Ross Greer: SQA has lost the confidence of Parliament
The SQA has lost the confidence of the Scottish Parliament, Scottish Greens education spokesperson Ross Greer MSP said today.
Speaking in Parliament, Mr Greer highlighted ongoing concerns around this year’s assessments and questioned whether the exams body actually had the capacity to deal with the huge volume of appeals like to be coming its way.
This came during a series of urgent questions in response on the SQA having once again missed its deadline for publishing details of how this year’s appeals process will work. [1] Mr Greer told recently appointed Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville that the exams agency had ‘lost the confidence of Parliament and the public’.
Ross Greer MSP said:
“It’s extremely disappointing that young people and their teachers will have to wait at least another week before they know how this year’s appeals system will work. Thousands of pupils are more than half way through their timetable of pseudo-exams, without any idea of the evidence required to lodge an appeal. There will now be very little time left to produce this evidence before the end of term.
“I am seriously concerned about the SQA’s ability to handle a significant volume of appeals and the effect this could have on university and college admissions. It was clear by spring that the SQA had lost the confidence of Parliament and the public, so it’s time for decisive action from the new Education Secretary.”