SCOTTISH Tories have been warned it will be “politically suicidal” for them to go ahead with a motion of no-confidence in John Swinney amid exam grades chaos in England.
In Holyrood, Labour and the Tories are gearing up to vote against the Education Secretary over the Scottish Government’s handling of the SQA row.
With exams called off this year due to the pandemic, the SQA used a methodology which saw grades estimated by teachers downgraded. Pass rates for pupils in the most deprived areas were reduced by 15.2% in comparison to 6.9% for pupils from the most affluent backgrounds.
The results caused a major row which led to John Swinney apologising and announcing those whose grades had been downgraded would instead receive the grade estimated by their teacher.
READ MORE: John Swinney: Talking to teens changed my mind on SQA affair
Swinney today faces that vote as similar results chaos unfolds at the hands of the Tory Government south of the Border.
Head teachers in England have warned some lowered grades there seem to be “unfair and unfathomable”. About 36% of entries had a lower grade than predicted, while 3% were down two grades.
The key information used to calculate A-Levels and GCSEs is how pupils are ranked by their school plus results in their schools and colleges in previous years. There is a “triple lock” in place, meaning they can receive whatever is the highest grade of their estimated grade, an autumn written exam or mock exam, dependent on a successful appeal.
In England news that pupils will be downgraded sparked anger before results were even released. The Tory-supporting Daily Mail ran a front page branding Boris Johnson and Education Secretary Gavin Williamson “dunces”, adding: “Exam grades in chaos. Teachers in despair. Appeals set for meltdown. And what’s the Education Secretary got to say to students getting results today? Er, sorry.”
The SNP’s longest serving MP, Pete Wishart, shared an image of the splash.
It’s beyond naive and politically suicidal for the Scots Tories and SLab to go ahead with their vindictive motion of no confidence when this storm is going to erupt. Going to be fun watching them get slapped all over the place though. One day I’d love to be down for a speech. pic.twitter.com/nIH6hXYBsq
— Pete Wishart (@PeteWishart) August 13, 2020
He added: “It’s beyond naive and politically suicidal for the Scots Tories and SLab to go ahead with their vindictive motion of no confidence when this storm is going to erupt. Going to be fun watching them get slapped all over the place though.”
Echoing similar calls from Unionist figures, Wishart asked Williamson if he would be resigning.
Speaking this morning, Geoff Barton, leader of the ASCL head teachers’ union, said: "While there has been an overall increase in top grades, we are very concerned that this disguises a great deal of volatility among the results at school and student level.
"We have received heartbreaking feedback from school leaders about grades being pulled down in a way that they feel to be utterly unfair and unfathomable. They are extremely concerned about the detrimental impact on their students."
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