Earlier today a former senior examiner at the SQA has claimed that this year’s Higher Maths exam was ‘dumbed down’.
These are serious allegations and they come on the back of the departure of the senior Higher Maths examination team at the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA). Concerns were previously expressed that the marking regime would be altered to ensure that pass rates didn’t fall and now we have an experienced examiner saying that standards have been significantly lower and the exam questions have been dumbed down.
Pupils, parents and carers, employers and universities need to know that standards are being maintained and quality is not being compromised. This is the latest in a series of worrying reports about the Higher Maths exam. Mike Russell, the Education Secretary in the Scottish Government needs to explain just exactly what is going on and give an assurance that there is no 'grade inflation' going on behind the scenes.
Scottish Labour also believes that the Education Committee of the Scottish Parliament should conduct an inquiry into this when the Parliament resumes in September. We can't afford to be complacent about maintaining the gold standard of our Scottish Higher examinations.
