Predictable? Unfathomable? Unbelievable? General incompetence seems to be the watchword. I thought writing a blog about the general state of exam results in Edinburgh’s schools would be relatively easy. That was until Covid-19 caused the closure of schools and cancellation of all exams in the UK.
Scottish schools provide different exam systems, depending on whether they follow the Scottish SQA, GCSE and A Levels, or International Baccalaureate. For this summer, the array of choice has delivered an added layer of confusion in the already heated debate on results.
The SQA U-Turn
To put it bluntly, and quite publicly by Rod Grant, Headmaster of Clifton Hall, the SQA failed the children by ignoring the professional judgement of teachers and using an algorithm instead. The result – an estimated 125,000 lowered grades, which is 25% of the total.
Although the general pass rates were higher in all 3 SQA exams than last year, they had been moderated down using algorithms that included a school’s previous performance. The resulting furore seems to be the disparity of predicted grades and the results, particularly in disadvantaged areas.
Under huge pressure, John Swinney and the SQA have made a significant U-turn, and are now awarding candidate results based solely on the estimates provided by schools and colleges. Confirmed results will also be shared with UCAS. Shambolic?
GSCE and A Levels
However, as I mentioned, not all Scottish Schools follow SQA. Some schools offer GCSEs and A Levels. As results of A Levels coming in last week, it was like Groundhog Day. Surely the UK Government had learnt from the Scottish Government’s mistakes.
Nicola Sturgeon has spent the last 4 months watching what has been occurring south of the border and further afield with Covid-19, and quietly and patiently implementing her own timetable. This format has been highly effective – surely a lesson to learn in all aspects, not least highly volatile moments when young adults’ futures are on the line. But no!!! We have had the same fiasco and the same U-turn.
Family Results
Throughout all this, we have had a vested interest with our own eldest and other family members going through IB and A Levels. Currently two have benefitted by the algorithms and one hasn’t. In-fact my daughter picked up two more IB points due to a revision of how they had decided to determine their results using coursework. Very kind, but it puts her up there with a ridiculous score – it would be funny if others hadn’t been so unfairly failed.
Also this week, GCSE results for the two nephews. Seemingly the exam board has learned from the A level fiasco, and they are to be based on teacher-assessed grades. Bizarrely this may be a blow for private school children who were hoping to benefit from the seemingly unequal favouritism they had benefited from by the use of algorithms!
What Now?
Choosing a school on exam results alone is never a route to take, and after this year, a positive minefield. The eventual results will be published but will be inconsistent with previous years. The whole system of using a written exam at the end of 2 years studying to determine the ability and attainment of a child has been questioned before and will and should be again. Our exam systems have veered away from excessive coursework, but the fallout of this year highlights the drawbacks of leaving the exam to the end of the year.
What now for those students who have gone through this highly stressful process? Not only have they had to cope with the ineptitude of the governing bodies who flagrantly ignored the professional assessment of their teachers, but they are now faced with trying to get a place at university.
Some will have missed out completely. Some will have now received their revised grades but be told there is no longer space for them at their first choice. Others will face the prospect of retaking exams after nearly 5 months without formal schooling. We can’t expect them to forgo further education when the job market is non-existent and the country dips into recession.
We need to look after this generation of young adults – for them Covid-19 could have far-reaching consequences that were at least avoidable.