The academic leading the independent review of qualifications in Scotland has warned that the proposals contained within the group’s final report - which will be with the education secretary next week - will require additional investment and resources if they are to be realised.
Professor Louise Hayward says some of the recommendations could even require the creation of new posts in school, and that if a broader range of achievement in the likes of sport, music or drama is to be recognised in the future - as envisaged in the group’s interim report - there will need to be “learner entitlements to ensure that all learners have appropriate opportunities”.
She stressed, too, that the first cohorts to benefit fully from assessment reforms might be pupils currently in the early part of primary school.
She also said - speaking yesterday at an online conference organised by the BOCSH group of headteachers - that the final report would contain a section on the implications of artificial intelligence (AI).
It has been suggested that recent developments in AI could lead to an increased reliance on external exams, given that experiments involving the technology have shown students could use it to complete coursework that counts towards their final grades.
However, Professor Hayward - whose review team is calling for less reliance on high-stakes exams and better use of a wider range of assessment - indicated that she stood by the proposals.
She said universities were “looking to make sure that they live with AI” rather than being driven by it into “only relying on very traditional approaches to assessment”. She pointed out that the International Baccalaureate (IB) had also decided it would not ban the use of AI software. It said that was “an ineffective way to deal with innovation” - although it has also been indicated that “the use of AI tools should be in line with the IB’s academic integrity policy”.
Professor Hayward said: “What we have to do is work with learners so that they learn to use these tools and to think about how they are going to cope with them as they move beyond school into college, university and employment.”
The interim report of the Hayward review of qualifications and assessment was published in March. It called for “a better balance between internal evidence and external examination” in national qualifications and for a Scottish Diploma of Achievement (SDA) to be introduced “to allow evidence of learner achievements to be gathered in a broader range of areas than is currently the case”.
The SDA would comprise three elements: it would record achievement in qualifications; challenge students to apply their knowledge by undertaking an interdisciplinary project; and allow them to record wider achievement in the likes of sport, volunteering or drama through the creation of a “personal pathway”.
On the final report - which the group is finalising now - Professor Hayward said there would be “no surprises” and that responses to the consultation that followed the interim report had revealed “a lot of support for the ideas, but a lot of concern about the practicalities”.
There would be “an entire chapter” in the final report about what it would take to bring the proposals to fruition, including “a clear indication of resource implications”.
She added: “This is not cost neutral, nor should it be regarded as having the potential to be cost neutral. There are resource implications.”
The two new strands contained in the diploma - the project and the personal pathway - could require the creation of new posts, said Professor Hayward, including the recruitment of teachers responsible for “mentoring young people through the personal pathway”.
She also suggested that placing more of a focus on wider achievement would require a move towards “learner entitlements to ensure that all learners have appropriate opportunities”.
There have been concerns expressed that the introduction of a personal pathway could widen the attainment gap between advantaged and disadvantaged pupils, because young people from more affluent backgrounds typically get more opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities.
However, Professor Hayward said: “The personal pathway does not create inequality or inequity but it does shine a light on it. So if we’re going to move in the direction of a personal pathway, then we need to move towards learner entitlements to ensure all learners have appropriate opportunities.”
She added: “It really is back to thinking about first principles. What does it mean to have an education in Scotland and to what should every learner, therefore, be entitled?”
There are already moves underway in Scotland to introduce an entitlement to at least one week of residential outdoor education between the ages of 12 and 16.
Professor Hayward was careful to stress that the group’s recommendations were not a “big bang proposal”.
“This is the first stage in a longer-term programme, and we need to start thinking about timelines,” she added.
She said these would “depend on the level of resource available”, but suggested that the changes to the way qualifications are assessed could potentially be put in place first, with a lead-in time of three or four years, but that the personal pathway would require a longer lead-in of potentially eight or nine years.
Professor Hayward suggested the goal could be for pupils in P2 to benefit from that aspect of the SDA by the time they entered the senior phase.
However, she stressed the lead-in times being mooted had no status and were just about sparking discussion. Ultimately, it will be up to the Scottish government if any - or all - of the group’s recommendations become reality.
Professor Hayward said: “The report will be received by the cabinet secretary next week and there will be a response from the Scottish government to the recommendations that are set out within it in due course. And that’s really as much as I know just now about the next stage of the process.”
