Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has dismissed calls to sack her education secretary after what opponents described as the “biggest exam fiasco in the history of devolution”.

Ruth Davidson, the reappointed leader of the Conservatives in the Scottish Parliament, said John Swinney has been the “common denominator” in a range of problems for Scottish education.

Ms Sturgeon defended Mr Swinney, who is also her deputy and is facing a vote-of-no-confidence motion tomorrow. She said the Scottish government had taken responsibility for the controversial system to replace exams and Mr Swinney is working to “put it right”.

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At the first First Minister’s Questions since Mr Swinney’s U-turn to reinstate the 124,564 results downgraded by the Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA) moderation process, Ms Davidson said pupils “deserve new leadership” in education.

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“Next week marks five years since Nicola Sturgeon announced that education would be her number one priority,” she said.

“In those five years, she’s pulled Scotland out of international tests, her flagship education bill was scrapped, Named Person was struck down by the courts, poor students have been punished by a persistent attainment gap, hundreds of teacher vacancies are left unfilled and we’ve just seen the biggest exam fiasco in the history of devolution.

“John Swinney has been the common denominator through all of this.”

She added: “The first minister’s loyalty to a colleague may be commendable but her real loyalty should be to the parents and the pupils of Scotland.

“They deserve new leadership in education and John Swinney cannot deliver it. Why won’t the first minister see that?”

Ms Sturgeon responded that “I’m not sure loyalty to colleagues is a strong suit for Ruth Davidson”, referencing allegations that she was involved in a plot to oust former Scottish Tory leader Jackson Carlaw.

The first minister added that Mr Swinney had already spoken to Scottish universities to discuss making extra places available and the SQA released its methodology last Tuesday.

Ms Davidson also called for the release of all documents and details of the Scottish government’s communication with the SQA.

She quoted comments from Ms Sturgeon about a previous SQA debacle in 2000 - when the latter was in opposition - in which Ms Sturgeon demanded transparency from the Scottish Labour and Liberal Democrat administration of that time.

The first minister told MSPs that the Scottish government “will make whatever Parliament wants available”, adding: “In a few months, I will submit myself and my government to the verdict of the Scottish people in an election. That is the ultimate accountability for our record and our leadership.”

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard asked if Mr Swinney is being let “off the hook rather than out of office”.

Ms Sturgeon responded: “Richard Leonard is giving the impression that he’s more interested in the politics of this than actually having the issue fixed.

“We are living in unprecedented and unique circumstances. We were faced with something that hasn’t happened in Scotland in more than 100 years, the cancellation of our exam diet.

“There was no easy option open to ministers.”

She added: “We have the humility, frankly, to say we got it wrong and to apologise to young people and to put it right.”