Chamber and committees

Decisions in relation to Exceptional Circumstances and Appeals services for the National Qualifications are an operational matter for the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA).

Figures quoted in a recent media article related to SQA’s Exam Exceptional Circumstances Consideration Service (EECCS). SQA is the only awarding body in the UK that offers an exceptional circumstances service which specifically reviews alternative evidence. It has been designed to offer young people the best opportunity to demonstrate evidence of attainment if their examination experience is impacted by, for example, bereavement, illness or other personal circumstances. This is a pre-certification process, with requests being submitted within 10 working days after the relevant exam. This means that if a young person experiences bereavement or other personal circumstance ahead of an exam, they can ask for alternative evidence to be taken into account when their grade is being determined – whether or not they are able to attend the exam.

The SQA Appeals service is a separate process that takes place following certification for learners who consider they have not achieved their expected results, and involves a marking review of SQA-marked assessments. Candidates who have undergone exceptional circumstances consideration are excluded from the Appeals Service for the same qualification. This is because the EECCS includes a marking review of any/all submitted external assessments that are related to the request.

SQA provided figures in response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request from The Herald newspaper on the number of EECCS requests made and cancelled. SQA do not categorise EECCS requests as successful or rejected. It is incorrect to interpret the data as showing that the SQA did not approve over 90% of exam appeals made on the grounds of bereavement.

While SQA may cancel an EECCS request in some circumstances (where, for example, estimates had not been provided, coursework not completed, or a lack of supporting evidence), a larger number of requests are cancelled by the candidate’s centre (school, college or training provider).

For personal circumstances, such as bereavement, the type of EECCS request submitted is determined by the Head of Centre. SQA do not assess the reason for the request or require access to further details regarding the submission. A centre may cancel an EECCS request if they later determine that either there is not a justification for the request, or the alternative evidence available is not sufficient.

To maintain impartiality and fairness, examiners are not provided with any information about the nature of an EECCS request. This is an important safeguard that has been built into the EECCS to ensure that all candidates are treated equally and receive grades based on evidence-based demonstrated attainment against the national standard.

The Scottish Government will be allocating an additional £6,252,000 to territorial boards in 2025-26 specifically to fund insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors (CGM). Additional funding of around £800,000 will be used to fund the National Onboarding Service and make improvements to digital infrastructure, including SCI-Diabetes and MyDiabetes MyWay.

A breakdown of funding being provided to each territorial Board can be found in the following table. Some additional funding has been provided to support development of digital infrastructure.

The four Health Boards providing regional services to those with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) have now started to contact all families with children eligible under the national early access programme to set out the timelines involved. In addition, the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer has been assured that the consultants have reviewed all those who are eligible to ensure fair and equitable access across Scotland.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37627 on 27 May 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

There has been no investment specifically related to Stranraer waterfront in the current Parliamentary term through Regeneration programmes.

Regeneration has supported a number of projects in Stranraer, including funding for Stranraer Development Trust, within the current parliamentary term.

Following the development of the Stranraer community’s Local Place Plan, the regeneration funding announced in the Scottish Budget will support the delivery of regeneration of the town centre with funding of up to £710k.

The £2bn Learning Estate Investment Programme (LEIP), in collaboration with local authorities, commenced in 2021 and will deliver 47 school infrastructure projects across Scotland. The LEIP builds on the success of the £1.8bn Scotland's Schools for the Future Programme, which completed in 2021, and delivered 117 school infrastructure projects.

In the current parliamentary session to date, the Scottish Government has distributed a cumulative amount of £13.6m through the LEIP in revenue grant payments to projects that are open to pupils. For those open projects, we expect this to total £24m by the end of this parliamentary session.

The outline business case estimated costs at £1.3 billion. Design and expected costs will be confirmed as part of the Full Business Case (FBC) submission which is expected in late 2025- early 2026. The 2025-26 budget provides funding to support development of the FBC. Funding for construction is not allocated until the business case process is complete; this ensures appropriate due diligence of major capital projects.

It is the statutory responsibility of local authorities to manage their school estate, therefore, school design is ultimately a matter for them.

However, our Learning Estate Strategy - which was produced in collaboration with COSLA - underpins the £2bn Learning Estate Investment Programme (LEIP), and its guiding principles make clear that learning environments should support the wellbeing of all learners and meet varying needs to support inclusion.

All LEIP projects were announced prior to the Education, Children and Young People Committee’s recommendations being published. To date, 10 projects are complete, 17 are in construction and the remainder are in development.

Guidance is currently being developed with a wide range of stakeholders, and is planned to be applicable to both existing and future projects either within the LEIP or across the learning estate as a whole. This guidance is expected to be published before the end of this year and, in the interim, local authorities can reference a publicly accessible standard which is titled: Design for the Mind – Neurodiversity and the Built Environment.

Communications were discussed in detail at the ASL Project Board’s meeting on 30 January 2025 when the Project Board agreed to engage Enquire to draft a communications strategy.

It is anticipated that the strategy being produced by Enquire will focus on bespoke clear, key messages for a range of different audiences including children and young people, parents and carers. The work will also recommend bespoke communications channels for each audience.

Regular updates on the progress of the strategy will be provided to the ASL project Board. Further information, is available on the ASL Project Board’s dedicated Scottish Government webpage at: https://www.gov.scot/groups/additional-support-for-learning-project-board/.

The Scottish Government takes the welfare of all animals, including racehorses, very seriously and the fatalities that occurred are clearly distressing.

Horse racing in Scotland is already tightly governed and regulated by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA). The BHA aims to ensure racehorse welfare, including compliance with all aspects of the Animal Health & Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006, through its Rules of Racing, the licensing and inspection of participants, education, training and monitoring. The BHA also works closely with a range of animal welfare organisations such as World Horse Welfare to maintain and promote horse welfare and constantly reviews its rules and procedures to ensure that they are as effective as they can be in safeguarding equine welfare.

The BHA also seeks to minimise the risk of injury and fatalities to thoroughbred horses on racecourses, and records and analyses injuries sustained with a view to future prevention.