Pass marks for maths exam lowered after complaints over hard questions

Published on Saturday 16 August 2008 19:40

PASS marks for Standard Grade maths were reduced by examiners this year after teachers complained the exam was too hard, Scotland on Sunday can reveal.

More than 8,000 students were awarded the top grade in the exam after the pass mark for a Grade 1 was reduced by 3% and the boundary for a Grade 2 reduced by 2%. However, despite the adjustment, the percentage of entrants getting the highest marks dropped 1% from last year to 16%.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) insisted the exam was at the intended level, but markers decided to lower the grade boundary because it was "perceived to be difficult".

Concerns have been raised that adjusting pass marks in these circumstances could suggest a lack of pupil achievement.

Industry leaders warned that numeracy skills needed to be maintained to support Scotland's business sectors.

Complaints were made to the SQA about the difficulty of the credit paper, taken by the brightest students sitting Standard Grade maths, in May.

Teachers claimed some questions were of Higher standard, putting students at a disadvantage. But when the results were announced on August 5 they showed an increase in the number of passes in maths, from 97.4% to 98.7%.

Mike Haggerty, spokesman for the SQA, said: "In a meeting about the credit paper of Standard Grade maths, examiners agreed there was a degree of difficulty that was necessary and intended.

"They assured themselves all the elements were in the curriculum but there was a recognition that the paper had been perceived to be difficult, so the grade boundaries were adjusted accordingly."

Haggerty said the setting of the grade boundaries, done after papers are marked, was an "inexact science" but examiners used their professional opinion and took into account marks and feedback from teachers.

The grade boundary for a 1 was 66%, 3% lower than in 2007, and 8,475 entrants were awarded the top mark.

Brian Cooper, spokesman for the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), representing 80% of Scottish teachers, said: "It would be unfair on pupils to be disadvantaged by sitting an exam in a year when the paper was particularly difficult.

"While setting the same level of difficulty in exams can never be exact from year to year, the processes that are in place help to ensure that the system is as fair and consistent as possible."

Last year businesses complained literacy and numeracy skills among new recruits were so low they have to retrain them.

Iain Ferguson, policy executive of CBI Scotland, said a lot of employers praised the school leavers and the graduates they took on, but standards must be maintained.

"It's absolutely critical to retain numeracy standards. Particularly around the Lothians there is a very strong base of financial sector companies, not even just companies but headquarters of companies."

Alistair Gillespie, chair of the Scottish Maths Council,

said: "The area where there is a real worry which impinges on Standard Grade is the number of primary teachers who are not confident in numeracy because they don't need Higher maths to go into primary teaching."