Fears are growing that pupils seeking to obtain national qualifications will miss out on vital opportunities to boost their chance of success through assignments.
The concern comes after new summaries were published that outline how courses will be assessed in 2021/22. They confirm the assignment requirement will be removed at different levels in a range of popular subjects including history, geography, modern languages and the core sciences.
Guidance from the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) says scrapping this element means class time is freed up to teach key course content. It stresses that Covid restrictions will make it particularly challenging to carry out practical tasks necessary for assignments in areas such as science.
SQA bosses also said coursework had been retained or reinstated in several subjects including English, music, business and economics.
But critics said dropping assignments could make life more difficult for pupils who might expect to do better in those than in a high-stakes external examination, particularly given that many will have limited or no experience of sitting such tests after they were cancelled in 2020 and this year due to Covid-19.
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The warning comes amid growing calls for fundamental reform of Scotland’s assessment system and a greater emphasis on continuous, formative, portfolio-based and teacher-led approaches.
It also follows confirmation from Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville that formal examinations will be held next year “if safe to do so”, with the content of courses reduced or modified to reflect previous upheaval. For example, some topics in maths will be dropped from final exams, while English portfolios only require one piece of writing to be completed.
Eileen Prior, executive director of parents’ organisation Connect, voiced concern over changes in certain subjects.
She said assignments represented “an opportunity for young people to demonstrate and apply their skills and knowledge”, and “seem to be much more closely aligned with the principles of Curriculum for Excellence” than many other types of assessment.
“For those who shine at applying knowledge and skills in non-exam conditions, removing assignments as part of assessment will be a disappointment and a set-back,” she added.
Exams will be held next year “if safe to do so”, Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville has said.
“We very much hope that in the interests of fairness, equity, equality and truly reflecting young people’s knowledge and understanding, we are not moving exclusively to exams or timed memory tests, as was the case last year.
“Our young people’s experience of school is one where independent work and assignments have played a significant part.
“They have been disadvantaged enough by Covid-19, without the qualification system defaulting to exams as the only type of assessment for SQA qualifications.”
One school leader, who asked not to be named, previously said axing assignments might save some time but can mean stripping out a component where candidates often do well.
He said: “They lose out on this opportunity and more reliance is placed on the exam … We need to be mindful that pupils sitting Highers and Advanced Highers will not have the experience of sitting exams at National 5. For our S6 pupils, this will be their first-ever external exams. Schools will need to plan to support pupils with this.”
Larry Flanagan, general secretary at the EIS union, said: “There is a balance to be struck between reducing the assessment burden to allow more teaching and learning time and also ensuring that assessments don’t become exclusively high-stakes exams, which can disadvantage some groups of students. Continuing with last session’s streamlined approach is a pragmatic approach, which seeks to recognise the disruption to learning which the pandemic has caused.”
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The SQA defended the modifications and highlighted that the vast majority of research and coursework aspects at Advanced Higher level had been retained.
A spokeswoman said: “These changes, many of which were also in place last year, have been made to reduce the amount of assessment to take account of disruption to learning.
“This is to ensure fairness to learners in 2022. Our consultation last year on modifications prompted over 23,000 responses – from teachers, learners, parents and carers – and showed widespread backing.
“We’ve worked with teachers on subject-specific changes to ensure they are fair to all learners.”
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