Education Secretary abandons key recommendation of report into future of Scotland’s qualifications system
Plans to scrap exams for 15- and 16-year-olds across Scotland have been abandoned after the SNP’s Education Secretary distanced herself from the findings of an official review.
Jenny Gilruth said “continuous assessment” by coursework would contribute to a greater percentage of pupils’ final grades, with less reliance on “high stakes” exams.
She rejected a key recommendation by a major report into the future of Scotland’s qualifications system that exams should be scrapped altogether before the fifth year of secondary school.
In a statement to the Scottish Parliament, she said S4 pupils would continue to sit formal exams for most National 5 qualifications.
Ms Gilruth argued that secondary teachers wanted a “consistent and objective standard” of assessment, while many pupils preferred sitting written exams to continuous assessment.
She said exceptions might be made for some practical courses such as National 5 fashion and technology, cookery and practical electronics.
Further proposals for improving Scotland’s education system will be set out later this year, but Holyrood’s opposition parties said Ms Gilruth had failed to deliver any long-term vision.
Nicola Killean, Scotland’s children’s commissioner, said Ms Gilruth had only provided “tentative steps” with no timescales or additional money despite “comprehensive education reform” being required.
An authoritative international study published in December found Scottish secondary pupils scored record low results and had fallen further behind their English counterparts in reading, maths and science following the pandemic.
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) global study also found that Scotland had the widest attainment gap between the wealthiest and poorest pupils for maths of any of the UK home nations.
This is despite Nicola Sturgeon having pledged to make it her mission to close the gulf in performance when she was first minister.
SNP ministers have refused to follow England by allowing schools to remove themselves from local authority control, with headteachers south of the border given the power to hire and fire staff and choose learning materials.
The PISA study noted: “Many high-performing school systems tend to entrust principals and teachers with these responsibilities.”
However, SNP ministers asked Prof Louise Hayward, who specialises in educational assessment and innovation at the University of Glasgow, to examine Scotland’s qualifications system.
Her review, published in June last year, recommended that 15- and 16-year-olds be graded on coursework and actions such as volunteering as part of a “Scottish diploma of achievement”.
It also argued that a wider range of assessment measures should be used for Highers and Advanced Highers.
‘Exams will remain part of overall approach’
But Ms Gilruth told MSPs that examinations would “remain part of our overall national approach and will not be removed from all National 5 courses”.
She said: “I know from direct engagement as Cabinet Secretary that many young people prefer examinations over continuous assessment.
“And, as evidenced by the teachers’ survey published earlier this year, many secondary school teachers who responded support the retention of exams as a means of applying a consistent and objective standard.”
The Scottish Education Secretary insisted she wanted to reform qualifications but that it had to be done in partnership with teachers, pupils and other professional bodies.
She also reiterated her commitment to reducing teachers’ “contact time” with pupils in the classroom by 90 minutes per week, to give them more time for other duties such as assessment.
But Liam Kerr, the Scottish Tories’ shadow education secretary, said: “Education experts have been crying out for a long-term vision from the SNP but this statement completely fails to deliver one.
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