scotland show how not to do exams

This year in Scotland, GCSE and A level exams were scrapped. While the grades they needded to produced were given to teachers. Who used their own judgement in the time they had with their pupils to give grades are to be awarded on the basis of "teacher judgement of evidence of learner attainment".

With the various lock downs inevitably the assessement work that teachers needed to do was at the end of the summer term. In effect they put on exams. Exams by the back door. While the press and unions had either been promising that the excercise of exams had been cancelled rather than the exams boards ability to sit exams. Leading to an unholy mess. Unions love the idea of continual assessment as this puts the power of assessment into the power of teachers. Who they represent. So their threat of striking is given more importance. Continal assessment is mostly a toxic form of assessement. Plus it diminishes opportunties for private exam candidates

The result of scotland gleefully saying exams were cancelled. Then schools having no choice but to run their own internal exams meant the whole excercise was a lot more stressful for the candidates than the traditional exam system.

And Scottish Conservative Douglas Ross said this year's qualifications system was shaping up to be the "same old shambles".

Speaking ahead of Ms Somerville's announcement, he said lessons from last year had still not been learned.

And he called on Ms Sturgeon to accept that the qualifications process was "fundamentally flawed" and said she should move on to address the deeper problems in education - "starting by replacing the SQA".

Meanwhile, the Scottish Greens have tabled an amendment in the Scottish Parliament which urges MSPS to acknowledge the "additional stress and anxiety felt by students, teachers, parents and carers as a result of the 2021 alternative certification model".

The party says this year's model should adopt a no-detriment policy - meaning grades cannot be lowered - and has criticised the "repeated underperformance of the SQA".

The answer is simply. Exams are the solution. Just make sure you put them on in a timely manner.