PRIVATE schools and those in the state sector were pitted against each other last week in a row over exam appeals.

Kezia Dugdale, deputy leader of the Scottish Labour Party, said recent changes to the process, and specifically the introduction of charges to schools, meant the education system now favoured private-school pupils "more than ever before".

The accusation followed a freedom of information request by the Scottish Labour Party which, for the first time, broke down the number of appeals made last summer between pupils in both sectors.

The response from the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) showed that, since the changes, appeals from comprehensive schools have fallen by more than 55,000, or 77 per cent as a proportion of entries, compared to a drop of 37 per cent in the independent sector, with numbers dropping by 1,458.

Labour said the reason for this disparity was, as The Herald revealed last year, that many private schools were allowing parents to fund appeals even if their teachers did not believe such an action was justified - a move not being considered in many state schools.

So was Labour right to place such significance on this issue?

The drop in appeals was actually no surprise and had, in fact, been deliberately planned for by the SQA in consultation with teachers and parents.

The reason for the significant reduction, first revealed in December, was because the appeals system was originally set up as a safety net for exceptional cases, but over time had developed as a second chance for pupils who "had a bad day" in the exam hall.

Last year, the SQA received 67,000 appeal requests, but fewer than half succeeded and the process cost the body almost £800,000. Once that factor is understood, the contrasting decline between state and private appears much less dramatic.

The drama pales still further when the statistics on successful appeals are examined rather than the total appeals.

The SQA figures show one quarter of appeals this year resulted in an improved grade which means some 1,784 state pupils got an upgrade compared to 342 from the private sector.

Furthermore, there is no actual evidence that the cost of an appeal - which ranges from between £10 and £40 - was a factor, with headteachers' leaders also arguing "pushy" parents could be just as much a reason.

It was these extenuating circumstances that led the SQA and the Scottish Government to reject allegations of unfairness. But the Labour Party does have a point.

While a knee-jerk response to defend the system in the face of attack is part of the political world we inhabit, it would be to the benefit of Scottish education if ministers and SQA officials find out why proportionally fewer state school pupils appealed.

If there is any uncertainty over whether cost was to blame, serious consideration should be given to Labour's call for fees to be paid by central government in future to ensure funding constraints should never be a factor in the consideration of appeals.