National Qualifications in Scotland: a lightning rod for public concern about equity in pandemic

Journal article

Scotland, traditionally, has high levels of confidence in teachers. Fairness and justice are key concepts in policy and practice in Scottish education. For more than 100 years, the high-stakes assessment system in Scotland, with the Scottish Higher qualification at its heart, has been crucial to that sense of opportunity and justice. However, in session 2019-20, public confidence in high stakes assessment in Scotland, as in other UK countries, was dented. In Scotland, the COVID pandemic meant that schools were closed, teachers provided online learning opportunities for pupils working at home and, for the first time in 130 years, it was not possible to run national examinations. To ensure that learners were not further disadvantaged, alternative approaches to gathering evidence for qualifications were instigated. However, these results were challenged as socially unjust and the results that had been nationally moderated were replaced by results based on locally moderated teachers’ professional judgment. As Scotland looks to qualifications beyond COVID, trust has to be re-built. This article reports on a participative research project that sought to understand public perceptions of standards and fairness across a range of key communities following this experience. Reporting on evidence emerging from both qualitative and quantitative data, the article reports on factors which affected trust in National Qualifications (specifically National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher) under the pandemic. Drawing on these factors the article suggests that when considering what matters for qualifications to be trusted, technocratic solutions are likely to be rejected by stakeholders. Understanding and responding to what led to the mistrust of qualifications in Scotland will be crucial evidence to inform its future qualifications system.

Authors: Hayward, L; Baird, J-A; Godfrey-Faussett, T; Randhawa, A; Allen, S

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Wiley
• Journal: European Journal of Education
• Volume: 58
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 83-97
• Publication date: 2023-02-27
• Acceptance date: 2022-10-29
• DOI: 10.1111/ejed.12543
• ISSN: 2165-8714
• Language: English
• Keywords: FFR