets the tests.
The Educational Institute for Scotland (EIS) has accused the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) of lacking trust in them, after the exams body stopped giving teachers immediate access to papers, which allowed them to assess the questions and provide on-the-spot feedback to students. They now have to wait until a day after the test, with pupils prevented from taking papers out of the exam hall.
The SQA claim the move is about improving security and preventing “inappropriate postings” online, pointing to instances where teachers have answered exam questions on social media straight after a test, saying this could upset pupils and reduce their confidence.
The EIS, however, said the SQA was more concerned with saving face following criticism than giving pupils a useful opportunity to discuss their exam performance with their teachers. The union also argues the delay amounts to a lack of trust in teaching staff. It’s not the first time they’ve made such an accusation, of course. Only last year, teachers accused the SQA of calling them “cheats” after they issued “grossly insulting” instructions to around how much help should be given to pupils with coursework. Many teachers also have concerns about the workload involved in the new exams.
It’s fair to say, then, that the atmosphere between the two sides is already sour. And this latest confrontation comes amid wider mounting criticism over its introduction of the updated exam diet, which includes National 4 and 5 tests and new Highers.
Many will remember the scandal of 2015, when the pass mark for Higher maths had to be reduced to 34 per cent following an outcry from pupils, parents and schools. Last year’s Higher Geography exam, meanwhile, was criticised by teachers as “shocking, terrible…the worst ever” leading to an inquiry by MSPs. Following these issues and other mistakes, Education Secretary John Swinney told the Scottish Parliament the body’s performance was “not good enough”.
In such an atmosphere is perhaps understandable that the SQA should be sensitive, especially when pupils and teachers now routinely take to social media to air frustrations about particular exams, whether the criticism is founded or not. Such constant and immediate public scrutiny is challenging for any organisation.
It’s hard to see, however, how delaying access to papers that have already been sat will ease this situation. The reality of social media means vacuums are easily filled with fiction and hearsay – not allowing immediate scrutiny of papers seems pointless in our modern digital world.
The prime focus of the SQA should surely be on ensuring that Scotland’s examination diet is set correctly and administered efficiently. What’s important is the integrity of the system and public confidence in it. After all, any perception that it is fundamentally flawed and failing our children ultimately damages all of us.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel