Staff at the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) have overwhelmingly voted to support strike action over pay.
The union Unite has today confirmed that hundreds of its SQA members backed strike action by 72 per cent, based on a turnout of 80 per cent. The union’s members work in all grades and job roles at the national qualifications body, including administrators, managers, processors and researchers.
Unite says it will now discuss potential dates for industrial action, “which could affect the SQA’s ability to provide exam results next year”.
Key activities such as verification and visiting verification, intended to take place in early 2024, could be affected, it says.
Additionally, it says, the 2023-24 exam diet could be “greatly impacted”, with industrial action taking place throughout the planning and preparation phase and during the marking period for SQA externally marked coursework.
The bulk of this occurs in March and April and makes a substantial contribution to the final grades awarded to learners.
The pay dispute centres on the SQA’s two-year pay offer for 2023 and 2024 - which it says ”is fair and reasonable, and represents the maximum amount that is affordable”.
According to Unite, for most of its members, the SQA offer equates to no more than 5.75 per cent in 2023, and 3.15 per cent in 2024.
It contrasted the offer to broader inflation, which, it said, had varied between 8.9 per cent and 13.8 per cent throughout 2023, according to the Retail Price Index.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The resounding mandate for strike action is a direct result of senior management’s failure to make a fair pay offer.
“Unless this is quickly addressed then our members will have no option but to take strike action in the fight for better jobs, pay and conditions at the SQA.”
Unite is also drawing attention to the fact that around 38 per cent of all SQA workers have hit a pay ceiling - and therefore are not eligible for any pay progression - as well as its concerns over the government’s education reform plans.
Future of SQA
In 2021, the Scottish government announced its intention to replace the SQA and reform Education Scotland, but the reform programme has been hit by a series of delays.
It is now expected that the SQA will be replaced in autumn 2025, with the first exam diet under the new organisation taking place in 2026.
Education secretary Jenny Gilruth reiterated in a recent update that there would be no compulsory redundancies at the SQA. However, SQA bosses have commented on the impact that the uncertainty surrounding the organisation’s future is having on staff morale, as well as its ability to recruit new staff.
Unite industrial officer Alison Maclean said: “There remains a number of outstanding issues in relation to the scrapping of the SQA that have still not been addressed.
“The nation’s new qualifications body is set to be up and running in 2025, yet we have been given no clarity on how this organisation will operate. It simply isn’t good enough, which is why the Scottish government and SQA management repeatedly fail our members’ confidence test.”
Last year, Unite members took strike action over pay at the SQA for the first time in the organisation’s history.
In September, they accepted a deal that was a “significant improvement” on what was originally offered.
An SQA spokesman said: ”The pay deal on offer is fair and reasonable, and represents the maximum amount that is affordable and permitted by the Scottish government’s pay strategy. It represents a total average increase of 7.43 per cent in year one and a further total average rise of 5.19 per cent in year two, taking into account pay progression.
“Industrial action is not in the interests of learners. We are committed to minimising any disruption and have contingency plans in place to protect delivery of vital services.”
The spokesman added that the majority of SQA staff are not members of Unite. SQA employs around 1,100 staff in total.
