Scottish Government to cancel National 5 exams in 2021

[RomeoCharlie71]

It’s been announced that National 5 (thats GCSE) exams in Scotland will not go ahead in 2021.

Scottish National 5 exams to be cancelled in 2021

Pupils' grades will be based on teacher assessments and coursework - but Higher exams will still take place.

www.bbc.com

National 5 exams are to be cancelled in Scotland in 2021 and replaced with teacher assessments and coursework.

Education Secretary John Swinney said going ahead with all exams during the continuing Covid pandemic was "too big a risk".

Higher and Advanced Higher exams will go ahead as usual - but will start on 13 May, two weeks later than planned.

The move came as new restrictions were imposed across Scotland in response to a sharp rise in new coronavirus cases.

 

[Richard Scott]

How ridiculous, exams must be one of the easiest things to run as all taking them are automatically required to distance anyway.

 

[Journeyman]

How ridiculous, exams must be one of the easiest things to run as all taking them are automatically required to distance anyway.

It seems to me an admission that we're going to face draconian restrictions for a very long time yet.

 

[bramling]

It’s been announced that National 5 (thats GCSE) exams in Scotland will not go ahead in 2021.

Scottish National 5 exams to be cancelled in 2021

Pupils' grades will be based on teacher assessments and coursework - but Higher exams will still take place.

www.bbc.com

So more young people being messed around.

Exams should be one of the sacraments.

 

[HSTEd]

Great way to avoid any criticism over the state of the education system.

Can't complain about problems with educational attainment if there are no exams to measure it.

 

[Ian Cunningham]

If there is a concern about the ability to run a full diet of exams then it makes sense to prioritise Higher/Advanced Higher over Nat 5 as these qualifications directly link to entry to further and higher education,.

The main diet of exams isn't until May but the Prelims would normally run in January which is a lot sooner and much more likely to be affected by Covid restrictions or outbreaks.

It may also be better to plan the year for Nat 5 pupils knowing at this stage that the coursework and ongoing assessment is the key rather than aiming for exams and having to abandon and revert to coursework late in the day (as happened this year and we all know how well that went!)

 

[Bletchleyite]

I do see the point being made that GCSEs (and Scottish equivalent) are fairly pointless when you can't leave education/training at that point. I think I'd be inclined to agree with it.

 

[RuralRambler]

Given that most pupils move into further education or apprenticeships (where they get further qualifications), I do tend to agree that external exams at 16 are a bit pointless these days. We're a few decades past the days where a set of 5 O levels inc English and Maths virtually guaranteed a good job! As soon as you have your A levels or BTEC or whatever your GCSEs are pretty irrelevant. I would tend to agree that school/teacher assessments for 16 year olds should be the way forward for the future. If pupils know that their progress tests, homework, etc will "count" towards their final grades, they're less likely the mess about and hope they can pull it out of the bag by last minute cramming for an external exam. If teachers get it slightly wrong, does it really matter in the big picture, when jobs/professions etc will be based on A levels, BTECs, vocational qualifications, degrees, etc that will continue to be externally/independently marked/scrutinised?

 

[Journeyman]

I do see the point being made that GCSEs (and Scottish equivalent) are fairly pointless when you can't leave education/training at that point. I think I'd be inclined to agree with it.

The UK is now very unusual in having exams at 16, and I think there's a strong case for abolition, with a new leaving qualification.