Scottish schools have been told that for “most” National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher courses the modifications put in place to increase the time for teaching and learning this year will stay in place in 2021-22.

The National Qualifications 2021 Group has also said that National 4 “added value units” will continue to be optional for all subjects in session 2021-22 and that other modifications “will also stay in place for most subjects in session 2021-22”.

For example, in Higher English next year students will still be required to produce only one piece of writing for their portfolio - as opposed to two - but the 30 per cent weighting will be retained.

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There will also be no requirement to assess spoken language for this course next year, which is the same as this year.

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For Higher maths, however, some elements that were optional this year will be removed entirely.

The update, published by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) on behalf of all members of the National Qualifications 2021 Group, states: “The following content will not be assessed in the question papers in session 2021-22: vectors, recurrence relations.”

It also says that - as was the case last year - the duration of both exam papers has been cut by 15 minutes.

These modifications to exam papers will raise some eyebrows, given that education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville has yet to inform schools and teachers if the government expects exams to run in the traditional way, or of any contingency arrangements that will be put in place. Nicola Sturgeon, when asked about this at First Minister’s Questions today, said that it was too early to say in what form SQA exams would go ahead next year, if they did at all.

Ms Somerville has promised a decision by the time the new school year gets underway in August.

We have published an update on National Qualifications and Higher National and Vocational Qualifications in session 2021-22, including modifications to National Courses which have been issued today - more information and further links can be found here ➡️ ... pic.twitter.com/b4FjlzQiiQ

- SQA (@sqanews) June 23, 2021

However, the new guidance says that the “modification decisions are valid regardless of the agreed approach to assessment in session 2021-22”.

The group says that where modifications have been adjusted, this has been done “based on feedback and to support opportunities for learners to demonstrate their knowledge and skills”.

It adds that adjustments are “specific to each course and fall into three broad categories”:

• Reinstating coursework, or parts of coursework, that were removed in session 2020-21.
• Adjusting the requirements of performances or practical activities, or providing additional guidance on performances or practical activities, in response to the easing of public health restrictions. Practical and performance-based subjects will still have appropriate modifications in place to ensure compliance with public health guidance, while supporting learners to demonstrate their skills.
• Clarifying which course content will or will not be assessed in 2021-22.

The NQ 2021 Group statement update, which was published yesterday, can be found here, with the specific changes to courses here.