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Seòmar agus comataidhean

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 24 November 2024
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Displaying 1196 contributions

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Education, Children and Young People Committee

Alternative Certification Model

Meeting date: 29 September 2021

Michael Marra

I am interested in some of the questions about form and function, as you have put it. We all know about the very important job that the SQA has to do over the coming year, and the pandemic challenges remain vast for the education system.

Fiona Robertson, on 21 June, you issued a statement that welcomed the announcement that your organisation was going to be scrapped. Did you consult the SQA’s staff before you issued that statement?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Alternative Certification Model

Meeting date: 29 September 2021

Michael Marra

But it increased this year, under this model.

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Alternative Certification Model

Meeting date: 29 September 2021

Michael Marra

However, we are interested in the model and how it was applied. That is what members are getting at. It is clear from the data that the gaps increased. How do you account for the increase between the two models—those in 2020 and 2021?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Alternative Certification Model

Meeting date: 29 September 2021

Michael Marra

The consequences of this seem pretty clear. The attainment gap between the richest and the poorest increased. The performance gap between state schools and private schools increased. The gap between disabled students and non-disabled students increased. Do you not feel that those are the consequences of the issue that we have just been discussing?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Alternative Certification Model

Meeting date: 29 September 2021

Michael Marra

You said:

“I welcome the ... announcement of a new specialist agency with responsibility for both curriculum and assessment. This is an opportunity for significant change”.

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Alternative Certification Model

Meeting date: 29 September 2021

Michael Marra

I would appreciate that clarity from Beth Black, but I have one question on that answer.

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Alternative Certification Model

Meeting date: 29 September 2021

Michael Marra

You talked about a watching brief. I will not ask for the number of days of disruption or anything like that. If schools in one part of the country or one local authority are significantly disrupted and schools in another area are not, could we see different approaches for those different areas? For example, could exams be cancelled in Glasgow but not in Edinburgh? We are talking about a national approach. I see lots of shaking heads. Fiona Robertson talked about exceptional circumstances and taking individual approaches into account. How do you square those two things?

11:30  

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Alternative Certification Model

Meeting date: 29 September 2021

Michael Marra

It increased compared with the previous year. We have discussed putting the evidence of previous attainment into the model, as was done in local authorities and as Mr Mundell has just pointed out. The suppression of those grades is surely the consequence of the changes that you made, as the leader of the organisation over that year, to put in place that model.

10:30  

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Alternative Certification Model

Meeting date: 29 September 2021

Michael Marra

That is fair, Ms Robertson. Are you saying that the data applied had no role in creating the gap?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Alternative Certification Model

Meeting date: 29 September 2021

Michael Marra

It is really important, and I welcome the fact that you have put that on record. I know, having spoken to the trade unions in the SQA, that there was real concern about the way that that happened. I am interested in the relationship between leadership and expertise. With regard to the model for 2020, did staff make representations to you that it would be the “disaster”—in their words—that it turned out to be?