The Scottish Qualifications Authority’s chief examining officer will face questions from a Scottish Parliament committee amid calls for an investigation into the exam body.
Fiona Robertson will give evidence to the Education and Skills Committee on Wednesday about the moderation process that controversially downgraded thousands of pupils’ results.
The committee had previously asked for full details on the moderation process, including how much weight would be given to teachers’ predictions, past coursework and the past performance of the school.
The SQA refused to publish the methodology until the Tuesday morning results were announced.
The committee’s deputy convener, Daniel Johnson, tweeted: “Today’s events place teachers in an horrendous position.
“Many will wonder whether their judgements helped or hindered their students’ chances.
“The failure of the SQA to publish their methodology in advance is solely [to] blame for that.”
He added: “The lack of clarity and honesty has delivered a real injustice to teachers and ultimately students.”
While this year’s pass rates rose at every level, there was widespread consternation after it was revealed the pass rate of the poorest Higher pupils dropped by more than twice that of the richest.
The pass rate of pupils in the most deprived data zones was reduced by 15.2 per cent from teacher estimates after the exam board’s moderation.
In contrast, the pass rate for pupils from the most affluent backgrounds dropped by 6.9 per cent.
Overall, more than a quarter (26.2 per cent) of grades were changed during moderation by the SQA - a total of 133,762 - while 377,308 entries were accepted unchanged.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has called for an investigation into the SQA and the results process.
He said: “The Education Secretary and the SQA were warned for months that their moderation process would embed inequality and potentially damage the prospects of bright pupils for life.
“The SQA refused transparency, scrutiny and discussion of the methodology that has led to this injustice on such a large scale. Audit Scotland should now look into whether this methodology was fit for purpose.”
First minister Nicola Sturgeon has defended the SQA’s decision to disproportionately downgrade deprived pupils, arguing that an unprecedented rise in their pass rate would not have been “credible”.
At Thursday’s briefing, Ms Sturgeon said she would not reverse the moderation in favour of teacher estimates but suggested her younger self would have protested against the SQA if she had been affected by the downgrading because of her school’s past performance.
However, she urged pupils to challenge their results if there has been “genuine individual injustices”.
Appeals will be free this year but must be requested by a school or college and will only be considered if a pupil was awarded a lower grade than estimated by their teacher.
According to the SQA’s guidance for appeals, teachers “are encouraged to submit a wide range of alternative evidence, and not solely a class test or prelim wherever possible”.
The new leader of the Scottish Conservatives Douglas Ross has said pupils should be allowed to choose to take their existing result, sit exams this coming autumn or receive their prelim grade.
