Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government announced the launch of the Young Person’s Guarantee in November 2020, with the aim to protect young people against the immediate economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Between November 2020 and March 2023, 1019 employers have signed up to the Young Person’s Guarantee, offering 35,790 opportunities to 16-24 years olds in Scotland.

As a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB), SQA operates at arm’s length to ministers and is responsible for its own operational decisions, including decisions and support and guidance relating to appeals.

Alternative evidence was not required for the appeals service this year which has returned to a Post-Results Service involving a marking review of the exam script and any coursework by a senior assessor who is an experienced teacher or lecturer.

The use of alternative evidence remained available for those learners who really needed it through the Exam Exceptional Circumstances Consideration Service (EECCS) for learners who were unable to attend their exam - for example, through illness or bereavement – or whose performance in the examination may have been affected by personal circumstances.

Guidance for practitioners on estimates and the types of assessment evidence needed to ensure a robust estimate is available on the SQA website at: https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/files_ccc/nq-2023-estimates-guidance.pdf . In addition, SQA has various online courses to support practitioners in gathering evidence and determining estimates.

As outlined in the Programme for Government, the Scottish Government is committed to implementing reform of our national education bodies as part of a holistic approach to education and skills reform, building on the recommendations of recent independent reports. An update on plans will be provided to Parliament in the Autumn.

Decisions by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) on the 2023 appeals service were informed by extensive feedback on the 2022 services from the wider education community - including over 3,500 learners, parents, carers, and practitioners, as well as school, college, local authority and teacher and lecturer union representatives on the National Qualifications 2023 Group and SQA’s Advisory Council.

The evaluation of the feedback (as at https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/105647.12132.html ) identified a number of themes in relation to the 2022 service, including that the majority of respondents were concerned about issues relating to perceptions of fairness and equity.

Following careful consideration of these views, the appeals service for 2023 was aligned with the service used before the pandemic, with important enhancements. The service continued to be free and was available to all learners to appeal directly to SQA and, unlike in 2022, the service was available regardless of a learner’s estimate.

The approach taken is comparable with other appeals services in the rest of the UK and internationally.

As with all SQA policy decisions, a full Equalities Impact Assessment was undertaken in relation to the 2023 appeals process. This can be accessed at: https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/files_ccc/eqia-nq-2023-assessment.pdf .

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Individual local authorities may gather this data.

The Scottish Government commissions six-monthly reports from local authorities on school counselling services which asks for number of young people accessing counselling, broken down by gender and year groups. The reports also seek information on outcomes, inward and outward referrals as well as the issues young people are presenting with.

Within the reporting form there is a free text box where authorities are encouraged to share additional information, such as information on waiting times if they have that data available. Although some authorities have reported that services are at capacity, no concerns have been raised about young people’s needs not being met.

The Scottish Government defines the poverty-related attainment gap as the gap in attainment between children and young people living in the most and least parts of the country based on Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) data. The most affluent being those living in SIMD quintile 1; and the least in SIMD quintile 5.

It is important to be able to measure the impact of the system on progress towards closing the poverty-related attainment gap. That is why in 2017, the Scottish Government consulted on proposals for measuring the poverty-related attainment gap and milestones towards closing it, focusing on the impact of the education system as a whole and using a range of 11 measures that reflect key stages of the learner journey and the breadth of issues that can impact on attainment.

These measures are:

1. 27-30 month review (children showing no concerns across all domains)

2. HWB: Children total difficulties score (age 4-12)

3. HWB: Children total difficulties score (age 13&15)

4. Primary - Literacy (P1, P4, P7 combined)

5. Primary - Numeracy (P1, P4, P7 combined)

6. Secondary - Literacy (S3, 3rd level or better)

7. Secondary - Numeracy (S3, 3rd level or better)

8. SCQF 4 or above (1 or more on leaving school)

9. SCQF 5 or above (1 or more on leaving school)

10. SCQF 6 or above (1 or more on leaving school)

11. Participation measure

We identified eleven key measures to assess progress as part of the National Improvement Framework , along with associated stretch aims. We held a further consultation in summer 2022 which resulted in two new key measures being added for 2023.

Those measures are:

1. School Attendance

2. Initial Positive destination

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) are currently working with the sector to better identify those who leave college, including those who move on to work opportunities or other positive destinations. This work is ongoing and the information will be made available by SFC through Official Statistics products in due course.

The intention is for the Scottish Qualifications Authority to continue to operate at the time of the 2024 and 2025 exam diets, with the new qualifications body being established in late 2025, after the 2025 exam diet.

The new body will therefore be responsible for overseeing the 2026 exam diet.

The SQA will be replaced by the new qualifications body in late 2025, after the 2025 exam diet. There will be a period of transition with transfer arrangements in place to support this process.

The SQA will oversee the exam diet in 2025. Legislation establishing the new qualifications body will be introduced this parliamentary year enabling the new qualifications body to be established in late 2025.