Students in most affluent areas likelier to appeal exam grades

SQA analysis also finds that independent schools had higher appeal rate in 2022 than state schools – and their appeals were also more likely to be successful

6th December 2022, 1:44pm

Emma Seith

Students in most affluent areas more likely to challenge exam grades

New analysis by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) has found “a significant difference” in the proportion of exam grades appealed depending on where a student lived.

Overall in 2022, 11 per cent of exam grades at National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher were subject to appeal.

However, analysis published today by the SQA reveals that the rate of appeal of this year’s exam results was 20.1 per cent in the least deprived parts of the country, and 15.7 per cent in the most deprived areas.

Meanwhile, students living in the least deprived areas made up 24.8 per cent of all appeal requests, as compared to 16 per cent for those from the most deprived areas.

When it came to appeal outcomes, the SQA found that these did not vary significantly by affluence: upgrade rates were between 29.3 per cent and 30.5 per cent for all Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) quintiles. In other words, students from more deprived areas are as likely to be successful when they do appeal - but they appeal less often.

The new analysis also finds:

The appeal rate in the wake of the 2022 exams was higher in the independent sector, where 24.6 per cent of grades were queried; in the state sector, the appeal rate was 17.6 per cent.
Appeals from independent schools were also more likely to result in an upgrade: the upgrade rate for independent centres was 32.8 per cent, compared to 29.6 per cent for education authority centres.
Appeals resulting in a grade change were most frequently changed by one grade (84.7 per cent). However, 13.5 per cent (or 2,335 appeals) resulted in a change of two grades; 1.6 per cent (or 280 appeals) changed by three grades; and 0.2 per cent (or 30 appeals) changed by four grades.
The proportion of appeal requests resulting in an upgrade were highest in languages (52.9 per cent), business (44.2 per cent) and social sciences (43.4 per cent).
The proportion of appeal requests resulting in an upgrade were lowest in science (10.7 per cent), mathematics (15.5 per cent) and care (19 per cent)

The 2022 appeals service was free and students were able to appeal directly without having to go through their school or college. However, they could only appeal their grade if the estimate they received from their school was higher than their final result.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority published a high-level summary of appeals data in November, which showed that 11 per cent - or one in 10 grades - at National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher were appealed in 2022. However, the vast majority of appeals resulted in no grade change, with 70 per cent of appeals rejected.

Grades could go down as well as up following an appeal, but the vast majority of appeals that were successful resulted in an upgrade; fewer than five (less than 0.05 per cent) resulted in a downgrade.

However, the new analysis shows that if a candidate appealed a grade for languages, for example, they were more likely to be successful than if they appealed a grade for maths.

As highlighted above, over half of appeals for languages resulted in an upgrade, as compared to 15.5 per cent of maths appeals.

The SQA says a number of factors are likely to play a part in these differences, including “the validity of internal assessments used as alternative evidence”. It also says that issues with alternative evidence were “more prevalent in science and mathematics compared to other subject groupings”.

The full SQA analysis can be found here.