The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) is unlikely to publish details of this year’s appeals process until next week, Tes Scotland understands.

The target date had been “early May”, but as that deadline came and went, it appeared that the appeals guidance would instead be published this week.

Now, however, the most likely publication date appears to be Tuesday of next week, 25 May - exactly a month before most students’ provisional 2021 results are due to be submitted on 25 June.

This will come as bad news to teachers involved in the ongoing assessment of students, with many having expressed concern that they are doing so without knowing details of the appeals process: teachers and students remain unaware of what evidence they may need for an appeal, should it be considered necessary.

Flashback to 5 March: Late April or early May target for SQA appeals details

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Consultation on the 2021 SQA appeals process began on 12 March, at which point details of the chosen appeals model were due to appear in early May. A week earlier, SQA chief executive Fiona Robertson had told MSPs that the final appeals model would be revealed in late April or early May “at the latest”.

Teachers still waiting for details of SQA appeals process

Last Friday, one of John Swinney’s last acts as education secretary was to tell the Scottish Parliament that details of the SQA appeals process would appear “shortly”.

An SQA spokesperson said today: “The outcomes of the appeals consultation are currently being finalised, following the public consultation. We aim to announce details of the appeals process imminently.

“Learners should be reassured that a comprehensive appeals process will be in place in good time. The current focus should be on maximising teaching and learning and the gathering of evidence to support the development of provisional grades.”

The Scottish Greens’ education spokesperson, Ross Greer, said: “After last year’s exams debacle, in which the appeals process was an acute point of failure, it’s unbelievable that the SQA have left themselves so completely unprepared for this year’s assessments.

“It’s utterly unacceptable that pupils are being forced through exams in all but name without either they or their teachers having any idea how the appeals process will work, or what evidence they will need to provide for it.

“The SQA has once again proven that it does not work in the interests of those it is supposed to serve; indeed, it doesn’t even seem capable of doing that. It’s long past time the Scottish government overhauled the exams authority, starting by immediately replacing its board.”

The National Qualifications 2021 Group is due to meet tomorrow. Its members include the EIS teaching union, whose general secretary, Larry Flanagan, said: “Whilst an appeals process is important, ultimately appeals will have to be evidence-based.

“Schools, colleges and staff are working extremely hard to ensure the robustness of the provisional grades awarded, using the evidence available to them.”

Last week, after Tes Scotland revealed that exam details were being shared on social media platforms such as TikTok, Seamus Searson, general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA), tweeted: “The professional judgement of the teacher must be trusted and not this mad rush to collect evidence. The bureaucrats are making it so hard for pupils and teachers. Expect a boom of appeals in August [but it’s] not too late to change.”