Scottish Parent Teacher Council

“National Qualifications – the next generation”

How you can get involved.

In the last edition of Backchat we reported on proposed changes to SQA exams. The Scottish Government has now launched its formal consultation and it’s really important that the parental voice is heard.

Just to remind you about what the new qualifications will mean, here is the Backchat article again:

Changes to SQA exams (Backchat 103)

The Minister, Fiona Hyslop, recently announced her intention to scrap Standard Grade General & Credit and the Intermediate 1 & 2 exams/qualifications and replace them with a single new qualification at each level. The working titles for the new qualifications are General (to replace SG General and Int.1) and Advanced General to replace SG Credit and Int.2.

The new qualifications will still be offered in different subjects and at the end of S4. Youngsters will sit either the General or Advanced General according to the level they are working at. The new qualification will combine the best features of Standard Grade with the best features of the Intermediate qualifications, so courses are likely to be divided into units and there will be a process that ensures all students get credit for what they have achieved.

However, this change to qualifications will come on top of a major change to the curriculum in secondary schools. Unlike at present where youngsters tend to move through secondary school in two-year blocks - S1 & 2, S3 & 4, S5 & 6 - now they will move in three-year blocks.

From S1 to S3 youngsters will enjoy a more general and cross-curricular education. The aim is to teach more than just subjects and help youngsters to develop the four capacities outlined in the Curriculum for Excellence - to be Confident Individuals, Successful Learners, Responsible Citizens and Effective Contributors.

The second three-year block - S4 to 6 - will be the years when youngsters study for their qualifications. The details of the new qualifications are still being decided and in mid-June the Minister is due to launch a consultation asking for views. It will run until October. Children currently in P6 are likely to be the first ones to sit the new qualifications and so, whilst it is secondary parents who are most able to comment, it is the children of primary parents who will be the first affected.

However, not everything will change; the Highers and Advanced Highers are staying although they will be modified to ensure that they fit with the format of the new General Qualifications. Similarly, the Access and Skills for Work courses will remain.

In an attempt to make the process more flexible, the consultation will propose - and seek views on - a winter exam diet and an option to run Higher courses over 18 months and/or two years as well as over the current single year. On the surface both these suggestions sound very attractive, but they could be quite difficult to organise in schools.

The last piece of the jigsaw is the Government’s determination to have new literacy and numeracy qualifications which will be offered in S4 and available at Scottish Credit & Qualification Framework (SCQF) levels 3 to 5 (equivalent to the Standard Grade levels, Foundation to Credit). The details of these are also still being worked on.

The consultation is available on the Scottish Government website on: www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations

SPTC will be responding to this consultation and would encourage parents to do the same. However, it can be a pretty daunting process so, as an example of one approach, we will make our response available online in advance of the consultation closing date.

18 June 2008

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