THREE quarters of teachers are not confident they can successfully deliver Scotland's controversial new school exams.

A survey by the EIS, the country's largest teaching union, found more than 70% of members were "barely confident" or "not confident at all" of delivering the new qualifications by 2013/14.

Only 3% of respondents said they were "fully confident" their department was on track. The findings come amid mounting concern over the introduction of new National 4 and National 5 exams, set to replace Standard Grade and Intermediate qualifications.

Last month, East Renfrewshire Council – the country's top performing education authority – announced a year's delay.

A number of leading private schools have also decided to delay for a year to allow more time for teachers to prepare.

However, Education Secretary Michael Russell told the Scottish Parliament's education committee on Tuesday: "The majority of teachers are telling me not to delay."

Yesterday, Larry Flanagan, the EIS general secretary designate, said the minister could not continue to ignore the concerns of classroom teachers.

"The overwhelming message from Scotland's secondary teachers is that they do not feel confident regarding their school's state of readiness to deliver... the new National qualifications," he said.