A big increase in the number of students presented at both National 4 and National 5 - an approach commonly known as “dual presentation” - is highlighted in a Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) report published today.
In 2023 there were 30,295 “dual-presentation entries”, up from from 20,960 in 2022 and 13,560 in 2019 (after dips to around 9,900 and 9,915 in the Covid years of 2020 and 2021).
However, the report also notes that students presented at a single level tend to get better results.
In January, education secretary Jenny Gilruth wrote to local authority education directors calling for an end to dual presentation - barring “a very limited number of exceptional circumstances” - as she was concerned that many students doing courses at both levels were “performing poorly” at N5.
Today’s report looks at dual presentation from 2019 to 2023, and stresses that the Covid pandemic made this period “atypical in a number of ways”.
It starts by highlighting the “sizeable increase in the number of dual presentations” in 2022-23.
Dual-presentation students ‘get lower grades’
The report also states: “Single-presentation candidates consistently achieve a higher proportion of A and A to C grades than dual-presentation candidates.
“However, the attainment gap between these cohorts narrowed after 2019, indicating a shift in the cohort put forward for both National 4 and National 5 in the same academic session after that time.”
There was a decrease in the proportion of dual-presentation entries during the pandemic, but a steep rise afterwards: the 4.7 per cent recorded in 2019 was followed by 3.3 per cent in both 2020 and 2021 (years in which no national external exams were run) before the figure increased to 6.8 per cent in 2022 and 9.4 per cent in 2023.
The data also shows that single-presentation remains far more common than dual presentation, accounting for 90.6 per cent of entries in 2023.
Ever since their introduction more than 10 years ago as successors to Standard Grades, there have been concerns about a disconnect between N5 courses (which typically include national external exams) and N4 courses (which do not).
Dual presentation can be a way of providing a fallback if a student fails to pass an N5 course.
Today’s SQA report shows that schools with higher average attainment (as measured by their average N5 grade) in a given year tend to submit fewer dual-presentation entries the following year; schools with lower attainment tend to submit more dual presentations the following year.
The report indicates that English and maths are typically the N5 qualifications with the highest number of dual-presentation entries, followed by biology, history, physics and modern studies.
However, 2023 data shows that maths had the highest proportion of dual-presentation entries (14.2 per cent), followed by history (14.1 per cent), environmental science (13.6 per cent), religious, moral and philosophical studies (13.5 per cent) and modern studies (12.1 per cent).
Ms Gilruth’s letter in January was also signed by SQA chief executive Fiona Robertson and chief inspector of education Janie McManus.
It stated: “The learning and pathways within Curriculum for Excellence are designed to be centred around the individual young person. There should, therefore, be no occasions where large numbers of candidates in a centre are being presented for both N4 and N5 in S4.”
Dual presentation creates ‘unnecessary’ workload
The letter concluded: “Entering young people into National 5 when reliable assessment information suggests they are not yet prepared can result in unnecessary additional workload as well as a discouraging learning and assessment experience, negatively impacting upon their confidence in that subject.
“Equally, dual-presenting a young person who is on track to safely achieve at N5 level also results in unnecessary additional workload and over-assessment.”
In February, Seamus Searson, general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association, criticised dual presentation as being bad for both students and teachers.
Mr Searson said: “It’s all about statistics and the pressure on schools to get the young people achieving higher levels of qualifications, and the child gets lost in the middle.”
He added: “It is stressful for them and it is stressful for staff at a time when there is already enough pressure on pupils and teachers.”
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