Teachers are warning that grades will drop and teachers and students will be tipped “over the edge” if Scotland’s exam body pushes ahead with its decision to return to pre-Covid assessment arrangements next year.
The comments were made in a survey due to close this Friday - but which has already attracted over 2,000 responses - showing that 90 per cent of teachers are against the move, which will mean reintroducing coursework and exams in practical subjects that were removed in a bid to ease the workload of learners, teachers and lecturers.
The Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA), which conducted the survey, is now calling for the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) to reconsider its decision.
The SSTA says a phased approach to the reintroduction of pre-Covid assessment arrangements would be more appropriate and that the SQA response fails to properly acknowledge the loss of learning suffered by students during the pandemic and the size of the gap in learning that teachers are trying to bridge.
One teacher responding to the survey suggested that: “Bringing back elements at Higher and Advanced Higher when staff have been stretched and unable to cover the relevant work for the last two years is unrealistic.”
But they add that: “It could be reintroduced at [National 5] this year, Higher the following session and Advanced Higher the session after that. It is an unfair demand of Higher and AH pupils this year.”
SQA challenged over reinstating pre-Covid assessment
SSTA general secretary Seamus Searson said: “The initial results indicate that 90 per cent of teachers believe that their pupils are not ready for a full return of exam requirements. The damage to pupils’ learning and the task for teachers in trying bridge the gap cannot be underestimated, and to make more changes to qualifications when the whole qualification system is about to change is at best foolhardy and at worst negligent.
“The SQA is to be abolished and a new body established in 2024. This is the SQA’s last attempt to take control and is not about putting the pupils front and centre. The SQA has ignored the impact of the pandemic upon pupils and teachers and is set upon its own agenda, which is more concerned about cementing its position in the education landscape.”
Mr Searson said the SQA’s failure to listen in the past had led to the 2020 grading fiasco, adding: “Hopefully the SQA will listen this time.”
An SQA spokesperson said that the decision to reintroduce coursework in 2024 had been made following engagement with the profession and amid concerns that the changes were starting to have a detrimental impact on learning.
The spokesperson said: “The decision to reintroduce coursework in 2024 was made in the best interests of learners and followed engagement with teachers, lecturers, universities, colleges and unions, among others. This engagement built on an evaluation of awarding in 2022 and highlighted concerns about the detrimental impact temporary Covid modifications can have on learners’ development of knowledge, skills and understanding and on their progression into further or higher education or employment.
“A return to coursework provides learners with a more balanced approach to assessment, in line with the direction of travel emerging from Professor Hayward’s independent review of qualifications and assessment, and is particularly beneficial to those learners who may not perform well in high-stakes exams.”
