Schools and colleges will have to wait longer for key information from the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) and Education Scotland on how their teaching will be affected by Covid-19 in 2020-21, Tes Scotland has learned this afternoon.

The SQA was due to publish confirmed changes to exams and assessment last week, but they had not appeared by Friday. Now, it seems likely that the wait will go on until the end of this week.

Target dates have also been published for those running many further education college courses, and many could have to wait until the end of September before receiving guidance.

Meanwhile, Education Scotland has today published updated guidance for PE teachers, but has said that other practical subjects - including art, dance, drama, home economics and music - will have to wait for an update until later in September.

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It had appeared that the SQA was due to published the confirmed exam and assessment changes towards the end of last week - after two consultations held over 10 days produced around 23,000 responses - but a new note on its website suggests their publication is not imminent.

The changes will be discussed first at the Covid-19 Education Recovery Group, which is next due to meet at 10am on Thursday, chaired by education secretary John Swinney. The SQA has said it is going “as quickly as we can” but that it needs more time. 

The new SQA note states: “We fully appreciate that schools and colleges are seeking clarity, but we need more time to work through the responses and engage with the Scottish government and other national bodies. We are doing this as quickly as we can.

“We discussed next steps with the SQA’s Qualifications Committee on Friday 4 September, and will also discuss this with SQA’s Board of Management and Scottish government’s Covid-19 Education Recovery Group, chaired by the deputy first minister.

“We will provide further information regarding the subject-specific consultation outcomes as soon as we can.”

A separate SQA note has wide-reaching implications for FE college courses, many of which are starting this week. It affects courses in a range of qualifications, including Higher National Certificate (HNC), Higher National Diploma (HND), Professional Development Award (PDA) and National Certificate (NC). A spreadsheet shows that some courses’ guidance will be published this week, some next week and some by “end of September”.

Meanwhile, Education Scotland has this afternoon told Tes Scotland that long-awaited guidance on how Covid-19 will affect the teaching of home economics, music, dance, drama and art will be published in September. Previously, home economics teachers had been advised that guidance would be available in “the autumn”, prompting concerns about how deep into the year teachers might have to wait for more clarity.

PE teachers, however, do have no guidance to read from today. Updated guidelines include the following advice:

• “Changing rooms are an area of increased risk of transmission and should be avoided where possible.”
• “Activities where there is no sharing of equipment are safer than those that do, therefore activities that minimise the use of equipment should be delivered.”
• “Hand-washing facilities or hand sanitiser stations should be available and easily accessible at entry/exit points, when young people move between groups and when entering or leaving an outdoor facility.”
• “If possible, create a virtual/visual tour of structures and routines and share with learners, staff, parents/carers.”

The guidance also suggests that a wide range of PE activities that could be possible if run outdoors.