SCOTS pupils will still have to face high-stakes exams at National 5 after the SNP education secretary rejected calls from her own advisers to scrap them.
Jenny Gilruth poured cold water over recommendations from experts to stop holding exams at National 5 and increase the amount of coursework.
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And the Nats minister kicked plans for a Scottish diploma and leaving certificate into the long grass – blaming the squeeze on public finances and a lack of cash.
But critics blasted the SNP for having “no bold vision” for Scottish education, with Labour’s education spokesperson Pam Duncan-Glancy saying: “There is huge demand for reform, but today’s announcements don’t come close to delivering the level of ambition needed.
“The SNP has no bold new vision for education and it has failed to give teachers and pupils the certainty they need.”
Ms Gilruth’s statement comes a year after education expert Professor Louise Hayward’s review recommended the end of exams at National 4 and 5.
The SNP were under pressure to reform the exams system following the calamitous 2020 diet which saw record high passes after papers were scrapped due to Covid-19 – with reform being urged forward by coalition partners the Scottish Greens.
And last year a major international global study found Scotland’s school performance slumping behind England in reading, maths, and science.
But the education secretary ditched almost all of the proposed reforms in the Hayward review.
She said the “balance” needed “less reliance on high stakes final exams”, and that “internal and continuous assessment will contribute a greater percentage” towards pupil’s grades.
However, Ms Gilruth added: “I want to be clear that taking steps to rebalance assessment does not mean that exams will be removed and I can therefore confirm that examinations will remain part of our overall national approach and will not be removed from all National 5 courses.”
Some subjects like woodworking and fashion and textile technology could scrap exams by the 2025.
Scottish Conservative education spokesman Liam Kerr said the Government is taking a “piecemeal rather than a visionary” approach to change.
He said: “Since the Cabinet Secretary has chosen to ignore experts’ calls, it’s hard to have any confidence that her piecemeal approach will deliver the outcomes that need to happen.”
But Ms Gilruth went on to say she will “set out that longer term ambition” at a later date.
