Senior figures at the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) must resign over equality failures, three opposition parties have said.

The SQA has been pulled up by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) for not routinely assessing policies against the public sector equality duty - a legal requirement for all public bodies, requiring them to consider how decisions affect people protected under the Equality Act.

The EHRC said the SQA was not giving due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination and advance equality of opportunity.

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Scottish Labour education spokesperson Michael Marra said: “This news makes it clear that the position of the SQA leadership is untenable - they should resign today.

“We know that, in recent years, the decisions they have taken have damaged the poorest and most disadvantaged pupils in Scotland.

“But what this undeniably confirms is that that there has been a complete lack of leadership within the organisation and from the Scottish government.”

In response to Mr Marra, SQA chair David Middleton said: “The SQA has tightened up on equality impact assessments in recent years to ensure compliance with our equality duties. There are historic gaps that predate the current leadership and these are now being addressed in partnership with the Equalities and Human Rights Commission.

“The SQA leadership is fully focused on delivering for learners.”

Yesterday Fiona Robertson of the SQA told me in committee that she had a responsibility ‘to ensure that the assessment approach did not exacerbate inequality.’ She did so in the full knowledge that the EHRC was taking statutory action against SQA for the decisions they made. pic.twitter.com/uXAt1dJmsU

- Michael Marra MSP (@michaeljmarra) September 30, 2021

After the Covid pandemic led to the cancellation of national exams in 2020, the subsequent results fiasco led to an independent report by Professor Mark Priestley that was highly critical of the SQA.  

There has also been widespread criticism of the SQA since the 2021 national exams were cancelled - including during a session in the Scottish Parliament yesterday - amid concerns that the “alternative certification model” (ACM) developed in response did not prove fair to all students.

The Scottish Greens’ education spokesperson, Ross Greer, said: “Many of us warned the SQA for years that it was failing in its equalities duties, so this finding by the EHRC and the new agreement are certainly welcome.

“But it should not have taken an intervention by the commission for these arrangements to be put in place.

“It’s clear that oversight of the exams agency has been totally insufficient for years. The board of management absolutely must resign after this damning report.”

Lib Dem education spokesperson Willie Rennie said: “It’s a serious matter for the SQA to be rebuked in this manner.

“It should never be necessary for a public body responsible for the futures of our children to be chided for its failure to meet its human rights obligations. 

“The position of the chief executive of the SQA [Fiona Robertson] is untenable. She has to go without delay.”

The SQA has signed an agreement with the EHRC to improve its equality practices, which will be monitored over the next two years.

Lynn Welsh, head of legal at the EHRC, said: “Considering equality implications when making decisions isn’t a ‘nice to do’ for public bodies, it is a legal requirement to ensure that public institutions make better-quality, robust decisions which work for everyone.

“By signing this agreement, we are pleased to see that the SQA has demonstrated its clear commitment to equality and to improving its practices. This will ensure that SQA continues to make necessary improvements in this area, reviewing all existing policies and ensuring that equality is at the heart of all of its practices.

“This agreement sends a clear message to other public bodies that considering the impact of their work on people from protected groups is critical in fulfilling their legal duties.” 

Mike Baxter, the SQA’s director of finance and corporate services, said: “Although we have significantly tightened up on equality impact assessments in recent years, we recognise there is work to do to improve our processes and practice from years gone by. We will be taking this opportunity to work with the commission to further embed equality into our policies and processes across SQA’s activities.

“Over the next two years, we will be delivering our agreed action plan across a range of workstreams. We are fully committed to ensuring equality and fairness are at the heart of all we do.

“We have embarked on a large-scale programme of review of our policies and practices and assessing and documenting the equalities impacts of those is a core element of this work.”

SQA is committed to ensuring equality is at the heart of all we do and we welcome the opportunity to work with EHRC. But also important to make sure the facts are reported. These are historic not current issues and do not relate to the delivery of qualifications in 2020 and 2021. https://t.co/pdi5Hpjjgx

- SQA (@sqanews) September 30, 2021

An SQA spokesperson said: “These are historic issues identified by EHRC which predate the current leadership. And it’s the current leadership’s commitment to work with the EHRC that is addressing the issues from years gone by.

“It’s also important to note that there are full quality impact assessments in place for the delivery of qualifications in 2020 and 2021, including appeals.

“And any attempt to equate the recording of equality impact assessments with the ‘attainment gap’ is misguided and misleading.”

The Scottish government has previously announced its intention to replace the SQA with a new body.

The move was recommended by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in June, following a review of Curriculum for Excellence.

An expert group led by Professor Ken Muir is due to report back on the future of the SQA in January.