Exams in Scotland begin in last year of Covid modifications

Pupils across Scotland will meet for the first written exam of the 2023 Diet on Monday.

This is the last year changes will be made to mitigate the disruption caused by Covid.

Over the next year, the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) plans to restore exams to pre-pandemic norms.

But parent groups said disruption from teachers’ strikes means some young people are still feeling the pressure to catch up.

She and the unions say additional support is still needed for students who have only known disruption in high school.

S4 student Reagan is 16 and preparing for six national 5 exams. She hopes to study law at the University of Glasgow.

Her Glasgow-based school was the target of several days of strikes because it was in a prominent MSP constituency.

She said: “The pandemic happened when I was in S1. She didn’t affect me too much. But with the strikes it was pretty tough for me and my friends.

“During our preliminary rounds, the teachers went on strike the day before so we couldn’t really speak to them or discuss anything we were worried about.”

Her mother Lucia told BBC Radio Scotland’s Drivetime program it was a worrying time: “I was very concerned and we didn’t know if it would affect her.

“When we knew the strikes were coming, we tried to have the teachers prepare them in advance.”

Amy, 16, from Aberdeen, is also in S4 but felt the strikes were not affecting her too much.

She told BBC Scotland: “I’m a bit stressed but I’ve been working hard over the Easter holidays so I feel prepared.”

Regarding the strikes, she said: “I was stressed that I wouldn’t be in school, but I wrote down questions and then took them to school.”

Patrick McGlinchey, the chief executive of parent engagement charity Connect, believes support for the Covid generation is still vital.

“We have a generation of young people in Scotland who know nothing but disruption when it comes to exams,” he said.

“What we need now is a period of stability and balance – that’s what parents are telling us – and that means extra support for young people at this time from national government and these national bodies.”

He added that most caregivers think three years of consecutive exams is too much for our young people.

He said: “OECD research shows young people from Scotland are among the best valued in Europe.

“We need balance. Parents tell us they want a system that is flexible and offers different opportunities for different young people to show their learning. Maybe an exam isn’t the right thing.”

Scotland is currently in the midst of a massive rethink of its education system.

Last year’s independent review by the OECD led to the announcement that the SQA would be replaced as part of an overhaul of the education system.

The report supported the curriculum as a whole, but said there was too much focus on exams in later school years.

Last month Prof Louise Hayward published her interim report for the Scottish Government on the future of Scottish exams.

It proposed removing exams at S4 and the possibility of a more comprehensive “Scottish Diploma of Achievement”.

The full report and its recommendations will be published later this year.

Unions are wary of rushing young people into the business-as-usual SQA diet next year, only to change the system again after the Hayward review.

The SSTA has threatened to boycott exams in 2024 if they take place in this form.

Andrea Bradley, general secretary of EIS, Scotland’s largest teachers’ union, believes Covid modifications should remain in place.

“Our members remain concerned about the impact of Covid,” she said.

“And obviously the industrial dispute that took place earlier in this academic session was on the minds of some in terms of the impact this struggle would have on preparing young people for exams.

“Nevertheless, our members had to act.

“We can be confident that teachers across Scotland have pulled out all the stops to ensure young people are ready.”

She said the union supports the idea of ​​fewer exams.

“We shouldn’t put young people through annual tests unnecessarily,” she said.

“It doesn’t leave the necessary time and space for depth and joy in learning. It burdens too many young people and really increases the workload of teachers.

“We believe there is a much more considered way of doing things that are much better suited to education in the 21st century.”

Education Minister Jenny Gilruth said: “I think we generally have a strong education system in Scotland with good teachers who care about the children and young people they teach.

“The broad general education enables a broader curriculum up to S3 and then the qualification orientation in the upper school.

“And I look forward to looking at the final results of the review and taking a closer look at this question.”