The long-awaited Hayward review on qualifications and assessment in Scotland was published this afternoon - but education secretary Jenny Gilruth said she must run the potentially “radical” reforms past teachers before pressing ahead with change.
The changes could include an end to S4 exams and the creation of a wide-ranging “Scottish Diploma of Achievement” for school leavers, but Ms Gilruth said that “before I arrive at a conclusion on these proposals, I need to hear from our teachers - particularly our secondary teachers, who will be key to driving any changes to our qualifications system”.
However, an end to Scotland’s most recognisable qualification, the Higher, appears to have been ruled out.
The Hayward review, which was announced in October 2021, had already run a series of consultation exercises before today’s final report - titled It’s Our Future: Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment - and an interim report in early March.
The delay is essential, Ms Gilruth argued today, because “there is a lot happening in the policy world of Scottish education”: as well as the Hayward report, she cited the recent “national discussion” on education and the Withers report on skills, as well as next week’s update on the “purpose and principles for post-school education, research and skills”.
In light of “four substantive reports publishing within four weeks”, a pause to consult teachers was essential in setting “a clear trajectory of travel and not to miss the inherent opportunities which exist”, the education secretary said.
Changes to qualifications and assessment in Scotland
Ms Gilruth also said today that she was “not sure how many teachers have engaged in the national discussion”. She has written to local authority education directors “to prioritise time to consider reform during [teacher] in-service sessions in the new term”.
The reform of key education bodies is also underway in Scotland, with the Scottish government having committed to creating a new inspectorate, a new national agency for education and a new qualifications body.
The government had said last September, in its Programme for Government, that it would introduce an Education Reform Bill before the end of the 2022-23 parliamentary year “to provide underpinning legislation to the new public body responsible for qualifications and for the new independent inspectorate”.
But Ms Gilruth said that was now on hold and would be brought forward “in the next parliamentary year”.
The education secretary said that successful reform would have to be “bold”, “holistic” and, “crucially, it will have to be shaped by the expertise of our teachers”. She said it was “not the right time to introduce legislation on educational reform” and that the immediate challenges faced by teachers in responding to the pandemic - including attendance, behaviour and mental health - “won’t be helped by legislation”.
Ms Gilruth responded to concerns raised by the Liberal Democrat education spokesperson that reform of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) appeared to have been delayed by a year - the body was originally due to be replaced in 2024 - by confirming that the SQA “will be abolished”.
SQA chair David Middleton underlined that Ms Gilruth had “said that the time is not right for legislation to replace SQA”, adding: “However, she has made clear that work will continue to create new national [education] bodies.”
Professor Louise Hayward’s long-awaited report recommends an end to S4 exams - and, therefore, to the current reality for many students in Scotland of three years in a row of external national exams, from S4-6.
This situation had led the author of a 2021 report on Scottish assessment practices, Professor Gordon Stobart, to say that Scottish students were “the most over-examined in the world” - an observation recalled by the education secretary in her speech to the Scottish Parliament this afternoon.
Today’s final report, which has 26 recommendations, also confirms that the idea of a “Scottish Diploma of Achievement” is central to the proposals, as a way to better represent students’ full range of achievements while at school.
Summing up some of the key Hayward recommendations, Ms Gilruth said that they “could represent very significant change to the qualifications offered by Scotland’s schools and colleges” and “a radical shift in Scottish education”.
She also said the report was recommending that “a wider range of methods of assessment should be used and the number of examinations in the senior phase [S4-6] reduced, with removal of exams suggested in S4”.
Ms Gilruth highlighted an emphasis on “project learning” and said that “learners would have the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills they have developed in ‘real-world’ situations by undertaking a project on a significant question or problem important to them”.
On the report’s “view that final examinations in S4 should end”, Ms Gilruth said: “Some purport this to be radical; but since National 4s were introduced in 2013-14, learners taking these qualifications have not been required to sit a final exam. Critics at the time argued that devalued National 4.
“It is likely that it has contributed to an increase in over-presentation with more pupils presented to sit National 5 qualifications - as this was considered more robust due to the final exam element.”
She added: “As a former teacher, I am absolutely supportive of more continuous assessment - of course, this has to be managed appropriately, but a move away from high-stakes final exams will provide for a more holistic approach to assessment practices.”
However, Ms Gilruth appeared to rule out the idea that creating parity across all types of of courses and qualifications might require scrapping the Higher brand that has existed for more than a century. 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”.
The interim report in March received some criticism for not addressing in detail the potential impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on qualifications and assessment.
However, the final report dedicates a section to AI. It states that it “would be helpful if there were common approaches to the use of AI across all education contexts”.
Professor Hayward has previously warned that the proposals in the final report will require extra investment and resources if they are to be realised.
