SCOTTISH school pupils will sit fewer exams as the Government seeks to “rebalance” the approach to assessments, the Education Secretary has said.
Jenny Gilruth addressed MSPs on Thursday, responding to a major report by Professor Louise Hayward which was released last year.
Hayward recommended that the number of exams sat by pupils in their final years of school be reduced.
Speaking in Holyrood, Gilruth said: “I agree with the report’s recommendation that the balance of assessment methods in the senior phase should change to have less reliance on high stakes final exams.
“That means that in the future, internal and continuous assessment will contribute a greater percentage of a final grade that will support more young people to successfully evidence their learning and it will also act to increase the resilience of our overall approach to assessment.
“I want to be clear that taking steps to rebalance assessment does not mean that exams will be removed and I can therefore confirm that examinations will remain part of our overall national approach and will not be removed from all National 5 courses.”
Teachers will be heavily involved in the decision around how each subject will approach exams, she added.
The Education Secretary said that some more practical subjects – including practical woodworking and fashion and textile technology – may have exams scrapped by the 2025-26 academic year.
Gilruth’s statement was criticised by opposition politicians, who felt it did not go far enough on the required scale of education reform.
Gilruth responded: “The member asked about a longer term strategic vision, I do not think today was the moment to set out that longer term strategic vision because, of course, the content of today’s statement is responding to a review that looks specifically at the senior phase level of qualifications.”
The minister went on to say she will “set out that longer term ambition” at a later date.
Scottish Labour education spokeswoman Pam Duncan-Glancy told the Education Secretary the announcements do not match the “appetite” for reform in education.
In a statement released by the office of Scotland’s Children and Young People’s Commissioner, Hayward said her review had heard the senior phase of school was “dominated by preparation for exams, past papers, prelims, memorising chunks of text or prepared answers”.
Professor Ken Muir – whose own review led to reforms of Scotland educational agencies – said: “The Hayward recommendations present a unique opportunity to make a paradigm shift in the culture and mindset within Scottish education.
“Part of that shift must involve placing much greater emphasis on listening to, and acting on, the voices of children and young people in the governance arrangements arising from any structural changes to national bodies.”
The announcement was also welcomed by teaching union the NASUWT, whose secretary general Dr Patrick Roach stressed that changes must not become “burdensome on teachers”.
Dr Roach also raised the spectre of generative AI, which could be used in pupils’ coursework, while Hayward also weighed in on the issue of artificial intelligence, saying: “There can be no more urgent priority than ensuring that Scotland’s young people are qualified for the future.”
