Material designed to help pupils get through this year’s exams is inconsistent, of poor quality and has left candidates feeling less sure about what to revise, according to teachers.
Fresh fears over support guidance from the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) come after Covid-linked staff absences recently surged to record highs for the academic year. The number of pupils not in school because of the pandemic also increased more than eightfold between mid-February and mid-March. Although they have since dropped, the figures are fuelling concerns many will not be ready when the 2022 diet begins on April 26.
Union leaders say the current situation is “dire” and are warning that teachers will have to collect “mountains” of evidence if young people miss exams or do not reach expected grades.
READ MORE: John Swinney says pupils will sit exams
Amid growing worries, the SQA’s material - which features study guides and information on topics that will or will not be assessed - has again come under fire. Staff stress that, it many cases, it will hinder rather than help their efforts.
Gathered by the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association (SSTA), the comments highlight fears linked to a range of issues, including the apparent inconsistency of pupil support across different courses, unvetted and error-filled content, the absence of anything new in some of the guides, and learners feeling uncertain about what should or should not be revised.
A physics teacher said: “The support contains a 13-page document which is a reworking of the marking guidance - not easy material for students to read and information already given to them over the years of teaching. There is also a list of videos which have not been vetted and, having only watched three or four, I have already found important information that is wrong.
“A further concern is the inconsistency of these guides as some subjects seem to have been given a list of topics that will not be tested in the exam. This seems unfair to my students. I feel completely let down by the SQA, yet again.”
Teachers have also expressed worry over pupil wellbeing and inflexible deadlines for SQA-marked coursework.
One said: “My pupils are completing a course assignment for Nat 5 Health and Food Technology and, while the majority of pupils will complete the work, I have two pupils who will possibly not as one pupil has been absent from school this week as she has Covid and another has been absent due to mental health issues.
“Both pupils, under normal circumstances, would have been able to complete the coursework. The assignment is 50 per cent of their overall grade so if I end up having to submit an incomplete assignment this will significantly lower their overall grade.”
A French teacher said: "I was shocked finding out that our 'support' for languages was 4-5 bullet points with one word each - one word being the name of the context that would come up for each paper or section of paper."
READ MORE: Scottish headteachers get £0.5bn to close attainment gap
Seamus Searson, SSTA general secretary, said the SQA seemed to have little understanding of the current challenges. He added: “The situation in schools at present is dire with increasing staff and pupil absences - and the collection of mountains of evidence in the event of pupils missing examinations and not reaching the grades the pupils and parents are expecting.
“The SSTA raised concerns in the summer 2021 of the potential problems this summer and the need to find a system that factored in further disruption to education due to the pandemic. This again was ignored and the ‘full’ exam diet for 2022 was hastened forward.”
Mr Searson stressed that action would be needed to avert future crises. “The SSTA sees further problems in the years to come with the pupils in S1 to S3, whose education has been disrupted in the last two years, as they join the conveyor belt of examinations with no changes or allowances being considered for 2023 and 2024,” he said.
“The SSTA has suggested that the pressure could be relieved by reducing the number of presentations each year by restoring two-year courses, having shared-content courses with a range of pupil-centred summative assessment techniques, and ending the unproductive practice of multi-course teaching where N4 to Advanced Higher pupils are being forced into the same classes.”
Deputy First Minister John Swinney insisted yesterday that exams would go ahead. When asked what support would be offered to pupils forced to miss them because of Covid, he added: "There are routine arrangements in place to address the implications of that on a pupil by pupil basis and no pupil will be disadvantaged by those arrangements."
An SQA spokeswoman said: "The revision materials and guidance are part of a substantial package of additional support for learners taking exams.
“SQA’s approach to developing these materials was informed throughout by secondary school teachers across the country. Learners were also involved and provided feedback that reassured us that the support was suitable for the intended audience.
“We have listened to feedback about the materials since publication and have updated them. We will continue to work with learners, parents/carers and teachers, and recognise the need to ensure their voices inform all we do.”
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