Third of West Dunbartonshire pupil results marked down

Officially, West Dunbartonshire Council (WDC) is cheering record success in SQA results sent to youngsters last week.

But a briefing from education bosses, leaked to the Reporter, showed more than one in three results were “adjusted down” from the estimates provided by teachers and schools. Just 2.25 per cent were moved up.

Of those marked down, more than 27 per cent were by more than one band.

And the results for Highers and Advanced Highers were even more stark, with Jackie Baillie MSP reporting the council confirmed 43 per cent of Highers and Advanced Highers pupils were marked down.

Across Scotland, 125,000 results were downgraded by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) to “maintain credibility” in the first year ever without exams, cancelled because of the coronavirus.

But the downgrading hit areas of deprivation the hardest, with West Dunbartonshire earlier this year confirmed as joint third for the most deprived local authority in Scotland.

And some appeals could drag out until May 2021, after the next Scottish Parliament elections.

Education Secretary John Swinney, facing a vote of no confidence in parliament, has said he would set out the government’s next steps tomorrow.

WDC bosses initially said last week they were unaware of any issues with results, then emphasised how they were up compared to 2019.

Later, they said past year results were 33 per cent below grades expected by teachers, meaning 2020 was consistent in hitting the area’s youngsters.

One mum from the Dumbarton area said her son was “heartbroken” when his four As and a B in Higher prelims, with predictive straight As for May exams, were downgraded to two As and three Bs.

The mum, who asked not to be named, said: “His world has been shattered today, he worked so hard for his results.

“His chemistry and maths grades were downgraded when they were his best subjects, for which he got the highest marks throughout the year.

“He got two As for subjects he was good at as well - PE and Physics - but they weren’t his strongest subjects.

“Hence the reason why He is absolutely devastated and feels cheated. They have said they will appeal it. But doing that it could end up with a worse mark than he got.

“It isn’t right. My son also got the maths award for his year. Explain how any of this is right.

“I am absolutely livid, but also heartbroken for him.

“Obviously he has still done really well and I’m proud of him, but the commitment and work he has put in all year has just been completely disregarded because of league tables and schools’ prior performances.”

Jim Halfpenny, joint secretary of the West Dunbartonshire branch of the EIS teachers’ union, said: “With one sweep of its pen the SQA has reinforced the shameful, unjust nature of our economic and social class-ridden education system.

“Having claimed that this year’s school exam results would be formed primarily from teacher estimates it has betrayed that professional judgement by slashing pupil grades particularly among those children from the poorest areas.

“The SQA with the support of the Scottish Government has exposed an education system that favours the affluent and penalises the poor.

“It is not a coincidence that those children from poorer areas, in proportion, consistently do less well than children from more prosperous areas.

“To be better off means to have every support needed to be successful at school. To be poor means to have limited resources, limited role models and the crushing weight of social and emotional deprivation. Achievement in exams can become one struggle too many.”

Labour councillor and education committee member Douglas McAllister said he was “absolutely furious” that the pupils were judged “on their postcode”, not their record.

He said: “This is grossly unfair on Scotland’s school kids. The attainment gap between the richest and poorest children in Scotland rubber stamped by the SNP government.

“Regardless of your political persuasions you surely cannot fail to recognise the burning injustice felt by Scotland’s young people. However, the treatment of West Dunbartonshire’s children is sickening.

“I have absolutely no doubt that our teachers used their skill, judgement and expert knowledge of each pupil to honestly grade the young people of West Dunbartonshire.”

Cllr McAllister called for an emergency council meeting and for collective action.

He added: “We should agree as one voice across all parties that we demand an immediate review by the Scottish Government as to why 36 per cent of results were downgraded. We should demand absolute transparency.

“We need to know why the poorest pupils in our society predicted to get As were awarded Bs or lower simply because they attended a school in West Dunbartonshire.

“We should threaten to seek judicial review and send out a clear message that we may be a small deprived council but we will fight for our children.”

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon last week defended the SQA’s moderation process that reduced the pass rate of the poorest Higher pupils by more than twice that of the richest. She apologised today.

The exam board’s criteria for moderation included the historic performance of schools and grades were adjusted “where a centre’s estimates were outside the constraint range for that course”, according to the SQA chief examining officer Fiona Robertson.

Some West Dunbartonshire high schools saw large leaps in results compared to 2019 as opposed to what the estimated grades should have been.

Clydebank High, St Peter the Apostle High and Vale of Leven Academy were all up in Advanced Highers.

But Dumbarton Academy dropped 10 per cent to 64 per cent passing grades for those presenting across all subjects. Our Lady and St Patrick (OLSP) dropped from 86 per cent to 84 per cent.

Highers results were up for four schools but Vale of Leven saw awards drop from 81 per cent to 77 per cent.

National 5 results were also up with the exception of OLSP, which dropped one per cent to 88 per cent.

Overall, West Dunbartonshire’s average beats the Scottish national picture, except in Advanced Highers. St Peter the Apostle High did better than the average across all levels.

But one teacher said: “Many pupils this year have been unfairly marked down in order to achieve a status quo based upon the previous performance of pupils at their school, and not their own individual merits or achievements.

“I am appalled for many of the pupils I teach who would have inevitably achieved far better results had their school been located in the leafy suburbs.”

Initially on Tuesday, West Dunbartonshire Council said: “We have not been made aware of any concern regarding the exam results.”

On Wednesday, they said support would be offered from schools to any pupils who wanted to appeal.

On Friday, a WDC spokeswoman said: “In West Dunbartonshire 36 per cent of estimates were downgraded, however, it is important to highlight that overall our results increased at National 4, National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher in comparison to 2019. Our teachers used their knowledge, experience and judgement to recommend grades of pupils to the Scottish Qualifications Authority in unprecedented circumstances.

“Any pupils who did not achieve the results they hoped for and wants to appeal will receive full support from their school.”