Scotland’s largest teaching union has warned that teacher estimates must not be unilaterally overturned by examiners because this would be “disastrous”.

If moderation throws up “anomalies”, this should trigger a professional dialogue “to ascertain the reason for any variation”, said the EIS union.

The union was responding to the processes being devised to replace this year’s exams, which were cancelled as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

The union, in the advice to members, added: “It would be disastrous to the integrity of the awards if professional judgements were being challenged on any significant scale.”

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The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) has said that its moderation of the teacher estimates - which the national qualification results are to be based on this year following the cancellation of the exams - could result in grades going up or down.

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However, the EIS argued that the SQA should not overturn teacher estimates and that “statistical modelling should be used only to bring added reassurance to the system”.

In the case of disadvantaged pupils, the union warned it would be “unacceptable for statistical modelling to deprive such pupils of awards which their teachers had judged them to be worthy of”.  

The union has also described the process that teachers are being asked to go through in order to arrive at their estimates by the SQA as “overly complex”, and has said that teacher estimates must “absolutely not” be shared with families as this could result in parents applying pressure to increase grades.

The Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association warned at the beginning of the month that some schools might try to “cheat” the new system for awarding results. SSTA general secretary Seamus Searson said parents and school leaders must not “force teachers to up their grades”.

The EIS added: “There is also a strong equity issue at play. Pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds will have suffered most as a result of the lockdown, and given what we know of the impact of poverty on attainment, many such pupils may be on the cusp of ‘grade boundaries’ - it would be unacceptable for statistical modelling to deprive such pupils of awards which their teachers had judged them to be worthy of.”

Teacher professional judgements will be the key component of the awards that pupils receive this year.

However, teachers have expressed concern that their estimates could be changed by the SQA if they do not fit with the usual pattern of attainment in a school.

Teachers have argued that this could cheat strong cohorts of pupils in traditionally low-attaining schools out of the grades they deserve.

The SQA has said that “to ensure fairness to all learners across Scotland, estimated grades could be adjusted both up or down”.

It said moderation was needed “to provide additional reassurance to the system, to ensure consistency across centres and fairness to learners”.

On the process that teachers have to go through when submitting their estimates - due to be submitted to the SQA by the end of May - the EIS said: “The decision to sub-divide bands and to create a ranking order was made by the SQA. It is overly complex and perhaps indicates an insecurity on the part of the SQA regarding professional judgement. Having said that, the EIS cannot advise members not to adhere to the SQA guidelines as that would be tantamount to industrial action and would leave individuals and the union exposed, potentially, to legal action.”

This Friday, the SQA will be questioned by the Scottish Parliament’s Education and Skills Committee.