ANOTHER disaster in Scottish education could be avoided by letting schools delay the introduction of controversial new exams, teachers' leaders have warned.

Larry Flanagan, general secretary elect of the Educational Institute of Scotland, said the exams fiasco of 2000 only affected a minority of pupils, but was a "catastrophe" for those involved.

And he argued that even if current problems with the roll-out of exams related to the new Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) resulted in poorer marks for a small percentage of pupils, it would still be a huge blow for the school system.

"When they had the Higher Still meltdown it was only a tiny percentage of pupils who actually suffered as a result of the confusion around the marking," he said.

"If only five per cent of pupils are disadvantaged by schools pushing ahead when they are not ready then that would be another catastrophe for Scottish education. If that can be avoided by a phased introduction for one year, I think we should take that opportunity."

Mr Flanagan was giving evidence to the Scottish Parliament's education committee, which is conducting an investigation into concerns over the introduction of CfE and its new exams, called National 4 and National 5.

The Scottish Government has insisted councils are progressing well with the programme and will be ready to deliver new exams in 2013/14.

However, East Renfrewshire Council and a number of leading private schools have delayed implementation for a year, arguing their schools need more time.

Mr Flanagan told the committee there were "serious concerns" from teachers and schools, with a "failure of communication" leading to uncertainty and worry over a lack of detail on the new exams.

John Wilson, director of education for East Renfrew-shire, told MSPs the council had done more than any other in Scotland to help develop CfE.

However, he said he had listened to the concerns of teachers and headteachers that it would be in the best interests of pupils to delay for a year.

Janet Brown, chief executive of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), said the timetable was faster than normal, but it was "achievable".

Bill Maxwell, chief executive of Education Scotland, said a delay would cause a loss of momentum and practical difficulties.

He said: "We feel it is on schedule and would be doing a great disservice to pupils who are already following a CfE programme to pull the plug."