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National Qualifications: a Short History

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National Qualifications: a Short History National Qualifications: a short history This report was produced by James McVittie in October 2008. During the preparations for a recent consultation on qualification design at SCQF levels 4–5, many of the issues that came up had been considered, discussed, and even consulted on in the past. Given the changes that are afoot, and developments that are being discussed, now seems to be the right moment to document this history. This brief paper summarises the reviews over the last 30 years of the national school qualifications in Scotland, and identifies issues that have been raised in successive reforms and the extent to which they have been resolved. 1 1 Reports and development programmes 1.1 Munn and Dunning (1977) The Munn and Dunning reports were commissioned to address weaknesses in the provision of courses and qualifications to meet the needs of the full ability range, and to ensure appropriate progression to Higher Grade. Concerns included the fact that a substantial minority of school leavers held no nationally-recognised certificate recording their achievements in school, and that the Ordinary Grade examination was insufficiently challenging for the most able students. Moreover, these students were then expected to complete the much more demanding Higher course in only two terms ― the notorious ‘two-term dash’. Both reports were published in 1977. The Munn Committee reported on the curriculum and recommended: ♦ a restructuring of the curriculum in S3 and S4 to meet the needs of students of all abilities ♦ the introduction of approaches to learning and teaching that reflected students’ needs and circumstances ♦ the development of new courses which crossed traditional subject boundaries The Dunning Committee reported on assessment and recommended that: ♦ all students should have the opportunity to take courses leading to the Scottish Certificate of Education ♦ external examinations and internal assessment by teachers should both contribute to awards ♦ all students should be assessed in a way that enabled them to demonstrate positive achievement After a long period of consultation and development, Standard Grade was introduced from 1984. In this qualification, students are assessed against performance standards for three levels of award: Credit, General and Foundation. This means that the qualification is based on the achievements of the individual, measured against stated standards, rather than on how his or her achievements compare with those of other candidates. In most subjects, examination papers are differentiated, with one set leading to qualifications at Credit level (grades 1 and 2), another to General level (grades 3 and 4), and another to Foundation level (grades 5 and 6). Students usually take examinations covering two adjacent levels as a kind of ‘safety net’. Students have to provide evidence of achievement in all basic aspects or ‘elements’ of a subject before an overall grade can be awarded. In English, for example, students face separate assessments for Reading, Writing and Talking. 2 The student’s certificate shows the grade attained in each element as well as the overall award for the course. An overall course grade is only awarded if there is an assessment for every element. In most courses, the separate elements are abilities such as Knowledge and Understanding, Problem Solving or other higher order abilities, and Practical Skills. These elements are awarded in a variety of ways. In Science, for example, students have to demonstrate attainment in practical skills, and these skills are assessed internally by the class teacher on the basis of work done in the course. The assessment in these practical skills counts towards the final qualification, but it is weighted against the other elements, which are assessed in an external examination. In English, Writing is assessed on the basis both of a folio of work, completed in S3 and S4 and submitted to SQA for marking, and of a written examination. Knowledge and Understanding is mostly assessed together with Problem Solving (or similar) through one, externally assessed, exam paper, but is given separate marks and grades. 1.2 ‘Teaching and Learning in the Senior Stages of the Scottish Secondary School’ (1983) Even as preparations for the implementation of the Munn and Dunning reports were in full swing for S3 and S4, this HMI report concluded that the post-fourth year examination structure did not cater well for the increasing number of students continuing in school. 1.3 ‘16–18s in Scotland: An Action Plan’ (1983) The Scottish Education Department published its Action Plan for non-advanced vocational education in 1983. It recognised that many students in S5 struggled to cope with the demands of the Higher courses, that their educational experience was not balanced, and that they had little prospect of achieving usable qualifications. It was for these students that the Action Plan offered the modular courses which were a feature of provision until the Higher Still programme was implemented. The modules were certificated by the Scottish Vocational Education Council (SCOTVEC). Internal assessment of students’ work was verified by external assessors appointed by the awarding body. In some cases, schools grouped modules or other short courses together to form full, two-year courses. There was also scope for schools to offer short courses which did not lead to certification. The years following the publication of the Action Plan also saw the development, under SCOTVEC, of new competence-based vocational qualifications covering all occupations. 3 1.4 The Howie Report (1992) In 1990, the Secretary of State for Scotland established a committee, chaired by Professor John Howie of St Andrews University, to review the aims and purposes of courses and certification in the fifth and sixth years of secondary school education in Scotland. The committee reported in 1992 that the educational and social context in which existing courses were placed was undergoing significant and rapid change. The size and nature of the population in S5 and S6 had been greatly affected by a number of factors, including the boost that Standard Grade had given to motivation and expectations; uncertainties in the employment market; the needs of employers for a highly-skilled workforce in a rapidly-evolving industrial and commercial world; and the expanding areas of further and higher education. The report concluded that ‘when measured against the characteristics which a high quality secondary education should display, our system is seriously wanting in many respects.’ Those characteristics were that the system should: ♦ provide both breadth and depth ♦ offer to all students the prospect of attaining recognised qualifications that were based on demanding standards of achievement and are well understood and accepted across the UK and beyond ♦ articulate both with pre-16 education and post-school education and training ♦ bridge the academic/vocational divide ♦ encourage access, retention and return; provide education as efficiently as possible ♦ take account of the European dimension 1.5 The Higher Still programme — Opportunity for All (1994) Howie’s analysis of the problems facing secondary education in Scotland was widely accepted, but his proposed solution for those problems was rejected. Reform was instead delivered through the Higher Still programme, which aimed to provide ‘opportunity for all’ through a unified curriculum and assessment system. The programme also sought to bring academic and vocational courses into a single unified system rather than the linked but separate system of ‘ladders and bridges’ envisaged by Howie. ♦ The programme replaced ‘academic’ courses (hitherto certificated by the Scottish Examination Board) and ‘vocational’ National Certificate modules (previously certificated by SCOTVEC) with new National Qualifications at Access, Intermediate, Higher and Advanced Higher levels. ♦ The design rules for the assessment and certification combined aspects of the systems they replaced. 4 ♦ The aim was for a flexible qualifications system, with Units being able to stand alone as a certificated qualification or to be combined in National Courses of 160 hours duration. ♦ Unit assessment is internal and on a pass-fail basis. For each Unit, students are required to demonstrate that they have reached a minimum competence. To gain the full Course award, students must achieve both the component Units and pass an external assessment. The graded external assessment determines the course grade. ♦ The nomenclature for the grades differs from that used in the Standard Grade and 5–14 programmes. ♦ The system was designed to promote progression from Standard Grade, not least for students who have attained awards at General and Foundation levels, and to offer progression pathways within the system, for example from Standard Grade General via Intermediate 2 to Higher. ♦ The programme was designed to meet the needs of all post-16 students, in schools and colleges, that is, students who had taken Standard Grades in S4. In practice, many schools have been using the Access and Intermediate courses to replace Standard Grade courses in one or more subjects in S3 and S4. 1.6 Review of the Implementation of New National Qualifications (2001) The recommendations of this review, accepted by the Minister for Education in June 2001, were that steps should be taken to: ♦ revise assessment arrangements on a course-by-course basis, with a view to reducing the complexity, variety and total volume of assessment
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