Peter Wright: 'Those pupils who experience exam failure may learn a more valuable lesson'

Published on Tuesday 4 August 2009 22:04

TODAY is D-day for nearly 160,000 of Scotland's young people. Parents and grandparents will be on hand to congratulate or commiserate, as SQA envelopes which can determine a person's future are ripped open.

For many students, however, failure is inevitable. More importantly, it will be their first such experience in an education system which stresses relentless positivism and in which teachers are enjoined to use phrases in reports, such as: "Jimmy has not enjoyed success so far. In order to improve his attainment he must…"

The SQA will refer to modest improvements in exam pass rates in the same tones that, pre-credit crunch, Gordon Brown used to refer to "financial and fiscal prudence" as the watch words of his administration.

There will doubtless be self-congratulatory remarks about the integrity of the SQA's procedures and expressions of confidence in the assessment system it administers.

It has been like that for nearly 50 years, since the Scottish Certificate of Education Ordinary Grade was introduced, the only difference being the year-on-year expansion as new examinations were introduced: Foundation, General, Credit, Intermediate 1, Intermediate 2, Advanced Higher, etc.

But change is in the air, and not merely for those candidates who receive their results by e-mail or txt: ENGLSH GRD A, MTHMTCS GRD D, GRPHC CMMNCTN GRD C, PHLSPHY GRD F.

The Scottish Government has announced plans to reform the exam system. All pupils will be assessed in literacy and numeracy, but, in all subjects, only some will be assessed in the traditional way by formal, externally set exams.

The proposals mean that only the most able pupils will be challenged in this way.

The rest will be assessed by means of school-based assessments, projects and the preparation of portfolios of work with the assistance of teachers. We are assured that moderation procedures will be rigorous in order to assure standards.

In the real world, however, schools will be under pressure to achieve improved results, just as banks were under pressure to satisfy their shareholders and maximise profits by inventing ever more arcane and risky forms of lending.

Evidence from south of the Border suggests that schools have responded to the pressure to improve examination results by marginalising "difficult" subjects and diverting pupils towards less challenging paths and spoon-feeding them to ensure exam success.

In 2006, an Oxford University study expressed the fear that "learners who may have achieved academic success by such means at A-level, it was felt, are increasingly coming into higher education expecting to be told the answers".

Tomorrow, the majority of candidates will enjoy well-deserved success: the fruits of their own hard work and sacrifices and those of their teachers and parents.

But those who experience failure may learn an even more valuable lesson. Let's hope that the Scottish Government is paying attention. Their opportunity to fail comes soon…

&#149 Peter Wright is president of the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association