Moves by South Lanarkshire’s Lib Dem group could see the council formally ask for a reversal of the controversial downgrading of pupils’ results.
Last week, young people across the country discovered they had been given lower grades than the estimates their teachers’ felt they would achieve if May’s exams had not been cancelled.
The SQA have come in for criticism following results day after it was revealed pupils from the most deprived backgrounds were more than twice as likely to be downgraded than pupils from the most affluent areas.
Lib Dems group leader Councillor Robert Brown (Rutherglen South) is now seeking cross-party agreement to issue an official call for change and he is formally requesting the SNP administration allow discussion of the issue at Wednesday’s (August 12) executive committee meeting.
The group feel no-one should be downgraded based on their school’s past performance according and they want every pupil’s own prelim grades to be accepted as the minimum they should normally receive
Cllr Brown said: “The unfair and discredited policy adopted by the SQA has caused many young people significant distress and anxiety.
“South Lanarkshire’s pupils deserve the full support of their council.
“We should not hesitate to say we are appalled that their places at college and university have been endangered not because of their own work, but because of past results at their school.
“I hope the other parties will back our plan for the council to challenge this unfair national ‘moderation’ process, which clearly disadvantaged young people whose school includes disadvantaged communities.”
If successful, the move would see SLC chief executive Cleland Sneddon write to both the Scottish Government and the SQA.
Other parties will also be asked to agree to convey ‘grave concern’ at the rejection of almost 124,000 recommended grades – nearly a quarter of all those submitted – and to point out that local education officers had already scrutinised the recommended grades before schools sent them to the SQA.
Cllr Brown added: “This has been something of a shambles.
“It needs an external review, possibly by Audit Scotland - but that shouldn’t hold up action to see fair play done for the pupils who are currently losing out.”
South Lanarkshire’s SNP administration were contacted for comment.
