PARENTS who feared their children could leave school with no qualifications have welcomed an independent review of the issue.
Now Education Scotland, the national schools quango, has been drafted in to work with Argyll and Bute Council, which is conducting its own review.
A spokeswoman for Education Scotland said: “We’re working closely with the local authority and Hermitage Academy to contribute challenge, knowledge and advice to the council’s internal review of the curriculum at Hermitage Academy.
"We have made a commitment to provide on-going support to both the local authority and the school in order to offer an independent perspective, as well as advice around best practice, parental engagement and assessment.
"We will continue to work closely with Hermitage Academy so that the approaches taken by the school support all young people’s opportunities to gain appropriate achievements including qualifications."
The move comes after parents and pupils launched a protest over the way qualifications were being introduced at the school under Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) reforms.
Under CfE schools have more flexibility over when exams are sat, but in most schools pupils sit National 5 exams - which replaced Standard Grade two years ago - in the fourth year of secondary before choosing Highers the following year.
However, in Hermitage none of the pupils sit exams in their fourth year and instead choose up to six Highers which they sit at the end of S5.
Although pupils deemed unsuitable for Highers can drop to the lower National 5 qualification later, parents argue that could mean pupils who fail leaving school with no qualifications after five years of study.
Parents say one in five pupils from last year has already left the school without a National 5 or Higher in mathematics.
Ms Baillie said: "I have been raising the concerns of local teachers, parents and pupils with the Scottish Government so I am pleased that the Education Secretary has now confirmed Education Scotland will be involved in the review.
"The parents I spoke to were clear they had no confidence in the council’s own internal review so I hope that Education Scotland’s involvement in the process will help shine a light on what went so badly wrong with the new exam system at Hermitage Academy.
"The focus now must be on what the Scottish Government and Argyll and Bute Council can do to ensure that current and future pupils will be able to reach their full potential."
A spokesman for a group of families from the school called Parents for Change also welcomed the development.
He said: "I very much welcome Education Scotland's involvement and independent scrutiny of the review process and I have been in contact with them to ensure the parents views and concerns are heard and taken into consideration.
"So far the parent council of the school have not been asked to participate even though they have made multiple requests to the local authority hence the advances to Education Scotland.
"In addition, it is critical that change is applied now to ensure the current S4 are able to be presented for National exams in May, but also to ensure appropriate teaching time is allocated for S5 and S6 to again significantly improve their chances for high attainment.
"My hope is Education Scotland can help the authority make the required decisions an put in place amended timetables to allow this to happen this calendar year."
A spokesman for Argyll and Bute Council said the curriculum model had been developed in consultation with parents and was already the subject of a detailed internal review.
He added: "The council's education service and school are currently undertaking a review. The approach and timeline for the work has been communicated to parents, pupils and staff in the school and is currently on schedule.
"The review team has arranged a series of focus groups, survey forms, meetings with parents and a range of other mechanisms for people to get involved. The work is being carried out diligently and with an appropriate level of resources."
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