On Monday, Scotland’s deputy first minister and education secretary, John Swinney, was asked whether there should be a widening of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) appeals system. His response focused on those already helped by changes announced by him on 11 August.
In the same briefing, first minister Nicola Sturgeon stated that the Scottish government has tried to make sure that vulnerable young people don’t fall through the net during the response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to reconcile these two responses because the SQA grading process and lack of appeals system has led to many young people being disproportionately disadvantaged. They have quite literally been left out of a process that is about them and their futures. This process has highlighted many young people who have what we might call hidden vulnerabilities.
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Despite the first minister stating that appeals would be available for individuals who felt that their personal circumstances had led to them being disadvantaged in the SQA grading process, this has not been the case. The current appeals process fails to ensure fairness because it does not take account of the personal vulnerabilities that many young people have.
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We have previously argued that the appeals process must be student-centred, and we now feel it is necessary to highlight the vulnerabilities that the current SQA appeals service does not consider or provide mitigation for.
The range of students contacting us at the SQA: Where’s Our Say? campaign highlights the extensive problem with the appeals system this year. They include students who were absent from school for a significant period due to cancer treatment, mental illness and other medical conditions. Many were studying at home independently but were estimated to “fail” by their schools and the young people didn’t know this until August, on results day. It was only the information that the teacher knew about that was used in the grade predictions - students had no opportunity to discuss their circumstances and have that contribute to the “holistic professional judgement” the SQA demanded of teachers. Teachers were directed by the SQA not to discuss the young people’s circumstances with them. This, too, flies in the face of the Scottish government’s flagship rights-respecting GIRFEC (Getting It Right for Every Child) policy, which guarantees each child’s participation in all decision making.
Home-schooled students clearly had no official centre to be able to “rank” them among other students, nor was it possible for grades to be moderated. They were simply not given the opportunity to present any holistic grade estimations. This means some home-schooled students must now repeat a year of learning. The current exam system is designed to uphold teacher estimates and provide political attainment trends, so it begs the question: what happens when you don’t have access to teachers but still have the right to education?
Under the current appeals system, young people who believe they have been unfairly graded due to an infringement of the Equality Act (2010) can lodge an appeal, but only through their teachers and centre. However, we have heard of examples including a young person seeking asylum in Scotland who did not receive a certificate on 4 August. This meant they had to ask individual teachers for the results. Out of the eight subjects taken, they have only received the results for two of them, which means the student can’t ask his school to appeal the other six as he doesn’t know what the grades are. There’s also the issue that, if this young person was able to appeal under the grounds of the Equality Act, this student would need to go to their centre - the ones causing the infringement. We have also heard of asylum seekers being discriminated against and denied the chance to appeal by schools because they don’t get access to public funds.
Nicola Sturgeon said on 5 August that any young person who feels that they have been disadvantaged as a result of personal circumstances could appeal to the SQA. However, almost a month later that is still not the case. We urge the deputy first minister to instruct the SQA to widen its appeals process so those who have been disproportionately disadvantaged have redress instead of feeling left behind.
Such a change would not open the floodgates but it would ensure that the child-centred approach, which the Scottish government prides itself on, is not disregarded. Why should students who need support be disregarded in this way? We need government to take urgent action to address this injustice.
The solution is simple: direct the SQA to amend the appeal criteria so that every young person who considers they have been unfairly disadvantaged by the 2020 SQA certification processes will have the right to appeal the final awarded grade, and the opportunity to submit evidence and make representation in support of their application.
Dr Tracy Kirk is a legal academic in Scotland who specialises in children and youth rights. She tweets @DrTracyKirk
Rachael Hatfield is one of the young people who lead the SQA: Where’s Our Say? campaign (@SQAOurSay)
