Pandemic exam grading linked to rise in university dropouts
Schools awarding qualifications when exams were scrapped during the pandemic has led to the highest university dropout rate in at least a decade.
About one in eight students abandoned university before year two in 2022-23, the highest dropout rate since at least 2013-14.
It has been attributed to the cancellation of exams during Covid-19 when qualifications were determined by teacher judgment.
Schools were asked to predict exam results for nationals, highers and advanced highers based on a pupil's past performance, but the exams authority then amended 133,000 entries according to each school's past performance, with only 7 per cent adjusted upwards. The vast majority were amended downwards by a full grade.
The ensuing row fatally undermined confidence in the Scottish Qualifications Authority and contributed
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