New figures from the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) show that one in 10 appeals following this year’s exams resulted in an improved grade - down from around three in 10 in 2022.
The total number of appeals and the appeal rate are also down on last year.
However, with appeals free of charge again this year, requests continue to far outnumber those received in 2019, the last year before the Covid pandemic, when financial charges were still in place.
In 2019, just 11,528 appeals were made (2.3 per cent of entries), while 1,683 resulted in an improved grade.
This year there were more than three times as many appeals - 39,645 requests (7.3 per cent of grades awarded) and twice as many results upgraded following review. A total of 10 per cent of appeal requests - 3,980 appeals in total - resulted in an improved grade.
Five appeal requests this year resulted in a downgrade. All other appeals resulted in no change to the final grade.
Last year - when appeals were also free of charge - the SQA received just over 58,000 appeals, meaning that 11 per cent of the grades issued at National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher were queried. In total 29.8 per cent of appeals (17,300) last year resulted in a better grade.
The appeals system in Scotland has been tweaked a number of times in recent years.
In 2014, a more limited form of appeals was introduced - as well as controversial financial charges - amid concerns that the SQA was being overwhelmed by speculative appeals; in the final year of the old system, around 67,000 appeals had been received, a figure that fell dramatically in the years that followed.
As national SQA exams were run again in 2022, following a two-year Covid-enforced hiatus, however, a more liberal approach to appeals was deployed: students could appeal - free of charge - to the SQA on the basis of evidence gathered by teachers over the year.
This year, however, the SQA reverted to a system akin to that in place before the pandemic, in which the marking of exam papers and coursework was checked but past performance - such as in preliminary exams (or “prelims”) - was not considered. One key difference compared to 2019 was that appeals this year were free and students could appeal directly, without having to go through their school.
Success of appeals
The new data for 2022 shows that the success rate of appeals - and the overall appeal rate - varied depending on the qualification.
Results at Higher were most likely to be subject to an appeal (10.3 per cent of 191,810 entries) and results at National 5 were least likely to be subject to an appeal (5.6 per cent of 321,360 entries). There were 1,955 appeals for Advanced Higher (7 per cent of 27,750 entries).
Meanwhile, the proportion of appeal requests resulting in an upgrade was highest for Advanced Higher (16.5 per cent) and lowest for National 5 (8.2 per cent). More than one in 10 appeals at Higher resulted in a better grade (11.1 per cent).
Challenge grades
If students had concerns about a grade on their certificate following exam results day in August, they could submit an appeal for free to SQA either directly, or via their school or college.
Their SQA-marked course assessments, such as their exam and coursework, were then reviewed by experienced markers - the teachers and lecturers appointed and trained by SQA.
However, schools and students could not challenge grades based on their performance throughout the year - meaning there was no recourse this year for students who underperformed on exam day, unlike in 2022. The situation was described in August by headteachers’ body School Leaders Scotland as “appalling”.
Fiona Robertson, SQA chief executive and Scotland’s chief examining officer, said this year’s appeals process had given “learners across the country a safety net so they could query any unexpected result, directly and for free”.
She said that, ultimately, less than 1 per cent of total grades awarded changed following a marking review.
Students whose grades changed following an appeal will receive a new certificate by post later this month.
An evaluation of the approach to awarding in 2023 is taking place, the SQA said.
