Scotland’s exam body has said it will not publish the full details of its process for moderating teacher estimates - which are to form the core of the qualifications awarded to pupils this year - until exam results day, despite concerns that it could negatively impact on disadvantaged pupils.  

Following a request from the Scottish Parliament’s Education and Skills Committee to publish its “moderation methodology” this month - ahead of the deadline for teachers submitting their estimates of pupil grades - Fiona Robertson, chief executive and chief examiner of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) has rejected their call.

In a letter to the committee, Ms Robertson said results day was normally the point at which the SQA was clear about the outcome of its “awarding decisions, and we believe it should be the same this year”.

SQA results day 2020: What to look out for

The return to school: New plan shows how Scottish schools could reopen

Also today: The biggest curriculum challenge of the century?

Teacher judgement: SQA grilled over fairness of system replacing exams

However, Ross Greer, the Scottish Greens’ education spokesman, said keeping the details of the system “a secret until results day” was “a recipe for disaster” and would undermine public confidence.

He added: “How can teachers and pupils make informed judgements about appeals for example, when they don’t know the model the SQA has used to change a pupil’s grade?”

In her letter to the committee, Ms Robertson said: “I would expect on results day this year to be very clear about the process that we have undertaken and the resulting awards that we have provided to young people. This will include the impact of any moderation process. Results day is normally the point at which we are clear about the outcome of our awarding decisions, and we believe it should be the same this year.”

Ms Robertson also told the committee that details of the appeals process - which will allow schools to challenge grades and is to be free of charge this year - would be published next month and an equality impact assessment (EIA) would be published “in due course”.

Scotland’s equality regulator - the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) - has said SQA plans to use a school’s previous attainment as part of the new process for awarding grades this year could be illegal.

EHRC has told the SQA it must complete and publish an equality impact assessment (EIA) of the alternative certification model, including the changes to the estimation process.

The Scottish parliament’s education and skills committee wrote to Ms Robertson after she gave evidence earlier this month on the new grading process the SQA had developed in the wake of the cancellation of this year’s exams due to the coronavirus pandemic

The committee said it had “real concerns” that the SQA’s plans to use a school’s prior attainment to moderate teacher estimates “could have a disproportionate impact on the grades of students from deprived areas”.  

The fear is that high attaining pupils in traditionally lower attaining schools, which often serve deprived areas, could be marked down.

There have also been concerns expressed that the new process could disadvantage pupils from black, Asian and/or minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds due to unconscious bias.

In its letter to Ms Robertson the committee said: “In the absence of the opportunity for young people to sit final exams and complete other assessments, transparency on the alternative processes is essential to instil confidence in the system being used this year.

“Only by being able to understand the detail of the processes to be followed can the public be assured that the system for arriving at grades will be consistent and fair. On that basis the detail of processes being followed need to be published in full as quickly as possible. A key example of this is details of the moderation process. The committee has real concerns about the use of past performance of a school or a statistical distribution curve to inform decisions on the final grades of individuals.”

*Tes Scotland will be live blogging throughout SQA results day 2020, on Tuesday 4 August. To find our coverage go to the Scotland hub of the Tes website.