As schools return in Scotland, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is reminding working parents they could save up to £2,000 per child per year to pay towards after-school clubs and other childcare services.
Around 110,000 families in Scotland are eligible for Tax-Free Childcare, which can cut thousands of pounds off childcare bills.
All families have to do is pay into their Tax-Free Childcare account and for every £8 that they deposit, the UK Government immediately makes a top-up payment of an additional £2.
The scheme is open to working parents, including the self-employed, who earn between the minimum wage and £100,000 per year and have children aged 0-11 years old. Families with a disabled child, aged 0-17 years old, can receive up to £4,000 in government support each year.
Families in Scotland can choose from childcare providers that have signed up to Tax-Free Childcare, including nannies, nurseries, childminders or after-school clubs.
HMRC’s Deputy Chief Executive and Second Permanent Secretary, Angela MacDonald, said: “As more parents across the country return to work and kids head back to school following the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic, there has never been a better time to sign up to Tax-Free Childcare.
“It takes just minutes to set up an account on our Childcare Choices website and soon you could be receiving up to £2,000 per child towards the cost of childcare each year.”
UK Government Minister for Scotland, Iain Stewart, said: “Tens of thousands of families in Scotland are eligible to access savings towards after-school clubs and other childcare services thanks to the UK Government’s Tax-Free Childcare scheme.
“As more parents return to work and children to Scotland’s schools following the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, I urge people to make full use of the support. The scheme is part of a significant package of measures that the UK Government has in place to help families in Scotland.”
You can find out more and apply through the Childcare Choices website. It includes a Childcare Calculator that compares all the government’s childcare offers to check what works best for individual families.
Tax-Free Childcare is just one example of the support available to families in Scotland from the UK Government. More information on other schemes such as Help To Save and Marriage Allowance can be found on the Delivering for Scotland website.
How Tax-Free Childcare works:
Working parents can apply, through the childcare service, to open an online childcare account. The scheme is available for children under the age of 12, or under the age of 17 for children with disabilities.
If you or your partner have an ‘adjusted net income’ over £100,000 in the current tax year, you will not be eligible. This includes any bonuses you expect to get.
For every £8 that families pay in, the UK Government will make a top-up payment of an additional £2, up to a maximum of £2,000 per child per year (or £4,000 for disabled children). This top-up is added instantly and parents can then send payments directly to their childcare providers. The maximum government top-up is £500 per quarter for each child, or £1,000 if the child is disabled.
All registered childcare providers – whether nannies, nurseries, childminders or after-school clubs – can sign up online to receive parents’ payments through Tax-Free Childcare.
Parents need to sign back in every three months and confirm their details are up-to-date, to keep getting government top-ups.
Families who were already signed up to Tax-Free Childcare but have fallen below the minimum income requirement due to COVID-19 will continue to receive financial support until 31 October. Critical workers who may exceed the income threshold for the 2020-21 tax year due to working more to tackle the pandemic, will continue to receive support this tax year. More information.
Round the clock paediatric inpatient services in St John’s Hospital will resume this Autumn, NHS Lothian announced yesterday.
The service will be reinstated 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from October, to enhance the care already provided to children in West Lothian.
The details were agreed by NHS Lothian board members at their meeting yesterday (Wednesday August 12).
It means that inpatient paediatrics will be extended from functioning four nights a week, to seven days and nights by October 19.
Dr Tracey Gillies, Medical Director, NHS Lothian, said the children’s ward was now in a position to fully re-open after a number of new staff were recruited to the team.
Dr Gillies said: “We are really pleased that we are able to fully reinstate children’s inpatient services 24/7 in St John’s Hospital. It is testament to the teams who have pulled together to make this happen.
“We have always said that we could only restore the full service when it was safe and sustainable to do so and that has been our priority throughout.
“Parents and children will not have to do anything differently and many may not even notice a difference. However it does mean that patients who require to remain in hospital over a weekend will be able to do so at St John’s, instead of routinely being transferred to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh.”
Two permanent Consultants and one locum have been recruited to the team at St John’s, following successful rounds of recruitment in June. A small number of ward nurse vacancies are in the process of being filled, meaning that staffing in the unit will be further strengthened.
The availability of Advanced Paediatric Nurse Practitioners has also increased, giving added resilience to the staffing rota.
The Paediatric Programme Board (PPB), which was established to help develop and implement a strategy to deliver safe and sustainable services, was told at its most recent meeting that the unit had sufficient cover to provide a safe and sustainable rota for out of hours and weekend shifts.
It was also agreed that the programme board will now be dissolved because it has fulfilled its remit.
It comes just weeks after the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health published its most recent review into the service and praised NHS Lothian for its “considerable and impressive efforts” to restore the 24/7 service.
NHS Lothian invited the RCPCH to return and undertake a second follow up review of progress since their original Review and Report in 2016. The visit took place in February 2020 and the College’s Report was received at the end of May 2020.
Parents and families are not required to do anything differently as a result of the change and will still access care in the normal way, through NHS 24, their GP or the Emergency Department.
If children are very sick or require specialist intervention, they will continue to be admitted to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, in line with the normal protocols.
The Office for National Statistics yesterday announced that employment in the UK fell by the largest amount in over a decade between April and June.
The ONS stated that employment decreased in the UK by 220,000 on the quarter and this has been no more acutely felt than in Edinburgh, which has been one of the hardest hit cities in Western Europe.
At the start of lockdown, The City of Edinburgh Council asked employment service Next Step Edinburgh to respond and they are currently supporting hundreds of people who have lost work. Next Step Edinburgh has been providing employment support for people in and out of work since April 2019, but since March they have adapted their service as registrations from people affected by COVID 19 job losses has increased.
Paul Forsyth is a self-employed taxi driver who was badly hit by the effects of lockdown: “As I was a self-employed taxi driver, lockdown affected me really badly.
“All of the work dried up and I was forced to turn to the government schemes for the self-employed, only to find out I was ineligible and one of many who have been excluded by the UK Government’s measures.
“I was left with no income and was unable to work. Luckily Next Step Edinburgh provided me with vital support during this time and helped me apply for an Edinburgh Trust Grant, this gave me some breathing space.
“Now lockdown has eased I am back driving but my adviser Ross has kept in touch throughout. I’m so glad this support was available.”
Capital City Partnership has been working with key organisations to coordinate a response to the crisis. Their Deputy Chief Executive, Kate Kelman said: “We know that people and businesses are finding it really hard just now and the impact on jobs and the economy is likely to be far-reaching.
“Along with our Joined up for Jobs network of provision, Next Steps has literally ‘stepped up’ to support individuals who are facing redundancy and job insecurity. Their high-quality help and guidance will ensure that Edinburgh residents can progress quickly into fair, sustainable work.”
Lesley Morrison who is a Service Manager for Community Renewal, the charity who deliver the Next Step Edinburgh service, explained: “We don’t believe in a one size fits all approach – everyone is different, and we listen to what each client’s needs and together we come up with a plan.
“Some people just need a job right away and we can link them with employers we have relationships with. For everyone else, we work with them, so they are ready for when the job market recovers; whether that be refreshing a stale CV, helping with applications or directing them to vocational training if they are considering a career change.
“Whatever is needed, we are here – and if we can’t support all their needs, we will link with specialist organisations who can help them whilst we continue to support their employment needs.”
The City of Edinburgh Council continues to fund Next Step Edinburgh to support people to secure and progress into employment. Additional funding was made available through City Region Deal has also allowed the development of a jobs website – www.c19jobs.org – which directly assists those who have faced redundancy or job insecurity due to the current crisis.
Councillor Cammy Day, Depute Leader of the City of Edinburgh Council, said:“As the economic impact of the pandemic on Edinburgh unfolds, we’re doing all that we can to help people facing financial hardship. We know that this crisis is far from over and we stand ready to help our most at-risk residents.
“The Next Step Edinburgh employment programme is in place to support anybody facing redundancy or job insecurity in Edinburgh. I’m pleased we’re able to fund this service in order to support people back into careers as quickly as possible.
“The project is part of a package of measures we’re working on right now to prevent long-term unemployment in the coming months and years, including an expanded Edinburgh Guarantee. Hailed by the Scottish Government as a really good example of the type of work cities can do to successfully tackle unemployment, our Edinburgh Guarantee has been supporting disadvantaged young people for years.
“We’re looking to expand this offer even more in light of Covid-19. We want to use it to help people of all ages who might face additional barriers to employment and we’re calling on employers to sign up and support us.”
Lesley warns that the journey ahead won’t be straightforward, but stresses that nobody has to face it alone – there is support available: “Next Step Edinburgh’s advisers will do everything they can to support you.
“We are working with employers recruiting right now but we understand those jobs may not be right for some. For those people we will collaborate so they will be front of the queue when the job market recovers.”
Anyone looking for support can find the contact details on Next Step Edinburgh’s website – www.nexstepedinburgh.org
Local charities and good causes impacted by COVID-19 are being urged to apply for up to £20,000 in funding.
Organisations can apply to Postcode Neighbourhood Trust for grants between £500 and £20,000 from now until Wednesday 19th August, when applications will close.
Groups looking to increase their resilience, adapt or expand their services as a result of the pandemic should apply. Funding will support a variety of activities, including covering core costs.
Laura Chow, head of charities at People’s Postcode Lottery, said: “Over the past few months we’ve seen the important role grassroots good causes play in communities across Britain.
“There will be challenging times ahead so I’m delighted that players of People’s Postcode Lottery can support these organisations with this funding opportunity. Up to £4 million will be awarded in grants through Postcode Neighbourhood Trust, so I encourage small, local charities to make sure they get an application in by the 19th August.”
A minimum of 32% of each ticket goes directly to charities. Players of People’s Postcode Lottery have raised more than £600 million for over 8,500 good causes across Britain and internationally since 2005.
Groups that may not be suitable for funding through Postcode Neighbourhood Trust can apply to one of three other trusts, also supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery. People’s Postcode Trust, Postcode Local Trust and Postcode Community Trust all support different themes and more information can be found at the website for each:
Best wishes to all teachers and young people heading back to school this week!
We wonder if you are able to share the following with young people S1 – S6 about Corstorphine Community Centre’s Parklife Project, Thursdays 6 – 8 through August.
Sell out event has just added new dates to their programme
The only live comedy event being held in Edinburgh this August
This is a truly unique comedy event coming out of Leith, created by Leith for Leithers. It is likely to be the only live comedy event happening in Edinburgh this August.
Invisible Cities, a social enterprise supporting people who have experienced homelessness, have joined forces with Leith Comedy Festival to create ‘Funshine on Leith’ – a comedy walking tour with a difference.
Leith Comedy Festival has added new dates to their programme following the immediate sell out of the initial batch of tickets, which were released last week.
The additional dates and times for bookable tours include:
· Thursday 20th August 5pm
· Saturday 22nd August 12 noon and 3pm
· Sunday 23rd August 12 noon and 3pm
· Thursday 27th August 5pm
· Saturday 29th August 12 noon and 3pm
· Sunday 30th August 12 noon and 3pm
Paul has written the tour especially for Leith Comedy Festival and during this rich, colourful walking event, he takes his guests on a journey around Leith, sharing historical curiosities, personal anecdotes and juicy details that will make your jaw drop.
Zakia Moulaoui Guery, founder of Invisible Cities says: “Paul is one of our most experienced Edinburgh guides and his work is constantly praised by 5 star reviews online from our customers.
“He designed this tour specially for Leith Comedy Festival and it is nothing but different, thought provoking, fun and a bit outrageous! For Invisible Cities, it also marks our definitive return after so many months not being able to do tours, so we are all excited to see Paul in action!”
Award-winning tour guide, Paul, who has been with Invisible Cities for two years, said: “I am excited to showcase Leith in a different way and be part of Leith Comedy Festival. After several months of not being able to do our tours.
“It’s great seeing guests again who want to learn and have a good time with us!”
Rosalind Romer, Director of Leith Comedy Festival commented: “I took my one-year-old to Paul’s Trainspotting Tour (to his horror and the bafflement of onlookers) and loved his stories about the best and worst of Leith.
“I was thinking and laughing about the stories for days afterwards, so it’s really exciting for Leith Comedy Festival to be working with Paul and Invisible Cities to create this brand new tour, based on the funny side of Leith.
“We hope it will bring a little festival magic to Edinburgh in August. We are currently the only live comedy event happening in Edinburgh in August, and creating an event that’s live, funny and legal has been a challenge. But we’ve done it.”
The tour contains strong language and adult themes, including sex and drugs. For more information and to book tickets visit: https://www.leithcomedyfest.com
The Action Earth campaign, run by national charity Volunteering Matters, has officially launched its 2020 grant giving scheme, encouraging volunteers to get involved in planting activities and habitat builds designed to enrich local nature and help tackle the current climate emergency.
The campaign, which is funded by Scottish Natural Heritage, offers easy to access grants of up to £500 for environmental activities across Scotland.
Volunteering Matters Action Earth grants are available to any group of volunteers carrying out practical environmental improvements or wildlife habitat creation in their local green spaces. Previous projects have included wildflower meadow and pond creation, woodland renovations, shared foraging projects and the establishment of new community gardens or food growing areas.
Projects should offer a safe volunteering experience and will have to adhere to Scottish Government guidance and safe practice around Covid-19. Groups should only apply once they are certain that activities can be supervised and carried out safely within current and developing recommendations.
Volunteering Matters Action Earth is especially keen to hear from projects whose work benefits disadvantaged communities especially in urban areas or in places with reduced local amenity. Last year, 167 projects benefited from Action Earth grant funding, and 7,240 volunteers were involved in improving biodiversity in their community.
Volunteering Matters Action Earth also offers enhanced £500 grants to projects which significantly benefit people with defined health needs. This could include people with learning or physical disabilities, dementia, mental health issues or other medical conditions.
SNH Chief Executive Francesca Osowska said: “We all benefit from nature in so many ways – and we all have an important role to play to create a nature-rich future for Scotland.
“Action Earth projects and volunteers are leading the way with their fantastic work to improve local biodiversity in communities across the country.
“We look forward to continuing to support this crucial work to improve the state of our nature, which we know is vital to help solve the climate emergency we all face.”
For those looking for inspiration for their projects, the Volunteering Matters Action Earth website has instructions on how to build bird boxes, bat boxes, frog hibernacula, hedgehog boxes and bee/insect homes.
More information is available and applications can be made NOW at the Volunteering Matters Action Earth website:
Projects helping young Scots overcome barriers to employment and education during the pandemic today celebrate over half a million pounds in new funding.
Intercultural Youth Scotland and Forth Valley Disability Sport are amongst nine youth-led groups that will help young Scots build confidence, develop new skills and realise their full potential, sharing in £659,935 from The National Lottery Community Fund’s Young Start Fund.
Thanks to £98,710 in funding the future of Intercultural Youth Scotland’s Restless Natives programme is assured for the next three years.
This work supports young Scots from minority ethnic backgrounds to overcome the challenges they face in accessing employment, education and volunteering.
Restless Natives will help more young people like Nisha Singh, 17, from Edinburgh, who has found the programme was a vital source of support during lockdown.
On leaving college this year Nisha had hoped to take on an apprenticeship as she left formal education. The COVID-19 crisis threw those plans into jeopardy leaving Nisha worried and stressed for her future.
Nisha said: “The help I’ve got from Restless Natives has made a huge difference to me. They stepped in and offered support with applications, online interviews, updating my CV, and from my mental health perspective it really helped as well.
“The youth practitioners are young and have experiences of struggling to get support through their education and employment too – so they really listen to young people’s needs. I felt supported and I knew where to go when I had any questions.
“It’s thanks to the help I’ve had from Restless Natives I have been accepted on to a graduate apprenticeship in my chosen field, software engineering, which starts this month.
“I’m so thankful this service exists. It’s so different from schools and is more accessible and comfortable to young BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Colour) Scots like me.”
Forth Valley Disability Sport(FVDS) also picks up £51,000 in funding today to expand its Step Out project supporting young people living with a physical, sensory or learning disability across the Forth Valley area.
The project uses sport and physical activity to help disabled young people make friends, develop life skills, and gain qualifications.
Welcoming the award is FVDS youth volunteer, Caitlyn Ross, from Denny, who started taking part in disability sport when she was just ten years old: “Over the years disability sport has truly changed my life for the better.
“I feel like I have found where I belong, and I am a part of something where I don’t feel judged and can just be me, so I’d like to say thank you to Young Start.
“Coming to Forth Valley Disability Sport has helped develop my confidence and self-esteem and I have made so many friends. It also led to me volunteering both here and with several other local organisations. I have also gained qualifications and expanded my knowledge in so many different sports.
“I’ve also had great opportunities to share my story around sports volunteering and I have my voice heard in the Forth Valley Disability Sports Youth Committee, the Scottish Disability Sports (SDS) Youth Panel and the SDS Young Start Programme.”
Graham Harvey, FVDS Branch Coordinator, said: “This grant from Young Start will allow us to continue to develop a wide range of opportunities within the Forth Valley area. FVDS greatly appreciates the support of The National Lottery Community Fund’s Young Start Fund to help the charity to change lives through sport and physical activity.”
Young Start awards dormant bank and building society cash to youth-led projects across Scotland and is delivered by The National Lottery Community Fund.
Announcing today’s funding totalling £659,935, The National Lottery Community Fund Scotland Director, Neil Ritch, said: “Young Start funding helps to support young people to build confidence, develop new skills and realise their own potential. Each project awarded today has made an incredible impact in the lives of the young people they support.
“They are great examples of how the youth sector has stepped up during the current crisis offering support in new ways. At a time when young people are concerned about their futures, I’m delighted that Young Start is working with projects like Intercultural Youth Scotland, and all these projects, offering renewed support into employment and education.”
Groups wanting to know more about Young Start, and how it can support them during these unprecedented times should visit
As schools reopen, the Scottish Children’s Services Coalition (SCSC), an alliance of leading independent and third sector providers of children’s services, has warned of a mental health “perfect storm” for children and young people.
The warning comes on the back of figures obtained by BBC Scotland via an FOI request which indicate that the number of referrals for child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) has dropped by a staggering 57 per cent* between April and June 2019 and April and June 2020.
These range from a 28 per cent fall in requests for NHS Orkney to 80 per cent in NHS Dumfries and Galloway. NHS Lothian reported a drop of 48%.
The SCSC has warned that mental health services will face an overwhelming and unprecedented pressure due to pent-up demand created by the COVID-19 lockdown, coupled with a cut in youth support services. This could potentially lead to a “lost generation” of vulnerable children and young people who are missing out on the support they vitally need.
It has urged the Scottish Government to work with authorities and invest significantly in mental health services as children return to school and to ensure that teachers and other staff are aware of the services on offer for young people needing support.
The SCSC has warned that self-isolation and social distancing have had an impact on young people struggling with issues such as anxiety and depression. It has noted that even the most resilient children are going to need additional support as they navigate this transition back into whatever is the new normal, and some will need a lot of extra support.
A spokesperson for the SCSC commented: “These latest figures are deeply troubling and point to a ‘perfect storm’ for our young people, with increased demand coupled with cuts in services.
“While referrals have dropped during lockdown and children are not accessing support, we are storing up immense problems for the future as mental health services face being overwhelmed due to greatly increased demand.
“The Government needs to work urgently with the relevant authorities to ensure that not only is there sufficient provision available at the local level, but that this is clearly communicated and easily accessible for young people and their parents or carers.
“Mental health services must be given funding and resources equal to that of physical health provision and this pandemic has ushered in an urgency and necessity that cannot be ignored.
“Not just the NHS but also third sector and other independent organisations who play such a key role in addressing mental health services must receive the funding they vitally need or we face having a ‘lost generation’ of vulnerable children and young people.”
Support needed for children as they return to school,says NSPCC
An NSPCC Scotland spokesperson said: “We know that many children in Scotland have suffered difficult and traumatic experiences over the past few months.
“During lockdown, we saw a rise in contacts to Childline about mental and emotional health and our NSPCC helpline made 40% more referrals to Police Scotland and local authorities.
“Now, as children across the country return to school, it is crucial they are given the support they need to help them recover from any mental and physical harm. The Scottish Government, local authorities and health boards need to ensure that they have sufficient resources in place to respond to a likely increased need for therapeutic services.”
Statement given by Education Secretary John Swinney’s statement to the Scottish Parliament yesterday (11 August, 2020):
Presiding Officer, the COVID pandemic has inflicted much suffering and hardship on our society.
Many of our young people have had to face that pain across different aspects of their lives.
I want to make clear I understand that anguish and I can see that, for some, the SQA results process made that worse.
We set out to ensure that the system was fair.
We set out to ensure it was credible.
But we did not get it right for all young people.
Before I go any further, I want to apologise for that.
In speaking directly to the young people affected by the downgrading of awards – the seventy-five thousand pupils whose teacher estimates were higher than their final award – I want to say this : I am sorry.
But, Presiding Officer, sorry as I am, I know that an apology is not enough.
I watched the pictures of the spirited, articulate young people demonstrating in George Square on Friday. I have spoken directly to pupils who wrote to me. To Nicole Tate, Lauren Steele, Eva Peteranna, Erin Bleakley, Subhan Baig and Eilidh Breslin and I want to thank them for the passion and the clarity they brought to our discussions. And I have heard from parents and teachers.
I have listened and the message is clear. They don’t just want an apology. They want to see this fixed and that is exactly what I will now do.
Presiding Officer, the exceptional circumstances of this year meant it was not safe to hold exams in the Spring.
I said we would need to do our utmost to ensure that we protect the interests and life chances of our young people who were due to sit exams. It has always been imperative that their achievements had to be rightly and fairly recognised. I wanted the 2020 cohort to be able to hold their heads high and gain the qualifications and awards that they deserve after many years of hard work.
Covid meant there was no established process for how to achieve this. All of this had to be developed at pace after we announced that schools required to close on 20 March.
I asked the SQA to develop an alternative approach to certification to ensure that young people could receive awards this year.
The SQA developed a model, in a very short space in time, which gathered teachers’ and lecturers’ estimates in the absence of any other information and involved moderation of these estimates across all centres to maintain standards.
This resulted in an increase in the pass rate at National 5 of 2.9%, Higher at 4.2% and Advanced Higher of 5.5%.
Before I go any further, let me congratulate those tens of thousands of young people who achieved that strong result.
But the system also meant some people did not receive awards they felt they were capable of achieving – and that their teachers believed they deserved.
The focus has, understandably, been on the impact on young people from deprived backgrounds.
The defining mission of this Government is to do all that we can to improve the life chances of children and young people living in poverty and we have been focused intensely on that mission throughout this Parliament.
The fact is the results last week produced higher increases in the pass rates amongst young people from deprived backgrounds than from any other group.
I commend these young people on their achievements.
But that picture does not disguise nor detract from the clear anger and frustration amongst some young people and their families about their results.
That anger stems from the unfairness they feel is at the heart of the model for certification we put in place.
This process relied on the professional judgement of teachers and lecturers, and we know that it was subsequently the case that the overwhelming majority, around three quarters of these grade estimates, were not adjusted at all.
This is a demonstration of the strength within our teaching profession, the sound understanding of standards across the suite of qualifications and through Curriculum for Excellence. I want to thank the teaching profession for the care and attention which went in to making every individual estimated grade.
The estimates received in May showed an increase in attainment at grades A-C by 10.4 percentage points for National 5s, by 14 percentage points for Highers, and by 13.4 percentage points for Advanced Highers. These estimates, if awarded without moderation, would have represented a very significant increase in the pass rate across the board and a one year change without precedent in Scottish exam history.
To ensure that they carried out what I asked of them, that the results were to be certificated on the basis of maintaining standards across all centres, the SQA judged that increases of this nature could not be sustained without moderation.
Moderation is not a new process. It is an annual process, and is widespread across all countries where exams take place.
It helps to ensure that standards are maintained over time.
In previous years moderation was applied to quality assure centre assessment judgements of performance. This year it was applied to teacher and lecturer estimates.
The SQA have provided a significant amount of information regarding how their methodology works which I will not re-state again today. Some have called for this to have been done earlier. But every year, SQA provide the details of their marking methodology on results day, and whilst the methodology has changed this year, the principle remains the same of publishing on results day.
The moderation methodology consisted of both national and local moderation and was robust and based on a number of principles which SQA have set out.
There was always going to be a risk with this approach that despite best efforts some learners would see a grade adjusted in a way that did not reflect their own potential. That is why the SQA included an open, free appeals process from the outset in their approach.
As a result of the SQA moderation process, 134,000 teacher estimates were adjusted, with just under 76,000 candidates having one or more of their grades lowered when compared to the teacher estimate.
Despite the headline improvements in the pass rate at National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher, despite the fact that the pass rate amongst pupils in the most deprived areas increased at a sharper rate than those in the least deprived communities, and despite the fact there was progress in closing the attainment gap, the results left many young people feeling that their future had been determined by statistical modelling rather than their own capability and capacity. That has left a feeling of unfairness in the minds of young people.
I draw three conclusions from all of this.
Firstly, we were concerned that grade inflation – through accepting the original estimates from teachers – would run the risk of undermining the value of qualifications in 2020.
In the light of events, and of listening to young people, we now accept that concern, which is not without foundation, is outweighed by the concern that young people, particularly from working class backgrounds may lose faith in the Education system and form the view that no matter how hard you work, the system is against you. Education is the route out of poverty for young people in deprived communities and we cannot risk allowing that view to take hold.
Secondly, there is a view that relying on teacher judgment this year alone may give young people an incomparable advantage with pupils in other years.
That view has to be weighed against the massive disadvantage that Covid has given young people through the loss of schooling, social interaction, pressure on mental wellbeing and, in some cases, the heart break of bereavement.
Perhaps our approach to maintaining standards for the 2020 cohort alongside every other year – even though 2020 is so unique – did not fully understand the trauma of COVID for this year group and did not appreciate that a different approach might actually help to even things out.
And thirdly this year is and must be seen as unique.
2020 has turned our society upside down. It cannot fairly be compared to previous years and nor can it set an automatic precedent for future years. But it perhaps merits taking a different approach in relation to certification.
Before I move on to how we resolve this issue, I want to be very clear today about the role of the Scottish Qualifications Authority. As I have made clear already, I asked the SQA to ensure that the qualifications of 2020 would be comparable to the qualifications of any other year despite the extraordinary times in which we are living.
The SQA undertook the task I set them and did so in good faith and I make no criticism of their actions in so doing. I am grateful to everyone at the SQA for the professional approach they have taken.
I will therefore now set out how I intend to resolve this issue. I can confirm to Parliament today that all downgraded awards will be withdrawn.
Education Secretary John Swinney
Using powers available to me in the Education (Scotland) Act 1996, I am today directing the SQA to re-issue those awards based solely on teacher or lecturer judgement.
Schools will be able to confirm the estimates they provided for pupils to those that are returning to school this week and next.
The SQA will issue fresh certificates to affected candidates as soon as possible and, importantly, will inform UCAS and other admission bodies of the new grades as soon as practical in the coming days to allow for applications to college and university to be progressed.
As the First Minister confirmed yesterday, in those cases where moderation led to an increased grade, learners will not lose that award. Many of those young people will already have moved on to secure college or university places on the strength of the awards made to them. To unpick them now would not in any way be fair.
Finally, due to the unique circumstances of this situation, we will this year make provision for enough places in universities and colleges to ensure that no one is crowded out of a place they would otherwise have been awarded.
The outcomes from the 2020 SQA national qualifications this year will be updated and a revised statistical release will be available from 31 August. However, I can confirm that the provisional revised 2020 results, based on the professional judgements of Scotland’s teachers and lecturers, can be summarised as follows:
A National 5 pass rate of 88.9%, this is 10.7 percentage points higher than 2019. A Higher pass rate of 89.2%, 14.4 percentage points higher than 2019; and an Advanced Higher pass rate of 93.1%, which is 13.7 percentage points higher than 2019.
I can also confirm that that the final new headline results for National 5s, Highers and Advanced Highers will be published by the SQA on 21 August.
A result of this change in approach to awarding qualifications, means there will no longer be the need for exactly the same appeals process that was planned to consider cases where awarded grades were lower than teacher estimates.
There remains the need for the option of an appeal in some circumstances and detail on this will be set out by the end of the week.
Presiding Officer, there are many lessons we need to learn from our experience through this pandemic, and the difficult decisions we have had to make in unprecedented circumstances.
The 2020 SQA results have sparked a lot of debate about the future of assessment and qualifications in Scotland and the best way to recognise learners’ achievements.
We have already commissioned the OECD to conduct an independent review of Curriculum for Excellence. A key focus of this exercise is curriculum design and this already includes looking at our approach to assessment, qualifications and other achievements and how well they articulate with the curriculum, learning and teaching.
We will work with our partners at the OECD with a view to extending the remit of the Curriculum for Excellence review to include recommendations on how to transform the Scottish approach to assessment and qualifications, based on best practice globally.
Even before a broader review takes place, however, we need to quickly look at the immediate lessons of this year’s awards process.
Coronavirus has not gone away and, while we expect next year’s exams to go ahead, we need to put in place the right plans to make sure we don’t find ourselves in the same situation again.
I am aware that many teachers will be keen to understand fully the arrangements for national qualifications in 2021. The Education Recovery Group has discussed a number of options in relation to this, and I confirm that the SQA will begin a rapid consultation exercise on options for change later this week.
This will include consideration of key issues such as increasing optionality in question papers, removing components of course assessment and adjusting the volume of evidence required in coursework tasks.
In addition, however, I am today announcing that an Independent Review will be led by Professor Mark Priestley of Stirling University.
The review will look at events following the cancellation of the examination diet and the alternative certification model put in place by SQA. Areas to be considered include:
the advice provided to awarding centres by the SQA and local authorities;
the approach developed in relation to estimating learners’ grades;
teachers’ estimates;
the moderation methodology used by the SQA;
the proposed appeals process;
the impact on young people, and their families;
transparency and the role of scrutiny of the process, and
feedback received from teachers and lecturers on the grades awarded last week.
Given the urgency, I have asked for an initial report with recommendations on how we should go forward this coming year within five weeks.
These are exceptional times, and in exceptional times truly difficult decisions have to be made.
It is deeply regrettable that we got this wrong.
I am sorry for that.
We have listened to young people and I hope that all will now feel satisfied that they have achieved the grades which their teachers and lecturers judged that they deserved.
I assure Parliament that we will look to learn lessons from the process of awarding qualifications this year that will help to inform any future actions.
Finally, I would like to thank all of Scotland’s children, young people and adult learners for the incredible resilience they have shown throughout the COVID-19 pandemic .
We are immensely proud of all that they have achieved.
I hope that our pupils now move forward confidently to their next step in education, employment or training with the qualifications that teachers or lecturers have judged were deserved.
COVID has placed, at times, unbearable pressures on us all and I wish our learners well in building on the achievements they have justifiably been awarded in these most difficult of days.
Mr Swinney faces a vote of no confidence at Holyrood tomorrow.
