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SQA exam results criticism

Discussion in 'TalkCeltic Pub' started by Callum McGregor, Aug 4, 2020.

Discuss SQA exam results criticism in the TalkCeltic Pub area at TalkCeltic.net.

  1. Callum McGregor The Captain Gold Member

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    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-53636296

    Scottish school pupils have been finding out their results, with overall pass rates rising despite about a quarter of grades - nearly 125,000 - being lowered by the exams body.

    Exams were cancelled for the first time in history due to the coronavirus.

    Results were worked out using estimates made by teachers based on the pupil's performance over the school year.

    However, a national moderation system meant that many pupils received lower grades than originally estimated.

    Opposition politicians have warned that there will now be a "deluge" of appeals, and accused the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) of treating the professional judgement of teachers with "contempt" by changing so many grades.

    The SQA said its moderation process had ensured "fairness to all learners" and maintained "standards and credibility" in the qualification system.

    About 138,000 students have been getting their results, with those who signed up for text or email alerts receiving their grades from 08:00 onwards, while certificates are arriving in the post during the day.

    The pass rate for National 5 was 81.1%, while the Higher pass rate was 78.9% and the Advanced Higher rate was 84.9%.

    In 2019, the National 5 pass rate was 78.2%, the Higher pass rate was 74.8% and the Advanced Higher rate was 79.4%.

    Most pupils take their Nationals when they are in their fourth year of secondary school.

    They can then stay at school for another two years and work towards Higher qualifications in their fifth year, and Advanced Highers in sixth year.

    A total of 133,762 individual results were adjusted by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) from the 511,070 initial estimates of grades that were submitted by teachers.

    Of these, only 9,198 of the estimates were adjusted up, while 124,564 were adjusted down. Almost all (96%) were adjusted by a single grade.

    If the results had purely been based on the estimates from teachers, pass rates at grades A-C would have increased by 10.4 percentage points for National 5, by 14 percentage points for Higher and by 13.4 percentage points for Advanced Higher.

    SQA figures also showed that the Higher pass rate for pupils from the most deprived backgrounds was reduced by 15.2 percentage points, compared to only 6.9 percentage points for the wealthiest pupils.

    But the exams body insisted that the most deprived pupils had not suffered compared to previous years - and the Scottish government said the attainment gap has narrowed this year.

    Education Secretary John Swinney said the estimated results would have led to a higher annual change than had ever been seen before in Scottish exam results if they had not been moderated by the SQA.

    He added: "I know teachers and lecturers will always want the best for their pupils but I believe that teachers have acted professionally."

    Scottish school pupils traditionally find out their results earlier than those in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, who will receive their grades for A-levels on 13 August and GCSEs on 20 August.

    'Difficult decisions'
    First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said pupils deserved "enormous credit" for the way they had coped after exams were cancelled across the UK as schools closed and the country went into lockdown in March.

    She added: "At a moment's notice you had to adapt to new forms of learning, your contact with friends and family was restricted, many of you missed out on a proper end to your final year, you didn't get to sit exams.

    "Of course, you're now having to think about your future in a time of real economic uncertainty.

    "All of that has been really tough and we don't underestimate how tough that has been, and I know that for some of you there will be difficult decisions that lie ahead."

    Pupils at Holyrood Secondary in Glasgow were among those to receive their grades on Tuesday morning.

    Dionne told BBC Breakfast she had not known what to expect - but got "exactly what I was hoping for".

    "It means I'm going to university and I'm just so happy. I can't believe it," she said.

    Her father John said he was "so proud" of his daughter.

    "She's done so much better than I could have ever done at school. It's been such a time of uncertainty and it's a massive wait over now."

    This year was the first time since 1888 that exams were cancelled in Scottish schools.

    Pupils should have been sitting exams in National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher subjects in May and June. There are no formal exams for National 2, National 3 and National 4 qualifications.

    Skills Development Scotland runs a free results helpline offering careers advice, information and guidance on 0808 100 8000.

    It will be open from 0800 to 2000 on Tuesday and Wednesday, then 0900 to 1700 on Thursday and Friday. Information and advice is also available on the My World of Work website.

    James Russell, from SDS, said this year was "unlike any other" and that it was understandable that young people and their families would be feeling more anxious than usual.

    "Our advice and support is available and our message is if your results aren't what you expected, don't worry - you have lots of options," he said.

    The #NoWrongPath campaign is encouraging people to share their own stories on social media to highlight the different paths available to young people who may be feeling disheartened by their results.

    The SQA's candidate advice line will run from 0800 to 1800 on Tuesday, and from 0830 to 1700 on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The number is 0345 279 1000.

    Support and advice is also available on the SQA website and on BBC Bitesize. Young people can also call Childline on 0800 1111 or get advice about exam results on its website.

    How were the results decided?
    As in the rest of the UK, the grades of pupils who were unable to sit exams have been worked out using estimates made by their teachers based on their performance over the school year.

    Teachers were asked to place students within bands for each subject, and rank their pupils in order.

    These assessments were then checked by the SQA, which said grades had been moderated "where appropriate" to "maintain national standards".

    The SQA said it had sought to "uphold the integrity and credibility" of the system in its moderation, but that its efforts had been focused on "ensuring fairness for all learners".

    The exams body also said it would look at each school's previous history of estimating results and attainment, but denied that a school's previous record could put pupils at either an advantage or a disadvantage.

    Where a pupil receives a lower grade than the one estimated by their teacher or lecturer, they will be able to use a free appeals process.

    Scottish Labour has accused the SQA of treating the judgement of teachers with "contempt" by lowering the grades of so many pupils - which can damage their prospects for university or college.

    The party's education spokesman, Iain Gray, said: "Worst of all, the SQA have done this on the basis of each school's past performance, marking the school not the pupil, and baking in the attainment gap.

    "They were told that this would be grossly unfair and it is.

    "The SQA will now be deluged with appeals. I hope they are ready to deal with them properly."

    This has been a results day like no other - with grades based on estimates by teachers rather than exams.

    Pass rates are up in National 5s, Highers and Advanced Highers but they are still similar to the pass rates in previous years.

    This is crucial - dramatic rises could have undermined the achievements of learners.

    Around a quarter of teachers' estimated grades were adjusted by the SQA - mostly downwards.

    Some candidates or teachers will be disappointed by this but it highlights the importance of the appeals system.

    Where a grade is adjusted down, appeals can be made but supporting evidence will be needed

    This is crucial to the integrity of the system.



    Really feel for a lot of students today, seems like so many have receive worse results than they expected, which could clearly affect their future.
     
    buchanbhoy likes this.
  2. auldbertie

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    My granddaughter never got the grades she thought she was worth , but still got good enough for her university place . So she is happy .
     
  3. Officer Doofy Come to me, human man Gold Member

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    Yeah it sounds like it's been a complete mess. Gutted for so many people being shafted because of the school they go to. Shameful.
     
    buchanbhoy and bagforlife like this.
  4. Callum McGregor The Captain Gold Member

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    Congrats to her on the uni place. :50:
     
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  5. Callum McGregor The Captain Gold Member

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  6. auldbertie

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    Thanks minty , hopefully a wee lawyer in a few years time
     
  7. bhoy_wonder Gold Member Gold Member

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    Feel sorry for the kids that busted their balls off and got the same as others that done very little. Mad year this year. I'm sure it will be the same in England, Wales and Ireland.
     
  8. King of Kings

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    I must be missing something here....pass rates are significantly higher than in previous years across all levels, are they not?
     
  9. Officer Doofy Come to me, human man Gold Member

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    Aye on the surface it looks fine. But many kids from historically "lesser" schools have been given grades much lower than anticipated based on the previous results from that school. It's a disgrace.
     
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  10. Scotia Gold Member Gold Member

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    One of my niece,s got the grades she needed to go to university to study midwifery , really pleased for her ! .
     
  11. Henke102

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    The school ranking stuff needs to get to * or radically change. Schools that have historically great exam results will do everything they can to protect them. Try and talk students out of sitting certain subjects they may struggle at, and they basically turn many classes into exam factories for 2-3 years. I remember I got an unexpected high grade in Higher English and the teacher seemed delighted as I think it probably gave her a bit of slack from the depute headteachers.

    It is archaic to base results on largely just one exam, fair enough it is important to academically assess school children at that age, just think the system overall needs changed. Universities are not helping with this either, they are rejecting potential students based on a few exam results and a paragraph about themselves. Although I feel many universities have adopted a stack them high philosophy to a high proportion of courses nowadays.
     
  12. King of Kings

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    Yeah that’s messed up. I think it was always going to be a * show tbh.

    Teachers are assessed largely on what grades their students receive, which in itself is a system that encourages them to ‘teach the test’ rather than teach the subject, and rewards kids based on memory more than understanding. Asking them to give a grade to each kid is less than ideal, but probably the only thing they could’ve done at this stage. But for sure there should’ve been a better way of overseeing and ensuring the grades kids received were fair than penalising those from underperforming schools.
     
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  13. Garrymac1888 Gold Member Gold Member

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    Luckily my two kids got what they needed and the boy already had an unconditional offer, but my wee * daughters maths got marked down from prelims ultimately costing her a place at uni.

    Quite a few of my kids mates have being royally screwed over today.
     
  14. PaulM1888 Moderator Moderator Gold Member

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    I’d like to hear the alternative from the harshest critics, the appeals process remains in place and can and will be used?
     
  15. paulie walnuts Moderator Moderator Gold Member

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    It’s a shame when kids futures are at stake and it’s not their fault but covid has * up everything. Like everything else, there will be some winners and some who have lost out.
    At the end of the day, they have been given a qualification without completing the course and without sitting an exam like everybody else has done in previous years.
    While it’s tragic to see kids unfairly disadvantaged, they couldn’t just give everybody exactly what they and their teachers wanted.
     
  16. Avatar Daizen The Last Hunskelper Gold Member

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    Seems like a teacher's report is a fairer way of assessing a pupil's ability. Exams have historically skewed results towards pupils from more privileged backgrounds.

    Rather than accepting that this year was going to be an outlier, or even making it a use case for a new progressive method of assessing young people's ability, the SQA have decided to to bump grades up or down based on the school's postcode.

    They way they've gone about it is shameful, and it's messing about a lot of young people's futures. Hopefully it will get sorted out in due time but given the way they've went about it in the first place I wouldn't hold out hope.
     
  17. muffitO'tea

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    They can resit anything they're not pleased with though.

    *, I wish my coursework was marked more than sitting 1 exam. I fell to pieces doing them :giggle1:
     
  18. Westlondonscot Gold Member Gold Member

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    The problem is that there will have been lots of teachers who submitted higher expected grades hoping they would just be handed out. My sister in law is a teacher and she said she knew teachers who were doing that. Her fear for the kids she taught is that nobody will believe their ability and their results that year are meaningless.
    This years results were always going to be viewed differently.
     
  19. Callum McGregor The Captain Gold Member

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    Socially distanced and/or delayed exams would have been a fairer way. We’ve had millions working right through the pandemic, exams could have fallen under that umbrella imo. I’m aware it was always going to he a very difficult situation but the evidence doesn’t look great at all.
     
  20. PaulM1888 Moderator Moderator Gold Member

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    An outbreak, or numerous, occur within a setting taking exams whilst at the height of a global pandemic. Not a great look.

    Just now, up here, it’s a different ball game with next to no deaths for a month but as little as a couple of months ago literally hundreds were perishing on a weekly basis. Exams took a correct back burner. This is part of the reason why Scotland has and is doing so well in navigating through with as little deaths as possible.