Scottish Qualifications Authority scraps exams for three National 5 qualifications

The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) has scrapped exams for three National 5 qualifications.

The body said externally marked question papers will be removed from practical cake craft, practical metalworking and practical woodworking.

The move was confirmed by the SQA’s interim chief John Booth and Scotland’s chief examiner Donna Stewart during a visit to Portobello High School in Edinburgh on Thursday.

The SQA said the three courses included in the announcement have a strong focus on developing practical skills and only contain a small amount of theory-based content “which can be effectively assessed through other assessment approaches”.

Pupils taking these subjects in the next academic year will be the first to undertake the new assessment approach.

Last year, education secretary Jenny Gilruth said exams would begin to play a smaller role in the grades pupils earn.

That came after a major report, the Hayward Review, recommended pupils do not sit exams prior to fifth year.

Gilruth said while exams would continue in most courses, a stronger focus would be put on coursework and classroom assessment.

Mr Booth said: “This announcement adheres to SQA’s commitment in our Prospectus for Change which stated we would review the balance of approaches to assessment across national qualifications.

“It also aligns with recommendations from the Scottish Government’s independent review of qualifications and assessment which recommended a reduction in the number of exams in S4-S6.

“SQA – and subsequently Qualifications Scotland – will conduct a longer-term programme of work to review and reform national courses and their assessments, including working towards extending the range of approved assessment methods used in national qualifications, rebalancing assessment methods across national courses, and exploring digital assessment opportunities.”

Ms Stewart added: “Feedback from teachers and lecturers has been at the heart of our decision to remove question papers from National 5 practical cake craft, National 5 practical metalworking and National 5 practical woodworking courses.

“Last year, we issued a short survey to teachers and lecturers at 361 schools and colleges across Scotland and conducted focus groups to ask practitioners’ views on whether to remove the question paper from these courses, and other courses.

“The responses we received – also published today – have given us the evidence base we needed to introduce new approaches to assessing knowledge and understanding in practical cake craft, practical metalworking and practical woodworking.

“This decision will improve the validity of the course assessment, while being mindful of the workload associated with an increase in internal assessment.”