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THREAD on 2019 Scottish exam results
When the results were released in August John Swinney hailed a 'strong set of results' and dismissed concerns about apparently falling pass rates. Thanks to my (ongoing) investigation, we now know that isn't the full story
When the results were released in August John Swinney hailed a 'strong set of results' and dismissed concerns about apparently falling pass rates. Thanks to my (ongoing) investigation, we now know that isn't the full story
Here is the Scottish Government official press release on exam results day. Note the highlighted sections in John Swinney's comments (image 2)
But the results, at least when it comes to Higher passes, don't show "variation" - they show a consistent decline since courses were reformed. Anyone willing to have a look at publicly available data can see this:
And, it turns out, so can government officials. In a document released under #FOI laws, I found this in a section about the Higher results:
For whatever reason, this acceptance of concerns about failing pass rates didn't make it into the press releases and wasn't mentioned when the issue was raised with either John Swinney or Nicola Sturgeon.
Interestingly, however, the government documents go into more detail and point out some specific concerns. In a country apparently focused on improving literacy, for example, this should at least raise some eyebrows.
And this section about Science qualifications makes interesting reading when you remember that the government was very keen to talk about higher *numbers* of passes (not the same thing as the actual pass rate, which went down). Computing also fared badly.
And history fans should look away now
While you're here, this email exchange caught my eye too. Maybe it's totally normal, but it doesn't do much to enhance the idea that the SQA is independent of government does it? And hello to [Redacted - 38(1)(b))}
Anyway, you'd be forgiven for thinking that these sorts of issues might warrant further investigation. Well, it seems that consideration has been given to just that - have a look at Doc 8 on this list:
But of course we don't know if further analysis is being undertaken, or what recommendations were made, because the Scottish Government is trying to keep that entire document a secret from the public.
Unsurprisingly, opposition parties aren't best pleased with all of this. @Ross_Greer had already called for the exam results to be investigated. @IainGrayMSP @MspLiz & @CaroleFord1 have criticised the government for its attempt to 'spin' the figures.
What next? Well I've (obviously) lodged an appeal with the government asking for that withheld document to be released on public interest grounds, and I've asked to see documents from associated meetings.
Watch this space.
End.
Watch this space.
End.
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