Independent schools were more successful with Scottish Qualifications Authority appeals in 2024 than the state sector, SQA data shows.
Private schools had success with 11.5 per cent of their appeals in 2024 (compared with 12.8 per cent in 2023), while state schools saw 7.3 per cent of their appeals result in an upgrade (9.8 per cent in 2023).
Further education colleges also had a success rate of 7.3 per cent. In 2023 FE colleges had the highest success rate at 13.1 per cent.
However, the volume of appeals from FE colleges was low (245 appeals in 2024) and therefore subject to more fluctuation in percentage-based data. In contrast, there were 41,895 appeals from state schools and 2,680 from independent schools.
The appeal rate in 2024, according to the SQA, did “not vary significantly by centre type”: 8.2 per cent of all local authority entries were appealed, compared with 6.9 per cent from independent schools and 4.6 per cent from FE colleges.
‘Significantly’ different appeal success rates
Today’s SQA data also shows that the appeal rate differs slightly across Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) quintiles, from 7.7 to 8.6 per cent. However, the success rate “varied significantly by SIMD”.
While the upgrade rate for the most deprived quintile (SIMD 1) was 5.9 per cent, in the least deprived quintile (SIMD 5) it was 8.5 per cent.
Appeal rates also did not differ much between boys and girls (8.2 of appeals from females, 8 per cent of appeals from males). However, the SQA said that outcomes of appeals “varied significantly by sex”, with an 8.2 per cent upgrade rate for females contrasting with 6.8 per cent for males.
Overall this year, following exams, 8.1 per cent of certificated grades for National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher were appealed, a 0.8 percentage point increase from 2023 (7.3 per cent).
Some 7.6 per cent of appeal requests (3,390) resulted in an upgrade in 2024, a decrease from 10 per cent in 2023. Five appeal requests resulted in a downgrade in 2024.
There were big differences between individual subjects in both the volume and success rate of appeals.
These variations are also seen in SQA groupings of subjects: care subjects had the highest appeal rate (15.6 per cent), while languages subjects had the lowest (5.2 per cent); appeal rates for other subject groupings ranged between 6.1 and 9.5 per cent.
The SQA said: “A number of factors are likely to play a part in these differences, including the nature of the subject and the weighting of question papers (external examinations) versus other assessments (such as coursework completed throughout the academic year) towards the overall grade.”
Success rates across subjects
Tes Scotland analysis isolated the data for the 10 subjects at Higher with the most appeals, and found that the success rate varied markedly between 14.1 per cent (history) and 0.5 per cent (physics).
The full list is: history (14.1 per cent of Higher appeals successful); geography (12.9 per cent); modern studies (11.5 per cent); English (11.3 per cent); business management (8.9 per cent); PE (8.3 per cent); maths (6.4 per cent); chemistry (3.4 per cent); human biology (2.3 per cent) and physics (0.5 per cent).
After problems with Higher history this year - which led to an SQA review and will be further scrutinised in the Scottish Parliament tomorrow - the subject had the third highest appeal rate at Higher: 16.1 per cent, up from 9.6 per cent last year.
Across all subjects, appeals were more likely to be successful at Advanced Higher (10 per cent) than at Higher (9 per cent) or National 5 (5.7 per cent).
However, appeals were more likely to be submitted for Highers (11.2 per cent of the 196,250 certified grades were appealed) than for Advanced Highers (7.9 per cent of 28,495 entries) or National 5s (6.3 per cent of 327,950 entries).
Fiona Robertson, chief executive of the SQA, who is also Scotland’s chief examining officer, said: “The appeals service is an important and final stage of the national qualifications awarding process and gives learners across the country the opportunity to question an unexpected grade, and for free.”
She added that she “would once again like to thank our appointees - experienced teachers and lecturers from across the country - who are essential to qualifications delivery in Scotland”.
Before the Covid pandemic the SQA charged schools for unsuccessful appeals. In 2019 just 11,528 appeals were made (2.3 per cent of entries), with 1,683 resulting in an improved grade.
Changes to the SQA appeals system
The appeals system in Scotland has been changed 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 subsequently fell dramatically.
As national SQA exams were run again in 2022, following a two-year Covid hiatus, a more liberal approach to appeals was put in place: students could appeal - free of charge - to the SQA on the basis of evidence gathered by teachers over the year.
In 2023, 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 to 2019, however, was that students could appeal directly without having to go through their school.
The SQA is due to be replaced by a new body, Qualifications Scotland, in 2025.
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