SQA message – Update on Higher and Advanced Higher courses 2020-21

The SQA has published a message for parents and carers with an update on Higher and Advanced Higher courses 2020-21

A message for parents and carers

Wednesday 16 December

On 8 December, the Deputy First Minister cancelled the Higher and Advanced Higher exams for 2021. This also means that coursework will not be marked by SQA, however it can still count as evidence of your child’s learning. We understand that you want to know what this means for your children.

The National Qualifications 2021 Group continues to meet weekly and is now working through the finer details of how Higher and Advanced Higher courses will be awarded in 2021. These courses will broadly follow the model we recently announced for National 5 results, where teachers and lecturers will use their professional judgement of your child’s evidence, subject to quality assurance.

Your child’s teacher or lecturer will be able to use subject guidance and assessment materials to help them gather evidence of your childs performance. SQA will publish these documents early in the new year to support learning and teaching.

We understand that your child may have already sat prelims or they may be due to sit prelim exams for Higher and Advanced Higher courses early in 2021. Whilst there is no requirement for schools and colleges to hold these exams, it is a school or college decision whether or not to conduct them. Results from prelims which have already been carried out or which are planned may count towards evidence of your child’s learning.

Teachers and lecturers may use various methods to measure the depth of subject learning of your child including class tests, marked assignments as well as more formal style assessments. All of these can be used as evidence to support your child’s provisional result. The school or college will decide on the best assessment approaches for gathering evidence of your child’s learning.

To stay up to date on National Qualifications in 2021, visit www.sqa.org.uk/NQ2021 where we will regularly provide additional information to support you and your child during the course of this school year.

The National Qualifications 2021 Group

The National Qualifications 2021 Group is represented by the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES), Colleges Scotland, Education Scotland, the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), School Leaders Scotland (SLS), the Scottish Council of Independent Schools (SCIS), Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), the Scottish Government, National Parent Forum of Scotland (NPFS), and the Scottish Youth Parliament.

 

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NPFS statement on the cancellation of 2020/21 Higher and Advanced Higher Exams and the plans for the delivery of the N5 assessments

Further to our survey on the topic of Higher and Advanced Higher exam diet there was a clear message that an overwhelming majority (75.14%) of parents and carers wanted any decision to cancel the Higher and Advanced Higher exam diet to be made prior to Christmas and we welcome the Deputy First Minister’s decision to make a prompt announcement.

We note that of the five thousand parents that responded there is strong confidence in the judgement of teachers to predict grades for children and young people with an overwhelming number of participants identifying confidence in the judgement of teaching staff should predicted grades be used as part of the Higher and Advanced Higher awards (23.36% a great deal, 31.70% a lot) 

The Deputy First Minister also announced that for 2020–21, National 5 results will be based on teacher and lecturer judgement supported by a robust set of checks — or quality assurance — which will be carried out by your child’s school or college, local authority and SQA.

The National Parent Forum of Scotland forms part of the National Qualifications 2021 Group along side Education Scotland, Scottish Government, Scottish Youth Parliament, SQA, Local Authorities, School Leaders Scotland, Colleges Scotland, Scottish Council for Independent Schools and the EIS teaching union.  The National Qualifications 2021 Group has overseen the development of the quality assurance process which will support teachers and lecturers in providing your child’s provisional results for session 2020–21. Updates from the group are available through www.sqa.org.uk/NQ2021.

We feel that this is a pragmatic approach to a fair and equitable outcome for all senior phase pupils.

We know from our correspondence with parents and carers across the country, that our young people are encountering difficult circumstances in their day to day learning, with self-isolation of both pupils and staff impacting their health and wellbeing at this critical time in their lives. 

We hope this timeous decision will enable pupils, teachers and the SQA to have adequate time and resources to achieve the results that are deserved and will be a key to opening up further opportunities for the young people.  Positive destinations are vitally important to all young people and we understand that this is a challenge at any time, not least during the COVID pandemic. 

 

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Update regards the Parental View of 20/21 Higher and Advanced Higher Exam Diet

Due to the overwhelming response we have had from parents we are really pleased to have a representative sample from across the country.  We are keen to share our findings and so we are closing our survey on Tuesday evening at midnight.

If you would like your views to be shared, please take a minute to complete our survey now. Thank you

 

We are looking to capture the views of the Parents and Carers of pupils sitting Highers and/or Advanced Highers, to help us establish how COVID has impacted on their learning and preparation for their exams in 2021

It is clear that COVID is impacting everyone differently across the various Local Authority regions and in some schools the level of disruption to our young people’s learning is significant, yet in other areas of the country there is little impact. With that in mind we would like to know to what extent, if any, parents and carers are concerned about the impact the current health restrictions will have on their child’s preparation for Higher and Advanced Higher exams. We are looking to establish if there is any differences of opinions between the different Local Authority areas, so please take a minute to complete this short survey in full.

 

Below is the link to our survey which has a closing date of  the 24th November 2020 – please share.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/3HFM9K9

 

We really need to hear your voice!

 

Should you wish any further information on the National Parent Forum of Scotland or would like a copy of our findings once published, please visit our website or email us using the address below.

 

Thank you

National Parent Forum of Scotland

www.npfs.org.uk                          questions@npfs.org.uk

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Parental View of 20/21 Higher and Advanced Higher Exam Diet

We are looking to capture the views of the Parents and Carers of pupils sitting Highers and/or Advanced Highers, to help us establish how COVID has impacted on their learning and preparation for their exams in 2021

It is clear that COVID is impacting everyone differently across the various Local Authority regions and in some schools the level of disruption to our young people’s learning is significant, yet in other areas of the country there is little impact. With that in mind we would like to know to what extent, if any, parents and carers are concerned about the impact the current health restrictions will have on their child’s preparation for Higher and Advanced Higher exams. We are looking to establish if there is any differences of opinions between the different Local Authority areas, so please take a minute to complete this short survey in full.

 

Below is the link to our survey which has a closing date of  the 30th November 2020 – please share.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/3HFM9K9

 

We really need to hear your voice!

 

Should you wish any further information on the National Parent Forum of Scotland or would like a copy of our findings once published, please visit our website or email us using the address below.

 

Thank you

National Parent Forum of Scotland

www.npfs.org.uk                          questions@npfs.org.uk

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Help with exam revision

The exam season is nearly upon us, with the first exams taking place on Wednesday 4th May. If your child is looking for help with their revision, then why not point them in the direction of NPFS’ “in a Nutshell” revision guides. The guides are available in a range of National 5 and Higher subjects, and have been fully updated for 2016. They provide links to past papers, marking instructions and helpful online resources, all gathered together on one leaflet.

Higher revision guides

National 5 revision guides

 

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The National Parent Forum of Scotland (NPFS) is a volunteer-led organisation that works to ensure parents and carers play a full and equal role in education. NPFS was established in 2009 to give all parents and carers a platform for engagement, and a pathway for Parent Councils to discuss and raise educational issues and concerns at a national level.

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