I welcome the opportunity to appear before the committee to set out the Scottish Government’s response to the Priestley review and to provide an update on the approach to awarding national qualifications in 2021.
To enable us to learn the lessons of the approach that was taken to awarding qualifications in 2020, I acted quickly to commission Professor Mark Priestley to conduct a rapid and independent review of the events that followed the cancellation of the 2020 examination diet. I reiterate my thanks to Professor Priestley and his team, from whom you have just heard, for the work that they did.
The review made nine recommendations, of which the Scottish Government has accepted eight. The ninth, which is to consider an independent review of the 2020 alternative certification model, will be considered as part of our future research plans.
One key recommendation is the
“Suspension of the 2021 National 5 exam diet, with qualifications awarded on the basis of centre estimation based upon validated assessments.”
As I set out to the Parliament on 7 October, that is what we have decided to do. The virus remains with us, and it cannot be business as usual. There is no easy solution, and I recognise that any approach that we might take will find favour with some and not with others. In coming to the decision to cancel national 5 exams, we spoke to a range of stakeholders, including young people, teachers, parents, colleges and universities.
Although there will be no N5 exams and courses will be assessed on the basis of teacher judgment, there will be a slightly delayed higher and advanced higher exam diet.
A national qualifications 2021 group consisting of representatives from local authorities, education unions, colleges, the Scottish Government and the SQA, which chairs the group, is working to deliver subject-specific guidance for N5 courses, to develop the approach to assessment of those courses, and to consider possible contingency measures should the higher and advanced higher diet not be able to go ahead.
There is a strong commitment from stakeholders who are involved in the group to work together to develop an appropriate alternative approach to assessment, which will be a fair recognition of the individual efforts of young people at its heart. Awards will not be given or taken away on the basis of a statistical model or a school’s past performance.
Last week, I informed Parliament that the start of the higher and advanced higher exam diet would be brought forward slightly to Monday 10 May to minimise the risk of excessive burden being placed on candidates who might otherwise have had to sit multiple exams on the same day.
Although our aim is to ensure that schools remain open, I am conscious that some individual pupils or groups of pupils might be adversely impacted by Covid-related absences. It is important that the awarding process is fair to all pupils, and that no pupil is disadvantaged by circumstances that are outwith their control.
I am committed to delivering on the other recommendations of the Priestley review. In particular, there is significant interest in how appeals will be conducted. The SQA will undertake a review of that and, in doing so, it must engage with stakeholders, including learners. That work must be undertaken compatibly with our commitment to incorporate into domestic law the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
There are many challenging issues in this area, but the Government is committed to addressing questions in partnership with our stakeholders and with learners. I look forward to discussing the issues with the committee.