Scotland’s Education Secretary has announced exam results downgraded by a controversial moderation process will revert to the grades estimated by pupils’ teachers.

John Swinney apologised to pupils affected by the lowering of 124,564 results and confirmed marks moderated upwards will not change.

In a statement to the Scottish Parliament, Mr Swinney revealed he has told the Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA) to revert downgraded results to the estimates “based solely on teacher or lecturer judgment”.

“I can confirm to Parliament today that all downgraded awards will be withdrawn,” he said.

“Schools will be able to confirm the estimates they provided for pupils to those that are returning to school this week and next.

“The SQA will issue fresh certificates to affected candidates as soon as possible and, importantly, will inform UCAS and other admission bodies of the new grades as soon as practical in the coming days to allow for applications to college and university to be progressed.”

Explaining the decision to leave the grades moderated upwards unchanged, he said: “Many of those young people will already have moved on to secure college or university places on the strength of the awards made to them.

“To unpick them now would not in any way be fair.

“Due to the unique circumstances of this situation, we will this year make provision for enough places in universities and colleges to ensure that no-one is crowded out of a place they would otherwise have been awarded.”

As a result of the changes, the National 5 pass rate is now 88.9%, the Higher pass rate is 89.2% and the Advanced Higher pass rate of 93.1% – up from 78.2%, 74.8% and 79.4% respectively in 2019.

Compared with the moderated results, these have increased by 7.8, 10.3 and 5.5 percentage points respectively.

Mr Swinney said the backlash from angry pupils and parents at the methodology that disproportionately affected pupils from deprived backgrounds “outweighed” the Scottish Government’s desire to suppress grade inflation.

He added: “We now accept that concern, which is not without foundation, is outweighed by the concern that young people, particularly from working-class backgrounds, may lose faith in the education system and form the view that no matter how hard you work, the system is against you.”

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).

This was based on criteria including the past performance of schools and resulted in the pass rate for Higher pupils from the most deprived areas of Scotland being reduced by 15.2%, compared with 6.9% in the most affluent parts of the country.

Professor Mark Priestley, of the University of Stirling, has now been asked to conduct review of situation and make recommendations for the coming year, with an initial report due within five weeks.

The Education Secretary will face a vote of no confidence later this week, tabled by Scottish Labour and supported by the Conservatives and the Lib Dems.

Exam results protest
Erin Bleakley (centre) and fellow protesters in George Square (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Erin Bleakley, 17, who organised a protest of about 100 pupils in George Square, Glasgow, against how the exam results were reached, said: “I did not think this day would come.”

The teenager attends St Andrew’s High School in the east end of the city and previously said she “crumbled” when she had four of her six results downgraded.

After the U-turn, she said:  “I think we would all like to say a generous thank-you for not only the apology but the results being reverted back to teacher estimates.“

The rest of the UK must now ensure no youngsters miss out because of faulty grading systems, the University and College Union (UCU) has urged.

Jo Grady, general secretary of UCU, said students deserved better than this “mess”, adding the U-turn and apology from Mr Swinney is welcome.

She said: “Allowing algorithms to downgrade marks and hold students back was wrong.”

Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the EIS teaching union, said the SQA’s standing is “tarnished” among teachers, adding: “The SQA should be less accountable to the Scottish Government and more accountable to the teaching profession, parents and pupils.”

He added: “The current planning for next year’s exam diet, on the basis of business as usual, seems woefully complacent.

“Scotland’s young people and their teachers must not suffer the same fiasco again.”

SQA chief executive Fiona Robertson said in a statement the authority “will work to ensure that centres receive their confirmed results as soon as possible and no later than the end of next week”.

She added: “Our core aim is to support the efforts of learners throughout Scotland and everyone at the SQA will work hard to ensure we fully implement the steps outlined in the Deputy First Minister’s statement to the Scottish Parliament.”