Exam results 2024: Time to move on from Victorian-era exam system
Accepting expert recommendations to move away from Scotland’s Victorian-era system of high stakes, end of term exams will be key to closing the attainment gap in our schools, say the Scottish Greens.
The party’s education spokesperson, Ross Greer MSP, has called for a move towards more continuous assessment, in line with the recommendations of Professor Louise Hayward’s Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessments, published by the Scottish Government earlier this year. Mr Greer has highlighted the evidence of a narrower attainment gap between pupils from the most and least privileged backgrounds when alternatives to high-stakes exams have been used.
The Green MSP has also pointed to the fall in pass rates and widening attainment gap as evidence that the SQA was mistaken to reverse many of the changes previously made to compensate for disruption caused by the pandemic.
Mr Greer said: “Results day is always stressful for pupils, teachers and parents and carers, and this year’s email error has only made that worse. Every young person should be congratulated on the work they put in and the skills they’ve developed, whatever their final grade.
“This must be one of the last years where Scotland’s young people are put through a Victorian-era system of high-stakes end of term exams. We now have clear evidence that this makes the attainment gap worse than it would be under more modern assessment methods.
“The Scottish Greens have long campaigned for a move away from this exams system and towards greater use of ongoing assessment throughout the year. After the 2020 grading scandal we secured a review of the exams system because we knew change was desperately needed. The Scottish Government must show some courage and commit to delivering in full the 21st century approach to qualifications proposed by Professor Hayward. The status quo is failing our students.
“High stakes end of term exams are not, and never have been, an accurate way of measuring a young person's knowledge or abilities. It is deeply unfair that a pupil who has excelled all year can have their future irreversibly altered by a bout of illness, anxiety or lack of sleep the night before due to a chaotic home life.”
“These results should be seen in the context of the SQA’s decision to reverse the course alterations previously made to compensate for disruption caused by Covid. Given that all pupils taking exams this year were in high school during the worst of the pandemic, that was clearly a mistake.”