The delayed Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) review of the sharp drop this year in the Higher history pass rate has found that the standard was “not higher than that set in previous years”.
It also states that processes were “followed rigorously and robustly”, and the “Higher history exam team acted with integrity”.
The review - originally expected in late September - points the finger of blame at a weaker student cohort sitting the Higher history exam in 2023-24, saying feedback from markers provided in their reports “was overwhelmingly focused on the poor standard of responses provided by learners, especially for the Scottish history question paper”.
The report says: “The strongest theme in the feedback from markers was the poorer performance of learners; 81 per cent felt that the performance in Scottish history was lower or much lower than in 2023.”
The figure is based on 69 marker reports submitted at the end of the marking period. A total of 90 per cent felt that the performance standard in Scottish history was lower or much lower than in 2019.
One marker commented: “The paper was not particularly hard but the standard of candidate seems to have dropped.”
However, SQA markers also flagged concerns about marking instructions and standards this year.
They said the marking standard was “harsh” and “it felt like the goalposts were moved after the exam”. They also said that while “overall performance was lower this year”, that “could be because the standard appeared to be much stricter”.
Explanation given for delay to review
The review - which reveals a big surge in Higher history appeals, up almost 70 per cent - took longer to carry out than initially projected, because it went beyond looking just at the marking of assessments.
“In the interests of transparency”, it looked at “the full end-to-end process...from question paper and marking instruction development, through marking and post-exam procedures, to grade-boundary decisions and appeals”.
The review was started after a sharp drop in Higher history pass rates emerged when annual results data was published in August.
The concerns about Higher history - initially highlighted by Tes Scotland on 13 August, were raised after just 65.7 per cent of students this year attained an A-C grade, a drop of 13.1 percentage points compared with 2023.
At the time, the SQA said there was “no change to the approach or standard of the Higher history question papers”, but that there was “a drop in learners’ performance in the question papers”.
However, SQA markers and teachers disputed this and the plans for a review were made public on Friday 20 September. Concerns centred on paper two, which focuses on Scottish history. They said there were changes made to the marking standards in 2024, with students required to give more detail than in previous years in order to gain full marks.
The review acknowledges that there was “mixed feedback on the marking instructions” for Higher history and the marking instructions included more points of detail and exemplification in 2024 than in previous years.
But it says that happens “each year to exemplify the standard and support markers”, and the random sampling of markers’ papers means any markers who grade too harshly or leniently have their papers remarked. It says no remarks were carried out in 2024.
The review also states: “An analysis of a random, representative sample of learners’ answers shows that learners did not have to be more specific to gain marks in 2024.”
On average, students sitting paper two in 2024 picked up fewer than half the available marks (15.2 points out of 36). Last year, on average, students got 57.2 per cent for paper two (20.6 points out of 36).
Dissatisfaction reflected in scale of appeals
Dissatisfaction with this year’s Higher history grades is reflected in the number of appeals SQA has received.
The report shows a 68 per cent rise in appeals, from 974 for Higher history last year, but 1,638 in the wake of this year’s exam.
However, the report says that “while there was a larger number of Higher history appeals in 2024 than in 2023, a smaller percentage was successful”.
Last year, 24 per cent of standard Higher history appeals were upgraded. In 2024 that figure fell to 14 per cent.
The review - which was independently scrutinised by Wales’s largest awarding body, the WJEC - identifies four areas for “continuous improvement”, including:
• Reviewing the way marker feedback is considered and used, and how markers are informed about actions taken to address any concerns raised.
• Seeking feedback immediately after markers’ meetings rather than at the end of the marking period.
• Ensuring that changes to course specifications, and the intended consequences, are clearly understood by teachers.
• Building a stronger understanding across the education community of the end-to-end operation of the exams system.
SQA ‘marking its own homework’
Scottish Labour education spokesperson Pam Duncan-Glancy said: “Once again the SQA has shown how disconnected it is from what is happening in our schools. After marking its own homework, the SQA has decided to try and blame pupils and teachers for what went wrong here.”
Ms Duncan-Glancy said the report was a “clear reminder” that a “rebranding” of national bodies such as SQA “is not enough to fix the systemic issues in our education system”.
Martyn Ware, SQA director of policy, analysis and standards, said the review had been “rigorous and robust, with a wide range of evidence gathered and analysed” and “the standard set in Higher history was not higher than in previous years”.
Richard Harry, who carried out the independent scrutiny of the report on behalf of WJEC, said: “I am content that the report’s conclusions are supported sufficiently.”
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