Last modified on Wed 12 May 2021 12.56 EDT
Scotlandâs incoming education secretary is being urged to take immediate action over so-called âghost examsâ â where pupils face high-stakes testing up to three times a day with none of the usual support â as high school assessments fall into chaos for the second year running.
With a post-election reshuffle expected by the end of the week, and current incumbent John Swinney expected to be moved on after a barrage of criticism, young people have described a looming mental health crisis after National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher exams were cancelled because Covid disruption had made it impossible to ensure consistency of learning, in particular for pupils from less advantaged backgrounds.
BBC News
By Lucy Whyte
image captionMia is a sixth year pupil faced with weeks of assessments under exam conditions
The system designed to replace formal exams after a year of disruption is causing more stress and anxiety than the usual qualification system, say those currently going through it.
Pupils, parents and teachers have described severe stress and even panic attacks over the assessment system currently under way in secondary schools across the country.
Pupils have told BBC Scotland that evidence of their knowledge is being gathered in a series of assessments under exam conditions.
But these come without the support of an exam set-up, and without study leave or an evenly-spread timetable.
The number of teachers signed off with stress has soared by more than a quarter in recent years, according to figures that are fuelling fresh fears over the Covid pandemic’s impact on staff. Freedom of Information (FoI) responses from 24 local authorities show 2,284 individuals were affected in 2019-20 – up 26 per cent on the 2016-17 total of 1,808. Increases over the period were particularly marked in Edinburgh, the Highlands and the Western Isles. The Scottish Government and standards watchdog Education Scotland stressed £1.5 million had been invested in schemes to boost mental health and help manage Covid-related strains. But the Scottish Conservatives, who obtained the data, said teachers were “feeling overworked and under-appreciated”.
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Teachers are making children sit “exams by another name” in case the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) questions their judgment, a union boss has claimed.Exams have been cancelled for a second