The Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association has warned it could boycott exams in 2024, saying it was “astounded” by the announcement that course assessments will revert to pre-Covid arrangements.
The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) announced yesterday that coursework and exams for practical subjects that were removed during the pandemic would return in 2023-24.
Today Seamus Searson, general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA), said: “The SQA pushed this decision out on a day when all focus was on Holyrood [where a new education secretary was appointed], just two days before the Easter break when teachers and learners are in the final furlong for the 2023 exams. This is a bad news story for all secondary school teachers and the young people they teach.
“I am absolutely astounded by this message from the SQA. The SQA needs a reality check as it has totally misread the situation in secondary schools. I have not spoken to a single secondary school teacher who believes their pupils are ready to return to full exam requirements.”
He said the SSTA had “already had calls from members to boycott the return of the full requirements, and I cannot see the call being rejected”.
The SQA has written to schools and colleges with details of the arrangements for 2023-24, and modifications will be kept in a small number of courses. More information will be sent to students after the 2023 exams.
SQA defends decision to return to pre-Covid arrangements
Yesterday Fiona Robertson, chief executive of the SQA, said that “our engagement with teachers, lecturers, training providers, universities, colleges and subject experts also suggests that, if retained for longer than necessary, the modifications to assessment could have a detrimental impact on consolidation of learning and learners’ progression to their next stage of education, employment or training”.
Ms Robertson added: “Coursework provides learners with the opportunity to personalise their learning, extend their own knowledge and apply their skills in practice, and we know it is something that many learners enjoy and do well in. It also provides a more balanced assessment approach.”
However, Mr Searson said: “The long-term damage to pupils caused by the pandemic is no secret. Every secondary teacher in the country knows that pupils are still not ready to return to the previous regime. Any resumption of ‘normal’ arrangements is more about SQA taking back control and cementing a place for itself in the developing education landscape.
“This risks giving an impression that the pandemic never happened, and that education recovery is just a nonsense to which the SQA pays lip service.”
He added: “This return flies in the face of common sense when the Hayward Review is going to change the assessment and qualifications system in 2025 and beyond. To reintroduce the ‘normal’ when it could all change again in the next couple of years is just going to add to teacher workload and cause further damage to teachers’ health and wellbeing.
“Moreover, the SSTA has been refused a place at the National Qualifications Strategic Group. When challenged, the SQA has stated that it needs only one teacher representative. Our view is that they do not really want to hear what secondary teachers think. This is the same group that introduced the alternative certification model (ACM) during Covid, which was roundly condemned as a workload nightmare by all secondary teachers.”
