A Tes Scotland investigation has revealed that by the end of last week Scotland’s national exam body still needed to sign up 2,500 markers in order to hit its own recruitment target for exams due to begin on 26 April.

Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) figures - obtained exclusively by Tes Scotland through a freedom of information request - show that in total the SQA is aiming to recruit 9,328 markers this year for National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher exams.

However, as of Friday 11 March, just 6,828 markers had confirmed that they would be available to grade papers - 2,500 short of the SQA target.

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When comparing different qualifications, the figures show that Higher has the biggest shortfall of markers. The SQA target is to recruit 4,122 markers but by Friday it had recruited 2,897, leaving 30 per cent of Higher marker posts unfilled.

At Advanced Higher, 27 per cent of marker posts were unfilled as of Friday, and at National 5, 24 per cent of marker posts were unfilled.

SQA exams 2022: Thousands more markers required

Scottish students have not taken national exams since 2019 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, but this year the SQA has said the “clear intention” is that the exams will go ahead and that they will only be cancelled if public health advice restricts physical gatherings.

But there are concerns about rising staff and pupil absence because of Covid, and also about the quality of the extra study support provided by the SQA last week after it invoked its “scenario 2” contingency plan.

This contingency plan was meant to help compensate for the significant disruption to learning and teaching this year, but teachers criticised what was being offered, saying the study guides produced by the SQA are “patronising” and “embarrassing” and will only help students if they “haven’t listened to a word their teacher has said all year”.

Now, the latest figures on the number of markers appear to suggest that marker recruitment could also be an issue for Scotland’s beleaguered exam body - which the Scottish government confirmed last week would be replaced after it “broadly” accepted the recommendations in Professor Ken Muir’s report.

However, it is expected that the SQA will continue to deliver qualifications up to and including the 2024 exam diet.

The marker recruitment figures also show the extent to which SQA targets are being hit by subject.

The figures show that for Highers, some of the most popular subjects - like PE, maths and English - still have a large number of markers to recruit.

For Higher maths, the SQA is aiming to recruit 282 markers, but by Friday just 169 had signed up - leaving 40 per cent of posts unfilled.

For Higher English, the SQA target is 994 markers, but by Friday just 758 had signed up - meaning around a quarter of the markers needed have yet to be recruited.

For Higher PE, the SQA target is 183 markers, but by Friday just 102 had signed up - leaving 44 per cent of posts unfilled.

Other Higher subjects where marker recruitment is low include human biology (53 per cent of markers recruited); design and manufacture (54 per cent); and religious, moral and philosophical studies (54 per cent).

Higher subjects where 90 per cent of markers or more had been recruited by Friday include graphic communication (91 per cent of posts filled); French (93 per cent); German (all posts filled) and Higher applications of maths (all posts filled).

Last week, the long-awaited Muir report revealed details of how and when the SQA is likely to be replaced. The SQA has faced sustained and heavy criticism for its performance during the Covid pandemic.

In its FOI response, the SQA said the figures were for markers who had “confirmed their ‘acceptance’ of their marking contract for 2022” by 11 March. The body also said that the number of markers would “increase over the coming weeks” and until “the marker meeting date for individual marking teams”. However, the SQA did not say when markers’ meetings were due to take place.

An SQA spokesperson said: “Marker recruitment for 2022 continues to progress well.”