SQA Results In Highland - 5000 increases in grade across all schools
14th August 2020
On Tuesday 11 August 2020, Deputy First Minister, John Swinney, announced in the Scottish Parliament a change to the way that SQA results would be decided.
In some cases, the moderation process carried out by the SQA during July and August had meant that candidates might be awarded a lower or higher grade than their teacher had estimated. This had affected some candidates in one or more of their results, though some candidates were not affected at all.
The new arrangement announced on Tuesday means that candidates:
who had their grades reduced by the SQA moderation process will now receive the grades that their teachers estimated.
who had their grade increased by the SQA moderation process from their teacher's estimate (which was very infrequent), will retain these increased grades.
Once SQA has processed all of these changes, new certificates will be sent out to candidates who have received upgrades. This will take some time and we do not yet have a date on which all certificates will be delivered, though the SQA has stated that they intend to have these sent out by Friday 21 August.
These changes will only affect some candidates who sat National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher courses. National 2, 3 and 4 courses and unit passes are not affected at all as teacher estimates stood for all of these.
Next steps
All National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher candidates in session 2019/20 will receive a communication from their school explaining the Scottish Government's policy change on results. Candidates with any changes to their grade will be informed as soon as possible, before the SQA’s target date of Friday 21 August.
All National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher candidates will receive from their school a confirmation letter with a summary of the grades now achieved by the individual. This will provide clarification to all candidates, and their families, of their results in advance of the SQA’s reissued certificates.
Impact on Highland schools
We have gathered data from schools about the impact of this change of policy by the Scottish Government. SQA has not yet updated the databases that it makes available to schools, so each school’s SQA Coordinator has compiled the relevant data from their own records. This collected data indicates that there will be more than 5000 increases in grade across all schools and all levels of award.
It is not yet possible to analyse how the new overall Highland SQA results will compare with the national picture, or with other local authorities, as that detail has not yet been released by SQA.
Related Businesses
Related Articles
Highland Housing Register Allocation Policy - Public Consultation There is still time to tell the Highland Housing Register landlords what you think about changes to the way that their houses are let and who gets priority. The consultation has been extended to Monday 7 December The landlords contacted everyone who is on the Highland Housing Register re-housing list.
The Highland Council has confirmed that a new date has been set for the Ward 12 - Aird and Loch Ness By-Election The original date of poll was Thursday 5 November but given the current public health advice applying in Scotland, the Returning Officer made the decision to postpone the by-election. Under normal circumstances a by-election must be held within three months of the vacancy arising, however under the provisions of Section 70 of the Coronavirus Act 2020 the filling of the vacancy can be postponed where it is reasonable and appropriate to do so and a date should be fixed for the poll to be held as soon as it reasonably practicable.
New fees for residential caravan site licence applications have been approved by The Highland Council's Communities and Place Committee. The new fees are estimated to affect around 20 residential caravan sites in Highland region.
A pricing regime has been agreed in Highland for the provision of Export Health Certificates which will be required by UK businesses from 1 January 2021 to export products of animal origin to the EU. Chair of The Highland Council's Communities and Place Committee Cllr Allan Henderson welcomed the work carried out to date by Council officers in supporting exporting businesses to the EU, he said: "The Environmental Health Team has a very important role in providing certification for Highland businesses exporting animal products to the EU.
Highland Councillors have noted the scale of achievement by Council staff in meeting the Traffic Commissioner's compliance requirements for the local authority's fleet and welcomed a phased approach to the ‘greening’ of its vehicles. Cllr Allan Henderson, Chair of the Council’s Communities and Place Committee said: "Maintaining a legally safe and compliant fleet of vehicles is essential and is no mean feat for an organisation the size of Highland Council.
The Highland Council is to consult on draft management rules for its 268 burial grounds across the region and crematorium located at Kilvean in Inverness. The Council has a statutory duty to manage burials, oversee memorial safety and cremations for around 1500 burials and 1200 cremations each year.
Motorists are being advised by The Highland Council that there will be a temporary road closure to the section of the U3520 Girnigoe Street, closed between its junction with the U3547 Henrietta Street and its junction with U3523 Glamis Road, at 09:30 until 15:30 on Thursday 3 December 2020. The closure has been made to allow KIER to carry out Iron work repairs.
The Highland Council has welcomed clarification from the Scottish Government that hotels are eligible for the Business Restriction Grant. As hotel restaurants and bars follow the same rules as other restaurants and bars with last entry at 21:30 and closure by 22:30, they have now been included as eligible businesses to receive grant from this scheme.
Members of The Highland Council's City of Inverness Area Committee have today agreed a proposed £4,786,000 investment in council housing for 2021-22. The one-year Inverness Area Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Capital Programme is part of the Highland wide HRA Capital Plan for 2021-22 which will see over £15m invested in improving the housing stock across the region.
The Leader of The Highland Council Margaret Davidson and Chair of the Brexit Working Group Jimmy Gray welcomed the Scottish Government's position paper on the replacement for European Structural Investment Funds. This paper was as a result of a wide consultation process in which the Highlands & Islands made a significant contribution towards.
