Latest news with #Gilruth
The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Higher history results revive questions about 2024 chaos
The SQA has likened the changes to a fluctuation in National 5 Maths in 2023, when attainment rates fell by roughly seven percentage points before returning to nearly the same level. However, such a drastic dip and recovery in quick succession is highly unusual, particularly when the decline in Higher History attainment in 2024 was largely down to a 25% reduction in student scores on a single exam paper. The 2024 results triggered a firestorm for the [[SQA]], leading to multiple rounds of tense scrutiny by the Scottish Parliament's Education Committee, internal reviews, complaints raised by teachers and, ultimately, a resignation and restructuring at the very top of Scotland's exam body. Given the incredible amount of attention paid to Higher History between the first time teachers flagged concerns in August 2024 and results day 2025, it was reasonable to expect a rebound in performance. However, the degree of improvement makes the 2024 numbers even harder to ignore. The change strongly suggests that something was done right this year to get attainment back on track, but that only makes the question of what went wrong last year more important to answer. When asked if anyone knows that answer, [[SQA]] officials repeatedly told The Herald that the exam board 'stands by the 2024 results". What happened in 2024? In August 2024, history teachers raised complaints that the SQA 'moved the goalposts' on Higher History, ultimately subjecting students to an 'unfair' marking process. Teachers with marking experience told The Herald about a pair of concerns at the time: students were required to be much more specific when answering questions, while teachers had not been made aware of any changes. The SQA said that the marking approach in 2024 was "consistent with previous years". However, one month later, following a meeting with Cabinet Secretary for Education Jenny Gilruth, the SQA launched an investigation into Higher History and promised to take action if it found any problems. The resulting report was panned by many teachers, who dismissed it as a 'whitewash' after revelations that showed the review only interviewed people with links to the exam board and not the teachers and markers who had raised the initial concerns. Questions over Higher [[History]] marking carried into 2025, with more Holyrood committee sessions taking testimony from representatives of the Scottish Association for Teachers of [[History]] (SATH), [[SQA]] officials and Mrs Gilruth. In February, Chief Executive Fiona Robertson stepped down after five years in the role. The [[SQA]] would eventually decide to split the previously combined roles of chief executive officer and chief examining officer. Most recently, in March, Douglas Ross MSP, chair of the [[Holyrood]] education committee, pressed for the [[SQA]] to release a report of 'lessons learned' from the 2024 marking. This was sent to the committee in the form of an action plan for how it would approach the subject in 2025. What changed this year? According to the 2025 SQA results, Higher History attainment rates increased from 65.7% to 80.3%. This increase of 14.6 percentage points wiped out the previous 13-point drop, and made it more clear that something was not right in 2024. Speaking after the results were presented, SQA Chief Examining Officer Donna Stewart said that the SQA carried out expanded understanding standards events, meant to help Higher History teachers understand how what students would need to demonstrate to succeed in the course. She explained that these efforts were part of a 'system-wide approach' from local authorities, teachers and the SQA to recognise that the attainment rate in 2024 required action. Regardless, she added that the SQA is confident that 2024's results were "an accurate reflection of learners' performance". 'In terms of last year's results, we stand by those results." Read more: When asked whether the SQA ramped up understanding standards efforts because it had identified poor teacher understanding as a contributing factor in 2024, Mrs Stewart said that was not the case. 'On the back of those results last year, there was a meeting with Scottish Government staff and ourselves and we took action points away from that. The challenge for us is that we set the assessments, obviously with teachers who mark the assessments, and report on assessments, but things that contribute to the delivery of those assessments are outwith our scope. It's important that we are all playing our different parts in that. Obviously, understanding standards is a key area in terms of supporting the system.' She said that the decision to increase understanding standards events and make information available online was where the SQA felt it could contribute. 'It's not to say we are targeting any particular issue. It is just that that is the space we are in, and that is where we can contribute as part of the wider system.' She said that the rebound this year reflected a dedication from teachers and local authorities to address a problem from 2024, and, even if that problem has still not been fully defined, learners and educators should be 'celebrated' for the success this year. History teachers have also told The Herald that, regardless of any outstanding questions about 2024, there was a consensus among the profession, including the SQA, that improving the outcomes for learners was the priority this year. Mrs Stewart added that Higher History is one of the subjects slated for review during a programme of rolling reform under Qualifications Scotland, the body which takes over from the SQA later this year. Two potential explanations, but both cannot be true It seems that the immediate problem has been corrected by carrying out more robust understanding standards events for teachers ahead of the 2025 exams, but unless the SQA provides a more concrete reason for the 2024 drop, anyone interested in understanding what went wrong in the first place is left to decide between two competing explanations, as presented by teachers and the SQA. Either something changed in the marking standard and teachers were left in the dark, or 2024 was an outlier year in which students' preparation and performance was 'weak'. To put it differently, either the SQA made a significant error out of the blue, or teachers did. Without further details from the exam board, the latter possibility requires a further acceptance that over the course of three years, teachers and students knew how to prepare for one part of the Higher History exam, forgot, and then came back better than before. The former possibility can be explained by the SQA making an error and struggling to respond. The Scottish Government has accepted the SQA's previous inquiries into 2024's Higher History results and supported its findings. A spokesperson said: 'We know that pass rates for individual courses vary year on year – in both directions. A similar dip followed by recovery was seen with National 5 Mathematics in 2023. 'SQA has worked closely with the Scottish Association of Teachers of History and the profession following the review that was undertaken and there were also additional understanding standards events for Higher History last year.'
Daily Record
6 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Record
Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth pulls down website over accusations of pro-SNP bias
EXCLUSIVE: Complaints have been made about the taxpayer-funded websites of Jenny Gilruth and Shona Robison. Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth has pulled down her taxpayer-funded website after she was accused of breaching Holyrood rules by promoting the SNP. Complaints have been made to Holyrood about Gilruth and Finance Secretary Shona Robison using party political material on their MSP sites. Gilruth's website was put "under maintenance" this afternoon after the Record contacted her party's press office. Justice Secretary Angela Constance 's website was also pulled down this week after we revealed it was plastered with SNP propaganda. Strict Holyrood rules say that taxpayer-funded MSP websites must not promote a political party, but instead focus on a member's work as a parliamentarian. Party logos are also forbidden and live feeds showcasing an MSP 's social media platform cannot include 'party political' content. But a post on Gilruth 's website hailed a recent SNP by-election win in Fife: 'The Glenrothes by-election result is a fantastic victory for the SNP, marking our 5th by-election win in a row. 'Undoubtedly, these results locally highlight a notable resurgence in support for the Scottish National Party. 'It was very clear to me from the doorsteps just how disappointed and angry people are with the Labour Party in Government, with many voters feeling a sense of disconnect and betrayal.' The article was accompanied by a picture of party activists, including Gilruth, holding SNP placards. Another post on the same by-election victory was a cut-and-paste of an SNP press release. Robison's social media feed features on her MSP website and includes attacks on Labour and promotion of the SNP. One retweet was of a post from the SNP's official X account: 'A report by Big Issue shows that, under the SNP, 21,000 fewer kids are living in poverty compared to 2017 - a 12% decrease.' Her feed disappeared after we contacted the SNP. Both websites make clear: 'The costs of this publication have been met from Parliamentary resources.' A complaint about the MSPs allegedly breaching the rules was made to Holyrood on Tuesday evening. Labour MP Gregor Poynton said: 'We're no longer talking about a one-off mistake, this is now a pattern of behaviour at the top of the SNP. First the Justice Secretary, now the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government and the Education Secretary are all accused of using taxpayer-funded resources to push party political content online. 'These appear to be clear breaches of the rules and the public are right to be angry. These websites are paid for by the taxpayer to serve local constituents, not to act as propaganda platforms for the SNP. 'The Scottish Parliament must investigate each case in full, and if wrongdoing is confirmed, public money should be repaid. Anything less would send the message that the rules don't matter or worse, that they don't apply to SNP Ministers. 'Taking down a website doesn't wipe the slate clean. Voters expect accountability, not cover-ups and it's time senior SN P figures were held to the same standards as everyone else.' The SNP and the Parliament have been contacted.
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Scotsman
05-08-2025
- Politics
- Scotsman
It's a hell of an ask to eliminate the poverty-related attainment gap without eliminating poverty
PA Setting targets is little but setting a trap for politicians Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Last year pass rates for National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher qualifications reached near-record lows. It made for a tough day of media rounds for the cabinet secretary for education, Jenny Gilruth, who was asked if she would set a 'benchmark for success' to measure educational attainment. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Likely mindful of former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's promise to significantly reduce the poverty-related attainment gap by 2026, Ms Gilruth declined. Setting targets is little but setting a trap for politicians. Any clear, measurable statement of intent is likely to come back to haunt them should their party fail to deliver the goods. On Tuesday that pledge from Ms Sturgeon was the leading interview question as the cabinet secretary visited King's Park High School in Glasgow. While the poverty gap - between the exam successes of the most affluent and least affluent pupils - has narrowed, it has done so to such a minor extent as to be practically static. That is, it was a fall of 0.1 per cent. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ms Gilruth, a former teacher, had plenty of answers - the 2026 target has been stymied by the pandemic. Austerity policies generated by governments at Westminster have squeezed education budgets. This year she was relatively relaxed about the question - and far more relaxed than last year - because the headline figures were, on their face, good. Results up across the board and plenty of defence lines among the figures. Tuesday's results were styled by the SQA as a 'landmark year' for Scotland's young learners. Given this is the final year of the SQA, before the expected introduction of replacement exams body Qualifications Scotland in December, it's understandable they want to go out with a bang. But it's more of a snapper than a firecracker. Attainment levels are up only marginally and down on 2023. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Asked by The Scotsman whether this really is 'landmark', Donna Stewart, Scotland's Chief Examining Officer, was quick to say the SQA is not only referring to National 5, Higher and Advance Higher results but the 'wider picture' of a record number of young people studying for vocational qualifications. More than 100,000 vocational and technical qualifications have been awarded this year - a record. On poverty, the SNP MSP made a vital point that deserves far closer scrutiny than it has had. Anti-poverty measures in Scotland's schools have been 'normalised', Ms Gilruth observed. Teachers are no longer 'just' teachers - they are quasi-social workers, counsellors and benefits advisors. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Visit almost any school in an economically deprived area and you'll find it being utilised as an extension of the welfare state - food banks on site, clothing banks, uniform banks, in-school benefits advice services. Head teachers are using Pupil Equity Funding to plug gaps that should be filled by standard funding. It's a hell of an ask to eliminate the poverty-related attainment gap without eliminating poverty. Of course, eliminating poverty was another SNP pledge that sets the government up for failure. That's the landscape in which schools are operating. They are also working with straitened budgets, reduced staffing levels, reduced support staff and the long lingering effects of the pandemic. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The positive headline figures are only temporary respite. An election is coming, and pointing to a marginal increase in the number of pupils gaining Highers won't see off the opposition attacks.
Scotsman
05-08-2025
- Politics
- Scotsman
Scotland exam results: Ministers under pressure for failing to close poverty-related attainment gap
PA Attainment has risen in the last year but the gap between pupils from the wealthiest and most deprived backgrounds remains almost static Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Ministers are facing increasing pressure to close the poverty-related attainment gap as a crucial government-set target looks certain to be missed. Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) results show the level of attainment across National 5, Highers and Advanced Highers increased in 2025 compared to last year. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But figures released by the SQA also show the gap between pupils from the wealthiest and most deprived backgrounds remains almost static, closing by just 0.1 percentage point. In 2015, while First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon pledged the elimination of the attainment gap was 'a yardstick by which the people of Scotland can measure our success', and the 2016 Programme For Government said the disparity would be significantly reduced by 2026. On a visit to meet pupils at Glasgow's King's Park High School, Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth said progress had been made but cited the pandemic and austerity measures from Westminster governments. She said the country now has a 'markedly different' education system than existed in 2016 and making direct comparisons is 'challenging'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'A decade on we've had a global pandemic. We've also had austerity policies which have harmed some of our most vulnerable families. 'And I'm always struck by that in my school visits, the normalisation of anti-poverty policies within our schools now.' Ms Gilruth said that when she was last teaching, around 15 years ago, anti-poverty measures did not exist in classrooms. 'So our schools are stepping up to that challenge,' she added. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'They're having to use resources like the Pupil Equity Fund (PEF), which has come from that funding that Nicola Sturgeon committed to, that they should not have to be doing.' Ms Gilruth pointed again to the slight narrowing in attainment gap figures and said that progress 'should be supplemented' by progress in literacy and numeracy in primary schools. PA 'We also see the narrowing of the poverty related attainment gap in terms of positive destinations, which have narrowed since 2009 and 2010 by two thirds,' she added, pointing to UCAS data that shows more young people from poorer backgrounds are going on to university. The number of 18-year-olds from Scotland's most deprived areas securing places at university has increased by 100 to 1,960, which is a record high. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The number of young Scots who have secured a place at university this year has also increased to a new high of 16,340 acceptances for 18-year-olds, up four per cent on last year. Scottish Labour Education Spokesperson Pam Duncan-Glancy called the SNP's fudging of the 2026 target 'damning'. 'Almost a decade on and SNP ministers are refusing to own up to Scots that they have repeatedly made promises that they are unable to deliver upon,' Ms Duncan-Glancy said. 'Education is a devolved matter and the responsibility of the Scottish Government, and yet Jenny Gilruth instead chooses to make excuses for the SNP's atrocious record. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Scotland's young people are being held back by a failing SNP government, with ministers consistently shirking responsibility for their own failures.' Scottish Conservative shadow education secretary Miles Briggs also said 'no amount of spin' could detract from the failure to eradicate the attainment gap. SQA results show that the gap between the most and least deprived pupils obtaining A to C grades at National 5 was 16.6 per cent, with the gap at Higher 17.1 per cent and Advanced Higher standing at 12.8 per cent. For Higher, this is a shift of 0.1 per cent from 17.2 per cent last year. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The gap between the most and least deprived pupils achieving A grades at Advanced Higher has widened by almost three per cent since prior to the pandemic. Mr Briggs said: 'Frankly, no amount of spin from them can avoid the fact that Nicola Sturgeon's promises in relation to the attainment gap lie in tatters. 'She wanted to eradicate it completely yet still there is a huge gap in the results achieved by those from our most and least deprived communities. 'It should be a source of shame for Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney that those from the most deprived communities are still facing a postcode lottery when it comes to educational achievement.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad In Glasgow, which faces some of the worst rates of deprivation in Scotland, Advance Higher attainment has seen a marked increase. The number of S6 pupils achieving one or more qualification at that level rose by 1.4 per cent. This is despite the closure of a specialist facility at Glasgow Caledonian University designed to help pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds study for Advanced Highers. Douglas Hutchison, executive director of education at Glasgow city council, said the local authority had moved to share resources between secondary schools to ensure pupils did not miss out. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Some young people will travel to other schools in the city to study subjects not available at their own secondary. Mr Hutchison said: 'Our consortium arrangements have worked out really well and the evidence of that is in the increased attainment.' He added that additional resource is necessary in schools to make a significant difference to attainment figures. 'We've got great teachers in our schools,' he said. 'It's the additional support around teachers to make their life a bit more straightforward that has been eroded over the years in different ways. 'But I do think things are going in the right direction.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad This year's Higher pass rate is 75.9 percent, an increase of one percentage point compared to the previous year. Other than 2019 and 2024, it is the lowest Higher pass rate in the past 15 years. Results have fallen from the record highs of 2023 but have increased on last year. The pass rates for National 5 and Highers were similar to pre-pandemic levels but for Advanced Higher dropped to 3 per cent lower than in 2019. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The number of pupils with an A to C grade for National 5 qualifications rose from 77.2 per cent last year to 78.4 per cent this year.
The Herald Scotland
05-08-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Higher history results revive questions about 2024 scandal
The SQA has likened the changes to a fluctuation in National 5 Maths in 2023, when attainment rates fell by roughly seven percentage points before returning to nearly the same level. However, such a drastic dip and recovery in quick succession is highly unusual, particularly when the decline in Higher History attainment in 2024 was largely down to a 25% reduction in student scores on a single exam paper. The 2024 results triggered a firestorm for the [[SQA]], leading to multiple rounds of tense scrutiny by the Scottish Parliament's Education Committee, internal reviews, complaints raised by teachers and, ultimately, a resignation and restructuring at the very top of Scotland's exam body. Given the incredible amount of attention paid to Higher History between the first time teachers flagged concerns in August 2024 and results day 2025, it was reasonable to expect a rebound in performance. However, the degree of improvement makes the 2024 numbers even harder to ignore. The change strongly suggests that something was done right this year to get attainment back on track, but that only makes the question of what went wrong last year more important to answer. When asked if anyone knows that answer, [[SQA]] officials repeatedly told The Herald that the exam board 'stands by the 2024 results.' What happened in 2024? In August 2024, history teachers raised complaints that the SQA 'moved the goalposts' on Higher History, ultimately subjecting students to an 'unfair' marking process. Teachers with marking experience told The Herald about a pair of concerns at the time: students were required to be much more specific when answering questions, while teachers had not been made aware of any changes. The SQA said that the marking approach in 2024 was "consistent with previous years." However, one month later, following a meeting with Cabinet Secretary for Education Jenny Gilruth, the SQA launched an investigation into Higher History and promised to take action if it found any problems. The resulting report was panned by many teachers, who dismissed it as a 'whitewash' after revelations that showed the review only interviewed people with links to the exam board and not the teachers and markers who had raised the initial concerns. Questions over Higher [[History]] marking carried into 2025, with more Holyrood committee sessions taking testimony from representatives of the Scottish Association for Teachers of [[History]] (SATH), [[SQA]] officials and Mrs Gilruth. In February, Chief Executive Fiona Robertson stepped down after five years in the role. The [[SQA]] would eventually decide to split the previously combined roles of chief executive officer and chief examining officer. Most recently, in March, Douglas Ross MSP, chair of the [[Holyrood]] education committee, pressed for the [[SQA]] to release a report of 'lessons learned' from the 2024 marking. This was sent to the committee in the form of an action plan for how it would approach the subject in 2025. What changed this year? According to the 2025 SQA results, Higher History attainment rates increased from 65.7% to 80.3%. This increase of 14.6 percentage points wiped out the previous 13-point drop, and made it more clear that something was not right in 2024. Speaking after the results were presented, SQA Chief Examinations Officer Donna Stewart said that the SQA carried out expanded understanding standards events, meant to help Higher History teachers understand how what students would need to demonstrate to succeed in the course. She explained that these efforts were part of a 'system-wide approach' from local authorities, teachers and the SQA to recognise that the attainment rate in 2024 required action. Regardless, she added that the SQA is confident that 2024's results were "an accurate reflection of learners' performance." 'In terms of last year's results, we stand by those results." Read more" When asked whether the SQA ramped up understanding standards efforts because it had identified poor teacher understanding as a contributing factor in 2024, Mrs Stewart said that was not the case. 'On the back of those results last year, there was a meeting with Scottish Government staff and ourselves and we took action points away from that. The challenge for us is that we set the assessments, obviously with teachers who mark the assessments, and report on assessments, but things that contribute to the delivery of those assessments are kind of outwith our scope. It's important that we are all playing our different parts in that. Obviously, understanding standards is a key area in terms of supporting the system.' She said that the decision to increase understanding standards events and make information available online was where the SQA felt it could contribute. 'It's not to say we are targeting any particular issue. It is just that that is the space we are in, and that is where we can contribute as part of the wider system.' She said that the rebound this year reflected a dedication from teachers and local authorities to address a problem from 2024, and, even if that problem has still not been fully defined, learners and educators should be 'celebrated' for the success this year. Two potential explanations, but both cannot be true It seems that the immediate problem has been corrected by carrying out more robust understanding standards events for teachers ahead of the 2025 exams, but unless the SQA provides a more concrete reason for the 2024 drop, anyone interested in understanding what went wrong in the first place is left to decide between two competing explanations, as presented by teachers and the SQA. Either something changed in the marking standard and teachers were left in the dark, or 2024 was an outlier year in which students' preparation and performance was 'weak'. To put it differently, either the SQA made a significant error out of the blue, or teachers did. Without further details from the exam board, the latter possibility requires a further acceptance that over the course of three years, teachers and students knew how to prepare for one part of the Higher History exam, forgot, and then came back better than before. The former possibility can be explained by the SQA making an error and struggling to respond.
