Scrapping and replacing SQA will end ‘era of hostility to teachers and students’
By Democrat reporter
The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) will meet its end when the Scottish Greens vote to scrap and replace it with a new organisation which will put the voices of teachers and students at its heart.
Scottish Green MSP Ross Greer, pictured right, has campaigned for a radical overhaul of the exams body for many years, with calls for a rethink predating the covid pandemic but significantly increasing after the 2020 ‘postcode lottery’ grading scandal.
Following that scandal Green MSPs negotiated with the Scottish Government to restore 124,565 young people’s grades that had been unfairly moderated down by the SQA’s postcode-based temporary replacement for exams.
The Scottish Greens, teachers’ unions and organisations, including the Scottish Youth Parliament have long pointed out a culture at the top of the SQA which is hostile to feedback and uninterested in listening to those directly affected by its decisions.
To avoid a repeat of the SQA’s failures, Scottish Greens education spokesperson has secured dozens of changes, including splitting the role of Chief Executive at Qualifications Scotland, the replacement organisation.
The new body will have a separate Chief Executive, Chief Accreditation Officer and Chief Examiner, with a requirement that the Examiner must be an experienced educator e.g. a teacher or college lecturer.
Scottish Greens education spokesperson Ross Greer MSP said: “It’s time for a fresh start in Scottish education. Senior leadership at the SQA was given the opportunity to change over many years, but refused to do so.
“Replacing the organisation with one designed to listen to teachers and students should mean an end to the constant cycle of scandals. Now we can begin rebuilding the trust which was so completely destroyed over the last decade and put the focus back on supporting students.
“The Scottish Greens have made dozens of changes to the Government’s original proposals, including giving a bigger role to teachers and students themselves.
“Time and again the SQA could have avoided making catastrophic mistakes if they had simply listened to the experts in Scottish education, those in our schools and colleges. Green MSPs will be proud to vote for this bill and replace the SQA with an organisation ready to meet the needs of Scotland’s students.
“This bill is a great start, but it must be followed up with urgent work to reduce the workload on teachers and the unnecessary stress of high-stakes exams.
“We need to move away from the Victorian-era end of term exam model and towards systems of ongoing assessment which judge a pupil’s knowledge and abilities with far more accuracy.”
LibDem education spokesperson Willie Rennie said: “The scandal over this year’s Higher History exam showed how unsatisfactory it is that the SQA inspects itself with its quality assurance arrangements.
“I’ve worked constructively with the Cabinet Secretary to build a stronger system that fixes this and lays the groundwork for lasting reform.
“There was no consensus on quality assurance and accreditation changes but I am clear that the current set-up just isn’t good enough.
“My amendments deliver immediate improvements and a structured, evidence-based route to deeper reform.
“The SQA and its replacement, Qualifications Scotland, are under new leadership and will have an big opportunity to change. These amendments give them that chance, but make clear that if further reform is needed, it will be delivered.”