NEARLY half of teachers lack confidence in the delivery of flagship new Higher exams less than a year before their introduction, a new survey shows.

A poll of more than 1,300 teachers found 44 per cent said they were "not at all confident" the new Higher qualifications would be introduced successfully in 2015.

Teachers also questioned the support available to deliver the new Higher from national exam body the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), with only one per cent describing it as "excellent" and 65 per cent saying it was "poor".

The survey, by the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), also raised concerns about the way schools are dealing with rising workload faced by teachers.

The introduction of new National qualifications, which replaced Standard Grade this summer, led to significant extra workload, but 82 per cent of respondents said schools had taken no action to "lessen or control" the additional burden.

The survey results were published as officials from teaching unions and other key educational bodies gave evidence on the introduction of new qualifications to the Scottish Parliament's education committee.

The changes have been undertaken as part of the wider Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) reforms which seek to make education more relevant and better able to provide pupils with skills such as problem-solving and teamwork.

Unions representing secondary teachers told MSPs they were "extremely anxious" about the introduction of the new Highers because not enough support was available.

Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the EIS, said: "An assessment of last year has to acknowledge that the workload burden that was faced by teachers in schools is simply unsustainable.

"We think in terms of moving forward we have to recognise ... an exceptional effort to deliver the qualifications, but it does need to be addressed. We seem to be getting a repeat of last year and we said this was unsustainable.

"The single biggest resource missing is time for teachers to actually assimilate material and have a professional dialogue around implementation."

Jane Peckham, Scotland organiser of the National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers, echoed Mr Flanagan's concerns.

She said: "I think teachers still feel extremely anxious about the next phase. It would be foolish to think we are over the worst."

And Richard Goring, for the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association, told the committee many teachers were working up to 60 hours a weeks to keep up.

However, Terry Lanagan, from the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland, said the implementation of the National qualifications was always going to a "key pressure point".

He said: "I think it is to everyone's credit that the first set of National qualifications and the first exams went so smoothly.

"I am quite clear, with 37 years working in education, that there has been no initiative in Scottish education during that time where there has been more communication or more support."

Ken Muir, chief executive of the General Teaching Council for Scotland, added: "We are very much over the hump in terms of getting CfE into place."

Dr Janet Brown, chief executive of the SQA, said: "I think we have provided very good support. The challenge is to make sure people can access it."

The EIS survey featured replies from across Scotland although a greater number of responses came from Glasgow, South Lanarkshire, Aberdeen, Fife, the Highlands and Edinburgh.