John Swinney announcement: what time today the education secretary will make a statement about SQA exams controversy - and how to watch

The Education Secretary will make a statement following outrage after 125,000 pupils had their results downgraded.

Education Secretary John Swinney is to announce measures to address the fallout of exams results being downgraded.

Exam result controversy

As a result of the pandemic, exams were cancelled and a new grading system put in place, with teachers' estimates of pupils' attainment moderated by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA).

Calls for John Swinney's resignation have come after a letter branded the exam results a "shambles". Picture: PA

This was based on criteria including the past performance of schools.

It resulted in more than 125,000 entries being downgraded - about a quarter of all grades handed out by the SQA this year.

Pupils from the most deprived areas of Scotland had their grades reduced by 15.2% compared with 6.9% in the most affluent parts of the country.

The Education Secretary faced criticism from pupils, parents and teachers, with opposition politicians calling for him to resign.

What time is John Swinney’s statement?

Mr Swinney will make a Ministerial Statement on the SQA Exams results some time around 2:50pm on Tuesday, August 11.

You can watch it live on Scottish Parliament TV.

Mr Swinney is set to face a vote of no confidence this week, tabled by Scottish Labour and supported by the Conservatives with the Lib Dems and Greens withholding judgement until after his statement later today.

What will be discussed?

Repeatedly asked to expand on what is going to be announced during her coronavirus briefing on Monday, the First Minister refused to give details but she did say it is not expected every pupil who was downgraded in one of their subjects will have to appeal.

Nicola Sturgeon said: "Despite our best intentions, I do acknowledge we did not get this right and I'm sorry for that."The most immediate challenge is to resolve the grades awarded to pupils this year."On Sunday, Mr Swinney released a statement saying he and the Scottish Government had "heard the anger of students who feel their hard work has been taken away".

"These are unprecedented times and as we have said throughout this pandemic, we will not get everything right first time," he said.

"Every student deserves a grade that reflects the work they have done and that is what I want to achieve.

"I have been engaged in detailed discussions over the way forward and I know that we need to act and act quickly to give certainty to our young people.

"I will set out on Tuesday how we intend to achieve that."

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