The Hayward report on Scottish qualifications and assessment, first announced in October 2021, was published this afternoon.

Following up our initial report today on the review, and education secretary Jenny Gilruth’s subsequent parliamentary statement, here are seven key takeaways for school staff from what has been billed as a landmark moment for Scottish education:

1. Education reform put on hold

“There is a lot happening in the policy world of Scottish education,” said Ms Gilruth today. She highlighted “four substantive reports” published within four weeks, including the recent report on the “national discussion” and today’s Hayward report.

There is also ongoing reform of key national education bodies Education Scotland and the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA).

Ms Gilruth said reform needed to be “holistic” and she wanted to “hear from our teachers” before coming to any conclusions. Legislation needed to create a new qualifications body and inspectorate would therefore be delayed, she said, and brought forward “in the next parliamentary year”.

She has written to education directors with a request to use teachers’ in-service days for the profession to consider the proposed reforms. The EIS teaching union has broadly welcomed the prospect of more consultation of teachers.

2. A stay of execution for SQA

Delaying the legislation means a stay of execution for the SQA. It had been scheduled to be replaced following the 2024 exams, but now looks likely to survive beyond that date - prompting concerns this afternoon that it may never be replaced at all.

However, in a statement SQA chair David Middleton said Ms Gilruth had made it clear “the time is not right for legislation to replace SQA” but also that “work will continue to create new national bodies”. When asked about the delay, Ms Gilruth told MSPs that the SQA “will be abolished”.

EIS teaching union general secretary Andrea Bradley said teachers would be “angered and dismayed” by this news: the SQA was a “huge driver of workload” and its reputation was “in tatters” among teachers.

She added that it was “difficult to see how we can move forward confidently and competently in reforming the senior phase [of secondary education] with the SQA intact for another two years”.

3. An end to S4 exams

The report says “the current system has too many examination points” and there should be “no external examination at SCQF levels 1-5”. This means that any qualification below Higher level will have no external examination, and assessment will be “internal only”. 

This would result in “a reduction in pressure on learners and staff” and “promote opportunities for greater depth in learning”, and make it possible for Highers to be taken over two years.

External exams will remain part of Higher and Advanced Highers, but should be reviewed “to reduce susceptibility to question prediction and over-rehearsal”.

4. The Scottish Diploma of Achievement

The proposed Scottish Diploma of Achievement (SDA) will “transform the senior-phase experience”, says a companion document to the Hayward report.

It would comprise three elements: a “programmes of learning”, including subjects and courses already typically studied in the senior phase; the “personal pathway”, which would reflect students’ interests; and “project learning” to allow in-depth exploration of an issue such as climate change.

The SDA would be awarded at the point of exit from school, with achievements recorded on a digital profile that moves with the learner to college, employment or university. The report says all students must be offered the chance to experience “learning in all elements of the diploma”, otherwise it “will not be awarded.”

The SDA would not be graded but aspects would be, so Highers and Advanced Highers, for example, “would continue to be graded”.

Project learning would not be graded but projects would be linked to the different levels of the SCQF framework. This could mean students working at a more challenging level than currently offered in school, potentially beyond Advanced Higher level. The personal pathway would not be graded and the report says ”a promoted post should be established for those leading this work in schools and colleges”.

5. ‘Two-term dash’ to become a thing of the past

A long-bemoaned downside to Scotland’s Higher qualification is that, since a course is typically taken over one year in S5, students have only two terms to cover a whole Higher course before getting into revision and exams.

An eight-page companion document summing up key Hayward recommendations states that the proposed reforms will ”remove the two-term dash which results in continuous cycles of examination rehearsal and preparation”, allowing “more time to focus on high-quality, rich learning experiences”.

6. Highers to survive

It had been suggested that, to create parity across all types of of courses and qualifications, one approach could be to consign to history the Higher brand that has existed for more than a century.

However, Ms Gilruth appeared to rule out the idea when she envisaged a “coherent education and skills system that is focused on taking the best from our educational traditions - including our longstanding and well recognised Highers”.

Nevertheless, the Hayward summary document sets out a possible middle ground between scrapping and retaining the Higher name: “In a bid to strengthen parity of esteem between different types of qualifications there should be a move to use the terms ‘SCQF level’ as the key descriptor followed by type of qualification, eg, SCQF Level 6 - Higher.”

7. The impact of AI now part of Hayward review

The interim Hayward report in early March was criticised for not addressing the potential impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on assessment and qualifications in years to come.

However, the final report has dedicated a seven-page section to AI. It states: “To maintain consistency, fairness and continuity in respect of digital assessment, a coordinated national approach appears to be essential.”

It highlights concerns that could undermine some key aspects of the Hayward review, as “AI bots could lead to the end of coursework with invigilated examinations becoming more important”.

On the plus side, technology such as ChatGPT could result in teachers producing lesson plans “in a fraction of the time taken traditionally”, and AI could “enhance learning by supporting project-based, interest-driven learning experiences”.