Exams system branded 'disgusting' as pupils see 'careers ruined' by failure in tests they never sat
Angry parents have said they will consider legal action after their children were awarded “incomprehensible” grades without sitting exams.
Across Scotland, reports emerged on Tuesday of pupils receiving results which they and their parents were left struggling to understand.
William McGrory said his 16-year-old son, Liam, had achieved five As and two Bs in his National 5s last year, and had been advised by teachers at Hyndland Secondary in Glasgow that he was on course for straight As in his Highers. However, yesterday he was awarded straight Bs, a result that left his dreams of going to medical school in tatters.
“Liam’s sole objective was to go to medical school, this basically takes his whole career path away,” Mr McGrory told The Daily Telegraph. “All his report cards, his past exam results, his teachers, all said he would get As.
“If you sit a test, and muck it up somehow, you can’t blame anybody and you fall on your own sword. But to not even be given the opportunity to sit that test, and then be graded below the mark you’ve been given previously, is disgusting.”
Rob Marshall, who has worked an an SQA exam invigilator, said his 18-year-old son, Jonny, had been on course to achieve a B for Advanced Higher mathematics, according to his teachers at Meldrum Academy in Aberdeenshire, and a private tutor, but yesterday received an F.
“The results were far worse that could even be dreamt of,” he said. “He sat National 5 maths and got an A, and a B at Higher. This year, in the prelim, he got a C, and at parents evening he was rated as a B.
“It is unfathomable that the school would submit anything less than a C, but the SQA have come back and awarded him an F. We’re not disappointed, we’re more angry, because it’s so unbelievable.
“One girl in his class who was on course for a B or a C got an A, everyone else was downgraded. We are going to appeal, if it turns out the maths is not an error, then I will seek legal action because something is clearly not right. It’s completely unfathomable, Jonny’s first choice university has rejected him, as it would do. It is a huge blow for him be written off by the SQA and Scotland.”
Aiden, a pupil from Falkirk who did not disclose his surname, was predicted to get three As and a B but was given a B and three Cs. He has been encouraged by his teachers to appeal.
The 17-year-old said: "I was very proud of the Scottish education system but after this I am really disappointed.
"In modern studies we are taught about how in America, if you attend a school in a more affluent area, you are more likely to get into university.
"And we all thought 'that's America' and we're led to believe that doesn't happen in the UK or in Scotland but this has shown clear as day it happens here.
"I don't know how they can give me a B in modern studies because someone in my area got a B in modern studies at a similar level years ago, I just don't think that's fair."
