SQA exam results criticism

My daughter up till now has been a straight A student and got awarded a B in Higher Maths today. To be honest it's what we expected but held an outside hope of an A in that too. She did put a bit of graft in for the prelims but because she studies at music school and had a lot of commitments around Xmas she said she would neglect Maths study a bit and concentrate on the rest and her music till New Year. She was 0.5% off a B in the prelim and we started paying for a tutor from the start of January.....see where that got us. I'm down about about £3/400 here folks!! She's kinda torn and one minute happy and a bit gutted the next.

She's told me a couple of crackers today i'm not sure i believe.....one guy from her old school which is well down the tables
told her he sat 2 prelims?? (new one on me) in English got a C then a B and was awarded a D.

Then another wee * (and he is by the way) at her current school full of priveleged wee arseholes got less than 20% in a prelim and ended up with a B. I don't believe that for a minute but if it's true is scandulous.....mind you he is a Walter Mitty wee * and he made up his Nat 5 results last year.

One thing i would say though. Not all prelims are the same. They're known to be tough generally but where she's at the now the teachers told us they were brutal.

 

Vietnam has/had 0 reported Covid deaths for months and still managed to have students sit their exams. It certainly wasn’t outside the realms of possibility.

 

They might wish they had gone ahead with them when the appeals start flying in!!!

Not that we're doing it!!!......* that. Appeals can go both ways. Take it in the chin and move on. There's some kids been shafted though and hopefully the system sees them right!!

 

Split up as in delayed or just not happening? Can you link me to it?

 

Thanks. That was pretty much what I suggested, delaying or staggering when students could sit them. There's never going to be a perfect solution during a pandemic but I just feel for the students from poorer areas who, going by the evidence, have been graded down because of their socioeconomic status. Even if it's only affecting a few hundred students with their uni places, it's a big blow for them at that stage in their lives. I hope the appeals process is effective for them but I'm sceptical.

 

Good stuff.

 

Ya beauty!!

 

Well, they’ve gone ahead and removed all downgraded results. Can’t say that’s a decision I agree with, but it will be a popular one.

You now have a situation where pupils who didn’t sit an exam, have gotten record exam results in said exam. Not a marginal increase either, but over 10% higher across levels than in 2019.

I realise teachers are largely untouchable, but I reckon they’ve * up here. They’ve basically awarded pupils grades that were entirely unrealistic. The graders should’ve been adjusted downwards, they were just adjusted downwards in the wrong manner - ie penalising underperforming schools.

 

Its * but I don't see it as a big deal, at worst they just study and retake the exams next year to "prove themselves" if they need to.

 

To be fair in a one off year, it's better to let them have better results than they would have than to have gave them worse.

 

''If'' teachers have done that then they've done a lot of their pupils a huge disservice in the long run and a lot of these kids may be found wanting. I suppose this at least gives them the chance though. That's the crux for me.

 

Oh look there’s a Bolingoli!

 

Spot on.

 

What a mess. There was never going to be a fair way, but has there ever been a fair way? Every year there is mass complaints that exams were getting easier, or haven't been fair due to X,Y or Z when trying to address complaints.

With all downgraded pupils getting their exam results upgraded will that set new pass records by some margin?

The remedy is as unfair as the original unfair results.

 

I would’ve just liked to have seen it kept to a more even keel. A 10% increase in pass rates is massive.

The algorithm was clearly not fit for purpose though. Kids shouldn’t have been left getting a poorer final mark than they got in their pre-lim. Under the circumstances, rather than throw out any adjustment entirely, I would’ve thought the appeals process would’ve provided the fairest outcome.

 

Disagree.

Neither resolution is particularly fair and realistic, but this is the better option. The number of stories coming out about people no longer able to get into their uni course because they had been shafted due to the school they went to was a disgrace.

This will cause some problems as well but it has to be a better option.

 

Not sure about the appeals part.

All I know is when I was in high school, nobody ever took the appeals seriously because they never changed a thing.