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The Scottish Conservatives have branded the SNP’s exams system a “disgrace” after analysis found that pupils from poorer backgrounds were far more likely to be marked down compared to last year’s results.

Comparing the results from 2020 to 2021, pupils from the most deprived areas – SIMD Q1 – were twice as likely to see their grades drop at Higher and Advanced Higher than young people from the most affluent - SIMD Q5 - backgrounds.

At Higher, the pass rate for SIMD Q1 pupils fell by 2.5 per cent year-on-year, compared to just a 1.1 per cent fall for SIMD Q5 pupils.

At Advanced Higher, the pass rate for SIMD Q1 pupils fell by 4.2 per cent, compared to just a 1.6 per cent fall for SIMD Q5 pupils. The same pattern is evident at National 5, although it is less stark.

This year’s exam results show the overall pass rates down 3.2 per cent at National 5, down 2 per cent at Higher and down 2.9 per cent at Advanced Higher.

Yesterday, the Scottish Conservatives warned that pupils had been marked more harshly than last year and said that the SNP’s exam system this year was just as “unfair and flawed” as last year.

In June, the Scottish Conservatives warned that historic school performance was being used to mark pupils down across Scotland.

Despite the council reports showing that past performance would be taken into account, the SNP insisted grades would be based on ‘teacher judgement alone’.

Scottish Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education, Oliver Mundell MSP, said: “Congratulations to Scotland’s school pupils who deserve a huge amount of praise for battling through another incredibly difficult year.

“Despite the disruption they faced, the SNP’s system has judged them more harshly than last year’s pupils, as we warned was the case.

“Compared to last year, grades are down across the board. The attainment gap is up. That should set alarm bells ringing that this year’s system is just as flawed and unfair as the shambles pupils suffered last year.

“But most damning of all, pupils from poorer backgrounds have been marked down the most from 2020 to 2021. They are twice as likely to see their grades fall at Higher and Advanced Higher than children from the most affluent areas, year-on-year.

“That is nothing short of a disgrace. It is apparent that once again, young people have been judged because of where they come from and where they go to school.

“The harsh reality is that pupils struggling the most - young people from poorer backgrounds who are just trying to pass their exams, never mind get an A grade - have been hit the hardest. How is that fair?

“The SNP should apologise for creating this shambolic, deeply unjust system that is marred by more of the same mistakes.

“They have misled and failed pupils on multiple fronts. The SNP promised no repeat of last year’s chaos where pupils were judged on their background, they promised no exams, and they promised that teachers judgement ‘alone’ would determine grades. Those promises have been broken.

“This demonstrates why it is essential that we retain Scotland’s strong, traditional exam system to avoid this shambles repeating every year.”

Notes

The attainment gap between the richest and poorest pupils has increased this year over last year. The attainment gap for passes (grades A-C) between the most deprived fifth of pupils and the least deprived fifth of pupils increased from 7.9% to 9.0% at National 5, 6.5% to 7.9% at Highers and 3.0% to 5.5% at Advanced Higher from 2020 to 2021 (SQA, 2021 Alternative Certification Model: Equalities Monitoring Report,10 August 2021, p25-27, link).

The most-deprived pupil’s pass rates were reduced by twice as much as the least-deprived pupils. At Higher level, the most-deprived pupil’s A-C pass rate reduced by 2.5 per cent compared to just 1.1 per cent for the least-deprived. At Advanced Higher level, these reductions were 4.2 per cent and 1.6 per cent respectively (SQA, 2021 Alternative Certification Model: Equalities Monitoring Report, pg. 26-27, 10 August 2021, link).

Here is  a table with the year-on-year comparison of grades from 2020 to 2021, showing pupils from poorer areas were far more likely to have their grades marked down than those from affluent areas. The data is sourced from p.25 and p.26 of the SQA Equalities Monitoring Report here: https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/files_ccc/2021-acm-equalities-monitoring-report.pdf