It is the news that Scottish secondary school leaders and teachers have been waiting for: the Scottish government has today confirmed that it is going to turn to contingency plans, as a result of the disruption caused by Covid, which will mean students sitting exams later this year will receive extra support.
The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) has been careful to stress that the intention remains for the exams to go ahead from April to June, but in recognition of the high levels of staff and pupil absence that have plagued many schools this year, it has today confirmed it is moving to its so-called “Scenario 2”.
Last month Tes Scotland revealed that over half of secondary students in Scotland had missed out on at least some time in school this academic year, as a result of the Covid pandemic.
The plans announced today mean that, during the week beginning 7 March, revision support will be published for students sitting National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher exams this year, “to help them with their revision in the final run-up to their exams”.
For some subjects, students will be given an advance warning of what will and what will not be assessed in the exam. For other subjects, the support will entail the provision of study guides.
The SQA has also said that “this year we are prepared to be more generous in our approach to grading than in a normal year to factor in the impact of the pandemic on learners”, and that learners will continue this year to have “free direct access to the appeals service”.
Announcing the changes in the Scottish Parliament this afternoon, education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said they were “aimed at helping reduce the stress for learners in preparing for their exams and allowing them to maximise their performance”.
SQA chief executive Fiona Robertson said the ”substantial package of additional support” was the fairest and best way to support all learners, while also maintaining “the integrity, credibility and standard of the qualifications”.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Revision support for students and ‘Scenario 2’
Revision support will be provided for all students sitting an exam. Some students will be provided with information about the content of the exam - “which topic(s), context(s) or content will or will not be assessed in the exam”.
For other courses, the SQA says it will provide study guides, “with hints and tips to help learners prepare for the exams”.
It adds: “A small number of courses will have study guides which learners can take into the exam, where appropriate.”
For example, this year students sitting Higher English will receive advance notice of content that will be assessed in relation to question paper 2, the Scottish text. But for Higher maths, students will receive “advance notice of further content that will not be assessed”.
A table showing the type of revision support that will be provided for each course is available on SQA’s website here.
The SQA says that further detail will not be made available until the week beginning Monday 7 March - headteachers have already said this information should be made available as soon as possible so teachers can prioritise work now. However, the SQA says question papers are still being finalised and also that they want the course coverage to be as broad as possible “to avoid the narrowing of learning and teaching, which would negatively impact learners’ breadth of course knowledge and understanding, and the next steps in their learning”.
2. Grading
The SQA says that “this year we are prepared to be more generous in our approach to grading than in a normal year to factor in the impact of the pandemic on learners”.
It adds that this is in line with the approach being taken in other parts of the UK and that “SQA, therefore, expects that the overall outcomes in 2022 will represent an intermediary position between 2021 and pre-pandemic years”.
It says this will be achieved through the “grade boundary-setting process” and adds: “SQA appointees - practising teachers and lecturers who are subject experts in each course - will determine the 2022 grade boundaries by looking at all the available assessment evidence and course information, including the impact that disruption has had on how learners have performed in the assessments.”
Adjusting grade boundaries is normal practice after candidates have sat an exam - for example, in 2015 the SQA admitted the Higher maths exam was too hard and the grade boundaries were adjusted accordingly. Candidates sitting that exam ultimately needed just 34 per cent to pass.
3. Appeals
In 2022, learners will continue to have a direct right of appeal if they are unhappy with the grade they receive on results day - and the appeals service will continue to be free of charge. A priority service will also be available for those applying to university, college, training or employment.
This year’s appeals service will involve SQA appointees - practising teachers and lecturers - who will review alternative assessment evidence that learners have completed through the year. The SQA will also conduct a clerical check on the exam script.
Students’ grades through the appeals process will be based upon the higher grade of the two types of evidence.
The SQA says it’s possible that a grade could go down - if both the clerical check and the review of the alternative assessment evidence result in a lower grade being arrived at. However, it says this is very unlikely.
In 2021, children’s commissioner Bruce Adamson argued that the appeals process should be one of “no detriment”, with no risk of downgrading for a young person making an appeal. But education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville rejected the call.
Last year’s SQA appeals data shows that there were 3,483 requests for appeal and 57 (1.6 per cent) resulted in a grade change: 44 upgrades and 13 downgrades.
4. Exceptional circumstances
The “exceptional circumstances service” was unavailable last year, because the SQA argued that the kind of evidence submitted by schools in previous years when they wanted the SQA to take into account disruption - for example, if a student missed an exam because of illness - was the kind of evidence teachers were already considering in determining last year’s results on anyway.
However, it is to be available in 2022 for learners and was described by Ms Somerville as “a back-up for learners who are unable to attend their exam or exams due to illness or bereavement, or where there is disruption during the exam”.
She added: “This will include Covid-19 related absences.”
The exam exceptional circumstances service will involve SQA appointees - practising teachers and lecturers - reviewing alternative assessment evidence that learners have completed through the year. Schools, colleges and training providers will need to send the evidence to SQA.
The service is only for students who are unable to sit the exam. The SQA says that for those who wish for exceptional circumstances before the exams to be taken into account, the appeals service will be available if they believe their result does not reflect their ability.
The SQA says more information, including criteria for using the exam exceptional circumstances and appeals services, will be published over the coming weeks.
The EIS teaching union said this afternoon that it “welcomes the SQA announcement today”.
EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan said that the SQA’s offer of “some revision support for courses that have an exam is helpful for students”, but he added that there should also be an emphasis on “study support for young people who would not otherwise have access to private tutors”.
Mr Flanagan added: “The inclusion this year of an appeals service that can be accessed by students who perform less well in the final exams than their evidence-based estimates suggest - and of arrangements for exceptional circumstances in the event that students are unable to sit the final exam - also provide some mitigation of the impacts of Covid disruption on learner outcomes.”
