John Swinney has been criticised after claiming there is “no evidence” pupils from poorer areas were disadvantaged by the new school grades system.
The Education Secretary argued that the controversial system, which saw the results of pupils downgraded, had seen the attainment gap close.
However, his comments were derided by critics on social media.
Scots pupils received their grades yesterday after exams were cancelled over covid-19.
Results were informed by teacher judgement and then “moderated” by the Scottish Qualifications Authority, the exams body.
Around 133,000 results - a quarter of the total - were “adjusted”, with 93.1% of those being changed downwards.
The Higher pass rate for the poorest pupils fell by 15.2% between initial teacher estimates and the final results, but only dropped by 6.9% for pupils in the most affluent areas.
A key part of the moderation process involved historical schools attainment data, which critics believe is unfair.
A stream of pupils have come forward to complain about how their initial grades were lowered.
In an interview with the BBC last night, Swinney defended the system
“Yes, I think it has been fair. It’s been fair in making sure that across the board we can see a consistency of the application of standards in the education system, so that young people in the class of 2020 can be confident that the qualifications they have achieved have got as much value as any other year of qualifications.
He added: "But I do accept that within those judgements that have been made, there may be individual circumstances, where young people feel that they havn’t had the result that they deserve to get. And that’s why there’s a final stage to this certification process.”
Swinney also said results showed the attainment gap is narrowing.
He said: “There is no evidence that young people in deprived communities have been disadvantaged because the pass rate in their circumstances at Higher has increased, and that has resulted in the closure of the attainment gap.”
Lecturer James McEnaney, who writes on education matters, described the claim about the system not disadvantaging people in deprived communities as “false”.
Joe Fagan, a Labour councillor in South Lanarkshire, tweeted: “These are the words of a Minister utterly divorced from reality - and at the very least ignorant of the anxieties of parents and young people.”
The @allymaclusk Twitter user wrote: "YES THERE IS!!!"
