Opposition politicians are continuing to call for an independent review into the 2024 Higher history exam, after the pass rate dropped by 13 percentage points in a year.
Today in the Scottish Parliament a former leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Douglas Ross, cited the findings of a survey carried out by the Scottish Association of Teachers of History (SATH) as grounds for a fresh investigation.
He said the findings - released last month - were “overwhelmingly critical” of the Scottish Qualifications Authority’s (SQA) own review, and called on the education secretary, Jenny Gilruth, to “take her head out of the sand and accept this has not gone well”.
Demand for ‘truly independent review’
Mr Ross, who is convener of the Scottish Parliament’s Education, Children and Young People Committee, said: “It has not been handled well by the government or the SQA, and the only way to resolve this, to please all parties, is to have a truly independent review.”
The SQA internal investigation, the findings of which were published on 6 November, found the marking standard had not changed in 2024 - as some history teachers and markers had claimed - and that the drop in passes was down to “the poor standard of responses” from students.
In the SATH survey, however, 82 per cent of the 174 teachers who took part said the 2024 cohort of students was at least as strong as in previous years. Three-quarters of respondents said their students did not perform as expected in the 2024 Higher exam.
Teachers in the SATH survey described the SQA investigation as “shambolic”, “hugely flawed” and “a brazen attempt at gaslighting”. A major sticking point was that the SQA carried out the investigation, not an independent body.
One teacher said this was “staggering”; another - quoted by Mr Ross - described the SQA review as “the most biased and useless investigation I have ever seen a public body attempt to pass off as legitimate”, given that it was “largely completed by those who were implicated in making the decision”.
Scottish Labour’s education spokesperson, Pam Duncan-Glancy, echoed Mr Ross’ call for an independent review. She said that Ms Gilruth’s refusal to have an independent inquiry “really does beggar belief”.
She said that in the past Ms Gilruth had argued she lacked the evidence to start an independent review; Ms Duncan-Glancy asked why the SATH survey was not deemed “substantial enough to act”.
Gilruth aims to ‘rebuild trust’
In response, Ms Gilruth that just 17 per cent of history teachers had responded to the SATH survey. She said the government had accepted the findings of the SQA’s review and met with SATH after the survey findings were published.
She said that a package of measures to support Higher history this year had been agreed, including “a dedicated enquiry line so that teachers, lecturers and school leaders can raise questions directly with the SQA”.
Ms Gilruth said that another “understanding the standards” webinar had also been organised and that she recognised the need “to rebuild trust and confidence”.
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