A NUMBER of leading Scottish private schools are to delay the introduction of controversial new school exams.

Hutchesons' Grammar School, in Glasgow, is to let some subject departments skip the first year of National 4 and National 5 exams, which replace Standard Grades and Intermediates in 2014.

Kilgraston School, in Perthshire, is to delay the implementation of the new qualifications for all pupils.

And St George's School for Girls, in Edinburgh, has decided to adopt the English GCSE exams instead.

Yesterday, The Herald revealed that St Aloysius College, in Glasgow, had decided S2 pupils would skip the first year of the new qualifications.

The school – which regularly sits near the top of exam league tables – also said it had no intention of adopting the "broad general education" demanded under the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE).

The decision by a number of private schools will reignite concerns over the erratic nature of the implementation of CfE, and its associated exams, which are due to be sat by some 54,000 pupils currently in second year.

Dr Ken Greig, rector of Hutchesons, said: "What we are looking for is the best preparation for Higher and, in some subjects, pupils will continue to sit Intermediate exams.

"However, others will sit National 5 exams and we are comfortable with that. Some of my staff have been involved in creating them."

A spokesman for Kilgraston said: "We are continuing to do Intermediate exams for an additional year because it is a more-established and well-resourced curriculum than the National 4 and 5.

"The Intermediate exams will then be phased out the following year once the National 4 and National 5 exams are well-established."

Earlier this month, East Renfrewshire Council became the first local authority to delay the new exams for a year in all its schools. Many said the move gave their pupils an unfair advantage.

In addition, East Renfrewshire has rejected the idea that exam choices for pupils should be made at the end of S3 to allow them more freedom to learn without the pressure of exams.

Instead, they will continue to encourage pupils to make exam choices at the end of S2, spending two years working towards the new National 4 and National 5, which replace Standard Grades and Intermediates.

The Scottish Government provoked further anger after claiming East Renfrewshire was a "special case".

Larry Flanagan, general secretary elect of the Educational Institute of Scotland teaching union, believes there should be flexibility for all schools.

He said: "Every school should have the right to do this. If the private sector can do it and the public sector can't then it highlights the inequity of the system.

"There should be a level playing field for all schools and they should be allowed to make a decision based on where they are at in terms of these new exams."

However, the Scottish Government believes there is no need to offer a wider delay as no other councils wish to postpone the new exams.

On the issue of when schools choose their subjects, Education Scotland has been asked to monitor the situation.