Chamber and committees

Scottish Government submission of 7 June 2021

PE1861/A - Use teacher assessed grades to award national qualifications in 2021

Thank you for your e-mail of 12 May 2021 regarding the petition in relation to the 2021 National Qualifications Alternative Certification Model.

The Scottish Government has responded to a number of enquiries from Mr Smith in relation to this matter.

Assessment

It may help if I set out the basis of the approach to the assessment of National Qualifications this year.

The Alternative Certification Model developed to replace the examination diet this year is based on teacher judgement of demonstrated learner attainment, with provisional results for National 5, Higher and Advanced Highers to be submitted to the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) by 25 June 2021, and results published on 10 August 2021.

The Alternative Certification Model (ACM) has been co-created by the National Qualifications 2021 Group. The National Qualifications 2021 Group is chaired by the SQA and draws its membership from the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland, Colleges Scotland, Education Scotland, the Educational Institute of Scotland, School Leaders Scotland, the Scottish Council of Independent Schools, the Scottish Government, the National Parent Forum of Scotland, and the Scottish Youth Parliament.

In recognition of the differential impact of Covid-19 on learners across the country, a key feature of the ACM is that schools and colleges have the flexibility to draw upon a range of sources to evidence learners’ demonstrated attainment and enable fair and consistent awarding for all.

The details of the ACM were outlined to Parliament by the First Minister on 16 February. The ACM timelines five stages, outlining what should happen at each stage and where roles and responsibilities sit.2 SQA has provided a flexible and consistent framework for schools and colleges. This includes detailed subject-specific guidance, material and support for teachers and lecturers in gathering key assessment evidence as the basis for provisional results.

Assessment resources have been provided to schools by SQA to support this process, however, teachers and lecturers have the flexibility to decide whether and how to use these materials, which can be used in part or in their entirety.

Guidance suggests that evidence gathered later in the course will more likely allow a learner to demonstrate their abilities, however, evidence already collected under appropriate conditions can be used by a teacher or lecturer to inform a provisional result alongside evidence yet to be collected. Whilst maintaining the validity of the qualifications, this guidance includes reduced evidence requirements, removal of assessment components and reduction of content and context in many subjects in recognition of the disruption to learning this year.

Teachers and lecturers will have tracked learners’ progress through the course of the year, and will have gathered a range of evidence to support projected grades. Where robust and reliable, schools can use this evidence to inform judgements on provisional results.

When considering evidence to support provisional results, schools will also take into account that the submission date for provisional results has been extended to 25 June. This was done to provide more time for learning and teaching and gathering of evidence.

In a statement to Parliament on 2 June 2021, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills reiterated key aspects of the ACM and announced details of a free appeals service, available directly to learners for the first time, covering this year's National 5, Higher, and Advanced Higher qualifications. Information on the 2021 Appeals Service can be found on the SQA website.

It is recognised that there has been ongoing disruption for learners in some parts of Scotland, and a few learners have been impacted by severe disruption to their learning. A contingency arrangement has, therefore, been put in place for learners who have completed their courses but for whom the required evidence demonstrating their attainment cannot be gathered within the flexibilities already provided. Under these arrangements, there will be a limited opportunity for those 3 learners to undertake assessments later and submit provisional results by the later date of 3 September.

Learners’ Mental Health and Wellbeing

Ministers recognise that studying towards qualifications can be a stressful time for many learners in any year. In the current challenging circumstances, pressures related to the Senior Phase may be compounded by the impact of Covid-19, both educationally and socially, on young people.

The mental health of children and young people is an absolute priority for the Scottish Government.

All adults working in schools are responsible for supporting and developing mental, emotional, social and physical wellbeing. Every school should help their young people to develop resilience and personal coping skills, and it is critical that learners, and teachers, are supported to ensure measures are in place to support those who are worried about their learning, the assessment of their learning or around the specific support available with regard to an additional support need.

We would encourage any learner, parent or carer concerned about any aspect of learning, support, assessment or the approach taken by their school to discuss this with teaching or support staff at their school.

The Committee may also be interested to note that the National Qualifications 2021 Group has issued, through SQA, a letter to learners signposting them to a variety of academic, vocation and health and wellbeing supports. This letter is available online with a hard copy being posted to all learners. A copy of the letter can be accessed at: https://www.sqa.org.uk/files_ccc/NQ21-letter-supports-for-learners.pdf

Last year, we announced funding of £15 million to be distributed to local authorities to support the mental wellbeing 5-24 year olds in their communities. Of this, £11.25 million is for services in response to the pandemic and the remaining £3.75 million is funding new and enhanced community mental health and wellbeing services, focussing on prevention, early intervention and the treatment of distress.

We continue to prioritise support for mental health and wellbeing in schools and education through actions such as the Mental Health in Schools Working Group and counselling in schools. We have also 4 invested in a range of other measures to support young peoples including digital resources on mental health and wellbeing available via Young Scot’s platform Aye Feel.

Mental health was identified as a clinical priority for NHS remobilisation. However, Covid-19 has impacted on services’ ability to see people, and so emergency and urgent cases have been prioritised.

Ministers recognise that this has had a knock-on effect in terms of timescales for the delivery of treatment and care. Services are now in the process of returning to previous levels of activity and dealing with any backlogs that have developed. This is being monitored through NHS Boards’ remobilisation plans. A number of Boards have focussed on children and young people who have been waiting the longest and we are directing support to those Boards not on track to meet the standard.

In the Mental Health Transition and recovery Plan, published in October, a number of actions were set out to progress improvement on access to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

These included the implementation of our CAMHS service specification and tailored support for NHS Boards to help clearly identify the challenges in these service areas and potential solutions. We are working with Mental Health leads in these Boards to implement recovery plans.

We know that the COVID-19 pandemic will have, and has had, a substantial impact on the mental health of the population. We have been working closely with stakeholders to develop our approach to transition and recovery for mental health. Our approach will be evidence-led to ensure we meet the emerging needs of the people of Scotland, both immediately and in the medium and long-term.

Recognising the substantial impact on the population’s mental health, early on in the pandemic period we announced over £18 million of additional funding to respond to he challenge. We also launched our Clear Your Head campaign, which has been updated over time as rules and restrictions change. This provides practical advice on how to stay active, keep connected with friends and family, and create healthy routines to help get through the crisis.

Those who need extra support are directed to helplines operated by 5 NHS 24, Breathing Space, and Samaritans, and to a range of other resources including NHS Inform, the Scottish Recovery Network, Young Scot, Healthy Working Lives and The Spark. People can find the right help for them by visiting www.nhsinform.scot/mind or through the NHS24 helpline on 111.

I hope the Committee find this information helpful.