5 August 2020

The Scottish government has got it badly wrong over its exam results

England, Wales and Northern Ireland's governments should learn from its mistake ahead of their own exam results on 13 August.

By Stephen Bush

Deputy First Minister of Scotland and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills John Swinney visits Stonlelaw High School in Rutherglen, Glasgow on the day pupils receive their exam results on August 4, 2020. - Exams were cancelled in Scotland due to the coronavirus pandemic and pupils have been awarded grades based on assessment. (Photo by Andy Buchanan / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Is the Scottish government giving poorer pupils a bad deal? The publication of Scottish students’ final grades – derived this year using a combination of preliminary examinations, predicted grades from teachers, and moderated by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) – has provoked uproar, after the SQA’s moderation reduced the number of A-C grades for pupils in the top 20 per cent of the income distribution by 6.9 per cent, but reduced the number of A-C grades for those at the bottom by 15.2 per cent.

The process has produced a number of heartbreaking individual stories – of formerly straight-A students who have received Cs or Ds at Higher, whose path to their dream course or apprenticeship has been unexpectedly blocked. What are the SQA thinking?