Scotland’s education secretary has said that the 124,564 results affected will be reverted to the grades estimated by the pupils’ teachers
The Scottish education secretary has announced that exam results in Scotland that had been downgraded by a controversial moderation process will be withdrawn.
John Swinney has told the Scottish parliament that the 124,564 exam results that had been affected will revert to the grades as estimated by the teachers of the pupils.
He said that he was directing the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) to “reissue those awards based solely on teacher or lecturer judgement”.
“Schools will be able to confirm the estimates they provided for pupils to those that are returning to school this week and next,” Mr Swinney added.
This comes after the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, has apologised after pupils in some of the most underprivileged areas of Scotland have had their exam pass rate downgraded by as many as two times than that of students from the wealthiest regions of the country.
Pupils in the most disadvantaged regions of Scotland had their exam pass rate downgraded by over two times that of those students who live in the wealthier parts of the nation.
Exams for the nationals, highers and advanced higher courses were cancelled this year due to the COVID-19 lockdown, with teachers submitting estimated grades based on students’ previous results instead, using the predicted attainment and evidence of their previous work.
The results were then looked at by The Scottish Qualifications Authority, which moderated 26.2% of them, leaving the rest of the grades unchanged.
Of those grades that had been moderated, 93.1% were downgraded, this affected as many as 124,564 pupils.
The pass rate of some of the pupils in the most underprivileged data zones was reduced by 15.2% from the estimates of their teachers following the moderation of the exam board.
In contrast to such areas of the country, the pass rate for pupils from the most affluent backgrounds of Scotland dropped by 6.9%.
This comes after Gavin Williamson has said that the education and care of the country’s children is “a national priority” as the government plans to return students to schools throughout England in September.
Mr Swinney has faced criticism from pupils, parents and teachers amid the furore, with opposition politicians calling for him to resign.
Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said he “has lost all credibility and isn’t the one to fix this”, while former Scottish Tory leaders Ruth Davidson and Jackson Carlaw both called on Mr Swinney to quit.
The education secretary did not address these calls directly in his statement.
“We set out to ensure that the system was fair,” he said.
“We set out to ensure it was credible. But we did not get it right for all young people.”
Mr Swinney added: “In speaking directly to the young people affected by the downgrading of awards – the 75,000 pupils whose teacher estimates were higher than their final award – I want to say this: I am sorry.”
