Pupils from councils across Scotland have been marked more harshly than last year, according to results obtained by the Scottish Conservatives.
The new information appears to confirm fears that the SNP’s exam results system this year is just as “unfair and flawed” as last year, when pupils were downgraded based on their background.
The Scottish Conservatives said the “back-to-back years of chaos” and “deep unfairness” were the strongest possible endorsement of the need to retain and restore traditional Scottish exams.
Ahead of the publication of exam results on Tuesday, the Scottish Conservatives obtained Higher results from five council areas under Freedom of Information laws.
The results appear to show a substantial reduction in the pass rate across the board this year, despite assurances teachers would not be put under pressure to mark pupils down. This undermines the credibility of SNP’s claims that grades would be based on “teacher judgement alone.”
The Scottish Conservatives previously highlighted council reports showing that historical data was being used to analyse and even ‘adjust’ pupil’s grades all over Scotland.
Scottish Conservative Leader Douglas Ross told Nicola Sturgeon at First Minister’s Questions in June that the only difference was “instead of the SQA marking pupils down at the end of the process, the system will force teachers and schools to do it first.”
Scottish Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education, Oliver Mundell MSP, said: “This early release of results shows that pupils in councils across Scotland have been marked more harshly than in 2020.
“They have faced double the disruption of last year’s pupils, who themselves had their learning experience upturned, yet the signs show that has not been fully factored in.
“A reduction in pass rates across the board compared to 2020 is another clear indicator that ‘teacher judgement alone’ did not decide grades, as the SNP insisted.
“What happened in reality is not what young people were promised. They did sit exams and teachers have not decided grades entirely on their own.
“This early release of results strongly suggests that the SNP have used historical data to knock down grades. It looks like this year’s system is just as unfair and flawed as last year.
“Pupils seem to have faced a postcode lottery. We warned this could happen when it became clear that young people would be sitting exams under inconsistent conditions, with wide variations in difficulty from council to council and even school to school.
“These back-to-back years of chaos are the strongest argument in favour of retaining and restoring traditional Scottish exams. The deep unfairness young people have suffered cannot become an annual event.
“Before the SNP rush to abandon Scottish traditions and remove one of the last hallmarks of our unique education system, they should consider how shambolic the exams system has been over the last two years.”
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Scottish Conservative analysis of the FOI responses found the following:
Higher passes in Aberdeenshire Council are down by 4.7 per cent on average. Compared with the 2020 results, the overall A-C Higher pass rate in Aberdeenshire is down by 4.7 per cent, with drops of over 11 per cent in Maths, over 17 per cent in Chemistry and nearly 13 per cent in Physics (Aberdeenshire Council, Freedom of information request, July 2021, available on request).
Higher passes in the Highlands are down by 7.5 per cent on average. Compared with the 2020 results, the overall A-C Higher pass rate in Highland Council is down by 7.5 per cent, with drops of over 20 per cent in Biology, over 15 per cent in Chemistry, over 14 per cent in Maths, and over 10 per cent in Physics (Highland Council, Freedom of information request, July 2021, available on request).
The A-D Higher award rate in Dumfries and Galloway is down by 2.7 per cent on average. Dumfries and Galloway Council were only able to provide data for the percentage of grades marked A-D, instead of A-C. Compared with the equivalent 2020 results, the overall A-D Higher award rate in Dumfries and Galloway is down by 2.7 per cent, with drops of nearly seven per cent in Maths, and over four per cent in Physics (Dumfries and Galloway Council, Freedom of information request, July 2021, available on request).
Higher passes in the Scottish Borders are down by 4.5 per cent on average. Compared with the 2020 results, the overall A-C Higher pass rate in the Scottish Borders is down by 4.5 per cent, with drops of over 13 per cent in Biology, 7.4 per cent in Chemistry, 11.3 per cent in Maths, and 8.7 per cent in Physics (Scottish Borders Council, Freedom of information request, July 2021, available on request).
Higher passes in South Ayrshire are significantly down across multiple subjects. South Ayrshire did not provide the pass rate across all subjects. However, compared with the 2020 results, the A-C Higher pass rate in South Ayrshire is down by over 17 per cent in Biology, nearly 12 per cent in Chemistry, over 10 per cent in English, over 11 per cent in Maths, and over 13 per cent in History (South Ayrshire Council, Freedom of information request, July 2021, available on request).
Reports from councils earlier this year indicated that historical data was being used by local authorities to determine results. Excerpts from guidance documents included:
Page 4 of Edinburgh Council’s guidance states: “We will work with schools to develop effective support for moderation at the centre, which will include sharing data on prior attainment and looking at provisional patterns of attainment for this session.”
Page 8 of Edinburgh Council’s guidance states: “The Curriculum Leader and the DHT attainment/HT meet to review the provisional results compared to historical data. Implications are considered, and adjustments made as appropriate. Justification for any change is recorded.”
Page 4 of the Inverclyde Council guidance states: “Two data analysis meetings to be held with each school in May and June prior to final submission of provisional results.”
Page 4 of the East Lothian guidance states: “Provisional Grades for the 2021 cohort have been compared with the attainment data from previous cohorts.”
Page 55 of the East Renfrewshire guidance shows a checklist for teachers including the question “Do my overall estimates fall within the agreed parameters for this session based on the data my PTC/PT has used from the last three years?”