One of the key recommendations of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) review of Scottish school qualifications published this week is that exams should be scrapped in S4 and replaced with “a school graduation certificate” for those leaving school at 16.

The author of the latest OECD review, Professor Gordon Stobart, says that trusting teachers to take more responsibly for assessment can allow skills like creativity and collaboration to be assessed and “actively encouraged and reinforced by the format and demands of the test”.

However, Professor Stobart also warns that Scotland’s exam habit - which he points out dates back to Victorian times - could prove tough, if not impossible, to break and that workload has stopped teachers from taking more responsibility for assessment in the past.

Background: OECD qualifications review could spell the end for S4 exams

Expert analysis: Scottish qualifications now have ‘blueprint for reform’, says Professor Mark Priestley

Also this week: Qualifications were ‘fully aligned’ with Curriculum for Excellence, says SQA

He points out, though, that it is likely those on the receiving end of the assessment - students in schools - would prefer continuous assessment. However, he also says that we do not really know because up to now no one has bothered to ask them.

The OECD review of exams and qualifications in Scotland: key findings

Here are some of the key messages from the report:

History and culture

Professor Stobart describes Scotland as being “historically steeped in examinations” and, for this reason, he suggests that removing exams at S4 in favour of a graduate certificate or diploma could be “a non-runner” - many teachers, employers and parents in Scotland “appear to be wedded to examinations”, he says. The format of British school assessments can be traced back to the 19th century, he says, and he points out that “Britain is the last country in Europe in which pupils take national examinations at 16”.

However, some countries and territories have “broken away from the British model of single-subject examinations and of extensive external examinations” - Professor Stobart highlights New Zealand and Queensland, Australia.

Vocational courses

“The historical pattern of giving preference to the written examination has left vocational education and training struggling to establish parity of esteem,” says Professor Stobart. But he believes, with the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) being responsible for both general and vocational qualifications, “Scotland is well placed to raise the profile of vocational qualifications” - something that he argues would broaden the curriculum offer and develop student capacities.

He suggests further integrating vocational courses into “the mainstream qualification offer” - it is possible to do Nationals and Highers in accounting, care and health, and food technology, for example - and this could be expanded. He also says the status of vocational awards needs to be improved.

Pupil voice

Parents and teachers in Scotland might be “wedded to examinations” but it appears the same cannot be said for pupils. Professor Stobart highlights that anecdotal evidence from reviews - like the independent review of the 2020 results debacle carried out by the University of Stirling’s Professor Mark Priestley - suggests that “students would prefer a system which includes some forms of continuous assessment by their teacher”.

The OECD review of CfE published in June also found evidence of this, he says, with students concerned about “the ‘teaching to the test’ they were receiving in preparation for the National Qualifications”. However, he adds that we don’t really know how young people would prefer to be assessed because there has been “limited” research. Professor Stobart says that “if policy is to be responsive to student needs and aspirations, more systematic study of their perceptions needs support”.

Validity of different forms of assessment

We often hear concerns about the reliability of assessment in terms of whether an A grade in one part of the country is the same as an A in another area - especially in recent times, when responsibility for assigning grades has fallen to schools and teachers.

But what about the validity of assessment in terms of whether it is actually testing the skills and understanding that the curriculum aims to impart? Can that really be done with paper-and-pen exams when your curriculum aims to develop skills like critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creativity? And would using a more diverse range of assessment better suit a more diverse student population? Exams are often seen as the fairest way of assessing pupils, but Professor Stobart questions whether “some [pupils] have a more privileged preparation”.

He says “one solution is to entrust more of the summative assessment to classroom teachers” through research projects and assignments and, in subjects such as music and drama, performance assessment.

However, Professor Stobart warns that in Scotland a key consideration is workload, reminding us that the “assessment load” caused by unit assessments led to “a retrenchment towards a more traditional examination system” and the role of final exams being “expanded”.

Technology

As pupils become increasingly accustomed to typing, is it fair to ask them to complete pen-and-paper exams? University students in Norway did not think so and pushed for computer-based tests. School pupils might still be accustomed to writing but with the government promise of a device for all and some councils, such as Glasgow and the Scottish Borders, already providing this, how long is it before lack of penmanship becomes another reason to take a different approach to assessment?

Professor Stobart also suggests that technical innovation “offers new possibilities for how subjects can be examined” including allowing pupils to produce evidence of learning through the creation of e-portfolios. However, he notes that making better use of technology to assess pupils has its challenges in terms of access to devices and connectivity, and it is also expensive. He concludes that, to date, “most of the technical innovations by UK examination boards have been in relation to the marking and processing of examination papers”.