An influential group of secondary headteachers has called for the cancellation or shortening of all Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) exams planned for 2021.
The BOCSH group also questions whether exams should be run at all in the long term and says it is “greatly concerned” about the SQA consultation on 2021 courses and exams “on a number of fronts”.
The group - formerly known as the Building Our Curriculum Self Help Group and - criticises the consultation’s “total lack of consistency across all of the subjects and levels”, and states that “the SQA have completely misjudged what is required for this coming year”.
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At National 5, BOCSH - which comprises 20 headteachers from 19 local authorities - calls for “the removal of exams to be replaced by teacher predicted grades and internal assessment”.
At Higher, it states that “the exam diet should remain but at a later date and with shortened exams and reduced content”.
At Advanced Higher, it suggests “removing the final exam, increasing the weighting of the dissertation and introducing assessment windows throughout the session for moderated graded assessments to take place”.
The BOCSH submission states: “It is of paramount importance that we maintain the confidence of the staff, pupils and parents throughout the session to let them know we have a ‘Plan B’ or an approach which we can use to ensure accreditation if schools enter lockdown. We must avoid at all the costs the reliance on an algorithm-based approach which determines individuals’ grades through data on past cohorts or school performance.”
It adds: “Is there a case for no exams at all? They are an anachronism and do not support the aspiration of reducing the poverty-related attainment gap.”
The BOCSH heads write that “as a profession, we need to be bold and brave to embrace a revolution” and ensure that coronavirus does not result in a “lost generation”.
They state: “Many [young people] have already lost confidence in the education and exam system and we must give them certainty that they can present their learning in a fair and equitable way during a time of global crisis.”
BOCSH says the SQA’s suggested changes are “inequitable and, in many cases, tokenistic”.
It states: ”Pupils and staff who already lost ground in SQA courses through May and June...are having to mitigate for teacher and pupil absence through mandatory self-isolation either due to travel or household or personal symptoms. This will only be compounded as localised lockdowns and Covid clusters affect schools across the country. It is therefore not acceptable and indeed discriminatory against a cohort who are facing such challenges to expect them to perform in a “business as usual” model of SQA presentation.”
An SQA spokesperson said: “More than 23,000 people, including 5,000 learners, parents and carers, provided responses to our two consultations [on 2020-21 courses and exams]. We have also engaged directly with learners.
“Thanks to all practitioners, young people, parents, carers and other organisations who replied.
“The feedback is now being analysed and we will publish the outcomes as soon as possible.”
