Statement from the Scottish Government Covid 19 Hub on Exams
"Throughout this crisis, the impact on children and young people and on our education system has been at the forefront of our minds. The Scottish Government’s priorities have been clear: to ensure the health and wellbeing of our children, young people and staff, and to maintain teaching and care and learning wherever this is possible, guided by the advice of the Chief Medical Officer and public health experts.
John Swinney MSP, the Deputy First Minister, announced on 19 March that the exam diet was cancelled for this year. We are aware of how significant a step this is and, whilst the protection of life is our overriding priority here, we must do our absolute upmost to ensure that the interests and life chances of our young people, due to sit exams from the end of April this year, are protected.
The Deputy First Minister has commissioned Scotland’s Chief Examiner to develop an alternative certification model that can be used to certificate in the absence of the exam diet – to ensure that young people in our schools and colleges who, through no fault of their own, are unable to sit exams, are not disadvantaged. The alternative model will be based on three things:
- on young people’s coursework
- on the professional judgement of their teachers through the estimations they make of their likely grades
- and, where applicable, on their prior attainment."
Statement from the Scottish Qualifications Authority - 2 April 2020
Click on the link above for the full statement. There is also a FAQ on the SQA website for parents, carers and learners.
Click here for a link to SQA's website with further information about how 2020 exam results will be graded.