School exams to return, with ‘generous’ approach to grading

By Calum Petrie

February 1 2022, 5:29 pm

School exams are set to return today.

School exams are expected to return this term, with a “generous” approach taken to grading.

Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said today that it was the Scottish Government’s “firm intention” to hold National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher exams this Spring.

Extra support is to be given to pupils sitting exams, including help with revision and the right to free appeals.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) said grade boundaries would be set to strike a mid-point between results in 2021 and pre-pandemic years.

‘Fairest and best way’

Chief executive Fiona Robertson said this was the “fairest and best way we can help support all learners to demonstrate their level of knowledge, understanding and skills”.

School exams were cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the disruption caused by the pandemic, with grades awarded using estimates from teachers.

Students who find themselves in “exceptional circumstances” on the day of an exam will be able to have their grades assessed through coursework submitted during the school year.

And pupils will be given extra support with revision in the run-up to exams. Further details on what this will comprise will be given by the SQA in March.

Education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said it was her “firm intention” that school exams will return this Spring.

‘More generous’ approach to grading

The SQA pledged to take a “more generous” approach to grading. The body said it expects results to “represent an intermediary position” between the pandemic years – which saw grades at an all-time high – and pre-pandemic results.

It said this would “maintain the integrity and credibility of the qualifications” while making sure students are “awarded the results they deserve”.

Students will also be given a free right of appeal, with examiners choosing the higher grade between their exam result and that of “alternative assessment” coursework handed in during term.

Biggest union had said no to exams return

The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), Scotland’s largest teaching union, welcomed the package of support.

The EIS had argued that there should not be a return to high-stakes exams this year, given the risk of further Covid disruption and in view of the “inequalities that characterise the exam system”.

General Secretary, Larry Flanagan, said: “The provision by the SQA of some revision support for courses which have an exam is helpful for students.”

He added that allowing students who underperform in the final exam access to appeal would provide “some mitigation of the impacts of Covid disruption on learner outcomes.”

Face masks in class remain

Meanwhile, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told MSPs that a decision on whether older pupils would continue to have to wear face masks in schools would be considered again next week.

She said: “We may be close to the time when face coverings no longer need to be worn in the classroom”, but she added that “we have not yet reached that stage.”