Coronavirus: School exams set to be held again in 2021

Pupils received results based on teacher assessments this year after exams were cancelled

School exams are set to be held again next year, Education Secretary John Swinney has said.

In a Q&A with the National Parent Forum of Scotland, Mr Swinney announced that current plans were to hold a full exam diet in 2021.

School exams were cancelled this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Teacher predictions were moderated by the SQA, resulting in a methodology that disproportionately affected pupils from deprived backgrounds.

A week after results were sent out, Mr Swinney announced that grades would revert back to original teacher predictions.

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As a result of the changes, the National 5 pass rate was 88.9%, the Higher pass rate was 89.2% and the Advanced Higher pass rate was 93.1% - up from 78.2%, 74.8% and 79.4% respectively in 2019.

Compared with the moderated results, these increased by 7.8, 10.3 and 5.5 percentage points respectively.

Mr Swinney apologised again for the "stress and anxiety" caused by this year's moderated grades

On Thursday night, Mr Swinney told the National Parent Forum of Scotland: "Our objective is to run a full 2021 exam diet.

"SQA have consulted on what steps they could take to reduce the burden of assessments before the exam diet - what elements could be removed.

"We've also looked at the timetable of exams. Do they need to start in late April? Could they start at the end of May, giving them an extra month for learning and teaching."

He said the SQA was considering its response.

Mr Swinney added that his main priority was fairness, saying: "I can't foresee how much disruption there will be between now and next spring, either on individual, class or school level.

"I am determined to ensure every student has fairness and a fair crack at the whip next year, no matter their experience."

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Mr Swinney also apologised again for the "stress and anxiety" caused by the moderated grades.

He said: "When it became apparent there were a number of unfair outcomes, I took the decision to direct the SQA to base exam results on the basis of teacher estimates, to recognise the challenges pupils faced.

"I recognise that it caused a lot of stress and anxiety on young people and I reiterate my apology for that.

"We didn't want to cause that stress and for that I unreservedly apologise."

'Unacceptable risk'

The Scottish Greens have called for the 2021 exam diet to be cancelled and replaced with an assessment, saying the risk of school closures disrupting students throughout this academic year was too great.

Education spokesman Ross Greer, said: "After last month's fiasco we absolutely cannot have a situation where exams are cancelled at short notice again, without other adequate arrangements having been put in place.

"There is simply no way to guarantee that schools won't be closed or exams cancelled, either across the country or in specific areas. Pressing ahead on the basis of end-of-year exams is an unacceptable risk."

Mr Greer added that the decision to hold exams next year was subject to a review and consultation by the SQA.

The SSTA teaching union has already called for next year's exam diet to be cancelled.

And the largest teaching union, the EIS, has previously argued that some students should not sit exams next year - such as S4 students who intended to continue with a subject in S5.

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