Exams clarity welcomed by teachers as parents 'furious' at National 5s cancellation

The announcement of the cancellation of National 5s has been welcomed by Scotland’s largest teaching union for providing clarity for teachers after months of uncertainty.
National 5 exams have been cancelled by John SwinneyNational 5 exams have been cancelled by John Swinney
National 5 exams have been cancelled by John Swinney

However, the announcement was met with fury from parents group UsForThem Scotland, which claimed pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds would be hampered by the decision.

Education secretary John Swinney announced the cancellation of the exams in Holyrood yesterday.

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He said Higher and Advanced Higher exams would take place unless public health advice showed they would create too high a risk of infection.

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National 5 exams cancelled for pupils in 2021 as Scottish Government respond to ...

The decision comes after months of pressure, starting with the calls for him to consider his position as education secretary, following the exam results fiasco in August, which saw the Scottish Government U-turn and award unmoderated teacher estimates as final grades.

Larry Flanagan, the general secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), said the clarity provided in the statement was welcome, with the plans “wholly sensible and appropriate” to assume a level of disruption to exams.

He said: “The most important consideration is the need to ensure that all students receive appropriate recognition for their achievements, and the EIS is confident that a system based on teacher professional judgement provides a sound basis for the awarding of qualifications.

"It is possible that the collective response to the current challenging circumstances may actually help to pave the way for a better system of senior phase assessment in the future.”

Mr Flanagan added: “It is also important that lessons are learned from the qualifications experience this year, and that there is no suggestion that teachers’ professional judgements of student achievement will be overturned by the SQA, or its algorithms, and equally that procedures are put in place to control teacher workload.

"This cannot be a situation, especially as schools and colleges are grappling with the challenges of Covid, where excessive additional workload is heaped onto teachers or students by the SQA.”

Jo Bisset, organiser for parents group UsForThem Scotland, which were behind the campaign to reopen schools fully for students in August, said the decision to cancel exams was not good enough.

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She said: “Parents will be furious at this move, which is going to have a significant impact on tens of thousands of children.

“They will not accept the excuses given by the Scottish Government, who will have had 14 months to get these exams to go ahead by the time May comes along.

“It’s all very well saying Highers and Advanced Highers will still go ahead, but that’s no good to pupils who leave school after National 5s.

"These are often youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds who were already facing a tough future in this economic climate.

“Now they will be hampered even further by not sitting what would have been a final exam.

“This just isn’t good enough. The Scottish Government keeps saying schools should run as normal, but an academic year without any exams at the end of it is nothing like normality.

“Yet again, youngsters are paying the price more heavily when they should be counting on the Government to have their back.

“Parents will also be suspicious at the timing of this, concerned that it’s been announced on a day when it will be buried behind other significant pieces of bad news.”

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