National Qualifications

– in the Scottish Parliament at 2:15 pm on 11 June 2009.

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Photo of Alasdair Morgan Alasdair Morgan Scottish National Party 2:15, 11 June 2009

The next item of business is a statement by Fiona Hyslop, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, on national qualifications. The cabinet secretary will take questions at the end of her statement, therefore there should be no interventions or interruptions.

Photo of Fiona Hyslop Fiona Hyslop Scottish National Party 3:00, 11 June 2009

National qualifications are one of three key strands of work in implementing the curriculum for excellence. The other areas are curriculum guidance, which has now been published, and assessment policy, which will be published in the summer.

This package of measures will enable our education system to provide improved learning and teaching for our children and young people. After decades of piecemeal reform and separate initiatives, we now have comprehensive reform from age three to age 18. Our children and young people will now benefit from a more rounded education from the early years through to sixth year, with a greater emphasis on developing skills for learning, life and work; a more sustained focus on developing literacy and numeracy skills and an active, healthy lifestyle; and more motivating and challenging learning that promotes breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding to last a lifetime, not just for the next test.

Over the past few weeks, thousands of our young people and adult learners have been sitting exams for the current suite of national qualifications. I am sure that Parliament will join me in wishing all the candidates success.

We need to ensure that future qualifications reflect and support the curriculum for excellence. Our proposals for the next generation of national qualifications will retain the strengths of the current arrangements while addressing some long-standing issues. In particular, we will reduce overassessment, so that there is more time for quality learning and teaching; we will give more professional autonomy to teachers to raise standards of learning and teaching; and we will reduce the current complexity in the qualifications system to make it more streamlined and understandable for parents and employers and to ensure that qualifications relate directly to the world-leading Scottish credit and qualifications framework.

Following the public consultation, the curriculum for excellence management board has provided its advice on the best way forward for qualifications. The management board's membership includes representatives from local authorities, the main teaching unions, Scotland's Colleges, the General Teaching Council for Scotland, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education, the Scottish Qualifications Authority, Learning and Teaching Scotland and Skills Development Scotland. The management board brings together knowledge and experience from across Scotland's education system. Its members know what works well and what needs to be improved, and I am very grateful to them for their work.

I wish to announce my decisions on three main issues: first, the review of national qualifications at access, higher and advanced higher levels; secondly, the introduction of national 4 and national 5, the new qualifications that will replace the present standard grade and intermediate qualifications; and thirdly, the development of national literacy and national numeracy awards.

First, on the review of national qualifications, the consultation has shown that access, higher and advanced higher qualifications are key strengths of our existing system. They will be retained, and we will build upon them by updating them to reflect the values, purposes and principles of the curriculum for excellence.

Secondly, on the new qualifications to replace standard grade and intermediate qualifications at levels 4 and 5 on the Scottish credit and qualifications framework, national 4 and national 5 will be designed to support learning through the revised curriculum and increase the focus on skills development. They will be available in the suite of individual subject areas—for example, people will be able to gain national history 4 or national maths 5 qualifications.

The new qualifications will be unit-based to ensure consistency with other national qualifications. National 4 courses will be assessed by teaching staff, primarily through a course assessment, and will be quality assured by the SQA. The qualification will not be graded, and will therefore free up more time for learning and teaching.

National 5 courses will be a combination of course assessment assessed by teaching staff and quality assured by the SQA, and an exam or other external assessment by the SQA. The national 5 qualification will be graded to help learners to progress to higher qualifications, other areas of learning and employment.

National 4 and national 5 will be designed to be delivered flexibly. Study for the new qualifications will generally begin in secondary 4, with flexibility to take greater account of prior learning than has been the case in the past. Pupils should be able to take up to eight subjects in fourth year, as is currently the case. There will also be an opportunity for schools to provide for the most able pupils to bypass national 4 and national 5 and begin studying for some highers in S4.

National 4, national 5 and revised access, higher and advanced higher qualifications will be available from term 2013-14 onwards. That will ensure that the pupils who experience the new curriculum in secondary school from their first year onwards can progress smoothly on to a revised set of qualifications. Those pupils are currently preparing to leave primary 6.

The new national literacy and numeracy awards will be available to young people from third year onwards. It is expected that young people will be presented for the qualifications at some point before they leave school. That will give pupils the chance to achieve the qualifications when they are ready and it will give schools greater flexibility in their planning. The awards are intended to recognise the attributes that will be needed for later study or employment. The content of the qualifications will be based on the experiences and outcomes for literacy and numeracy in the curriculum for excellence.

It is clear that Scotland faces a pressing need to improve literacy and numeracy skills among the wider adult population. That is why we want to encourage uptake of the new qualifications by adult learners. The national literacy and numeracy awards will be based on a portfolio of work that is drawn from across the revised curriculum or other aspects of learning, life and work. That will benefit individuals and Scotland's economy in general.

Initially, the qualifications will involve external marking by the SQA. The intention is to reduce the amount of external marking that is required when national standards have been widely shared, understood and verified. The national literacy and numeracy awards will be achievable at SCQF levels 3, 4 and 5 and will profile an individual's skills rather than grade them. The recognition of the new qualifications in the SCQF will help to promote their value to employers and others.

We intend to make national literacy and numeracy awards available from 2012-13. That will ensure that the first pupils to experience learning and teaching through the revised curriculum—those who are currently coming to the end of primary 6—will have the opportunity to achieve the new qualifications from S3 onwards. The SQA will work with partners to agree the precise timing and details of implementation.

The literacy and numeracy qualifications are part of our series of actions to improve literacy and numeracy skills. For example, for the first time, we have given all teaching staff professional responsibility for promoting literacy and numeracy skills at every stage of education. The early years framework makes it clear that we are committed to tackling barriers to achievement through early intervention, and smaller class sizes in the formative years will help teaching staff to embed literacy and numeracy skills.

Later in the summer, we will publish details of the third strand of the curriculum for excellence, on assessment, which will be informed by the advice of the curriculum for excellence management board. We will publish a policy statement that sets out the key elements of our proposals to support assessment in the curriculum for excellence. It will specify national standards and state what learners are expected to achieve as they progress through the curriculum.

We will also publish an assessment framework that gives more detailed advice. It will include guidance on an external moderation process to support teachers in making their judgments, and it will ensure that breadth and depth of learning are assessed consistently against the national standards. There will also be a refocused Scottish survey of achievement to assess literacy and numeracy. The SQA and its partners will ensure that the new and revised qualifications have rigorous assessment and quality assurance systems that are supported by continuous professional development.

My announcement today sets out a clear direction for our qualifications system. Of course, the precise details of the new arrangements will follow. I am pleased that the curriculum for excellence management board and the SQA will continue to work together to focus on practical implementation and consider how best to meet learners' needs.

We are giving teachers more professional autonomy in order to raise standards of learning and teaching. At the same time, we are reducing the complexity of the qualifications system to make it more streamlined and understandable for parents and employers. The next generation of national qualifications will raise standards, improve learning for pupils and reflect curriculum reform. Most important, the qualifications will equip Scotland's young people and adult learners with the skills for learning, life and work, and the knowledge and understanding, that they will need to rise to the challenges of 21st century society.

Photo of Alasdair Morgan Alasdair Morgan Scottish National Party

The cabinet secretary will now take questions on the issues raised in her statement. I intend to allow about 20 minutes for that.

Photo of Rhona Brankin Rhona Brankin Labour

First, I am sure that the minister is aware—if she is not, she should be—that fewer than half of primary 7 pupils achieve the expected level D for reading. That is simply not good enough. In effect, the minister has taken Labour Party policy on literacy and numeracy in secondary schools, but we have no information or leadership on literacy and numeracy in primary schools, where there is still a massive challenge. Frankly, the minister is shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. Attempting to tackle literacy and numeracy at secondary level is simply too late. What does the minister intend to do about improving literacy and numeracy in primary schools? Instead of more woolly words, let us have the detail. Is her ambition, like Labour's, to ensure that every pupil can read when they leave primary school?

Secondly, will the new awards for literacy and numeracy in secondary school introduce some form of testing? We have been told that the literacy and numeracy awards will be based on a portfolio of work from across the curriculum. Frankly, that sounds like a lot of wishy-washy educational jargon. I am old enough to remember the language across the curriculum initiative in the early 1990s, which did not work. Does the minister think that parents and employers will trust the new awards? Frankly, I do not.

Photo of Fiona Hyslop Fiona Hyslop Scottish National Party

I would expect the future of national qualifications for this country to be treated with more respect and not to be used by any party as the subject of a party-political broadcast. It was important for members to listen to the statement that I have just made, which covered the qualifications period from S3 onwards.

The question was about the policy for assessing literacy and numeracy, which formed part of the curriculum for excellence guidelines that were published in April. I said quite clearly in my statement that that will be part of the detailed assessment policy that will be published over the summer.

In response to some of the questions that I think the member asked, I say that the national literacy and numeracy awards at levels 3, 4 and 5 will be externally assessed. If she thinks that external assessment by the SQA, which is carried out, by and large, by teachers who work in the field, is somehow wishy-washy or not worthy of respect, she is letting down the teaching profession, members of which are playing an increasing role in SQA marking.

I cannot emphasise enough that, for the first time, the new curriculum for excellence allows literacy and numeracy to be the responsibility of each and every teacher. The focus on literacy and numeracy is a key aspect of the curriculum for excellence experiences and outcomes, a copy of which I would be more than happy to send to the member, if she has not already read them. It is essential that we get a grip on the issue. If the member wants to reflect on the achievements of children in primary 7, she would do well to remember that, for the first five years of their education, those children were not educated under this Administration.

I appeal to all members to take seriously our responsibility to think about how we plan national qualifications not just for this parliamentary session, but for the next parliamentary session and beyond. Given that we are talking about creating a qualifications system for the future, the discussion should not be reduced to party-political backbiting.

Photo of Elizabeth Smith Elizabeth Smith Conservative

Thank you for giving us early sight of your statement. You say that you have set out a clear policy, but I do not think that I am alone in being thoroughly confused. You said that the new literacy and numeracy qualifications will involve external marking by the SQA, but that once national standards have been widely shared, understood and verified, the intention is

"to reduce the amount of external marking that is required".

Will you please explain what that means?

Secondly, you said that you are intent on reducing the current complexity of qualifications and making them

"more streamlined and understandable for parents and employers."

I hope that you meant to mention pupils and teachers as well. You said that an announcement is to be made about highers and advanced highers, but there is no such announcement.

Are you still intent on adding a Scottish baccalaureate award in science and languages but not in the arts and social sciences? In the light of your comment on 27 November 2008, when you said that the Government and the SQA had been "overwhelmed" by the interest that had been shown in the Scottish baccalaureate, can you confirm how many local authorities and schools have agreed to introduce it in 2010?

Finally, what action is your Government taking in the local authority concordat to ensure that as full a range as possible of higher and advanced higher courses is open to all our brightest pupils, to deal with the concerns that exist in some parts of Scotland that the career choices of pupils are being compromised because of cutbacks?

Photo of Alasdair Morgan Alasdair Morgan Scottish National Party

I remind members to address their remarks through the chair.

Photo of Fiona Hyslop Fiona Hyslop Scottish National Party

There were a number of questions there. It is clear that external assessment means external assessment by the SQA. That was clear from my statement.

There were initial concerns among members of the teaching profession that internal assessment would lead to overburdening in a variety of qualifications. For example, national 4 will be internally assessed. People want confidence, and we have seen from consultation that the national literacy and numeracy awards have been warmly welcomed by parents, pupils and business. The external verification assessment that the SQA can provide will give people confidence. Once we have attained the necessary standards and abilities, I would like us to move towards internal assessment. However, that will not happen immediately.

Having a variety of SCQF levels at standard and intermediate grade has created a complex system, but having a national 4 and a national 5 will certainly simplify things.

Tomorrow, I will visit Forth Valley College, which single-handedly will be supporting more than 60 baccalaureate projects in science. Elizabeth Smith will know from earlier comments that we are considering expanding the baccalaureate into the arts and social sciences, such is the interest.

We are retaining highers and advanced highers. I also make clear to members that more pupils than before are taking highers and advanced highers in a range of subjects. There is more choice and more availability, and we are in a strong position. Our responsibility is to ensure that that strong position is maintained in future.

Photo of Margaret Smith Margaret Smith Liberal Democrat

Today's announcement is very important. The topic is wide ranging, therefore I would welcome a debate in Government time, because 20 minutes will not allow us to do it justice. The cabinet secretary said that precise details will follow. I hope that those details will provide the answers to some of our questions. For example, there was no answer to one of Liz Smith's questions, on how many local authorities have agreed to offer the baccalaureate.

It is essential that parents understand and support the suggested changes to national qualifications. What plans are there to engage directly with parents on those changes? The conversation so far has been wide ranging, but it has been driven by professionals. It is essential that parents are involved.

We seem to be settling into a situation in which young adults are coming out of our schools at S4 with no qualifications that have any grading attached to them at all. Will the cabinet secretary address that point? Is she content with it? My recollection is that 51 per cent of respondents to consultation thought that there should be grading, but that 43 per cent disagreed. I accept that those figures did not give a clear steer, but will the cabinet secretary give us a little more information on why she has decided to go against that small majority view?

Who will decide whether able pupils can bypass nationals 4 and 5 and begin studying for highers in S4? What would you—

Photo of Fiona Hyslop Fiona Hyslop Scottish National Party

I will try to address those questions. We promised that we would set out the qualifications framework before the end of this school term, before the summer holidays, but students have been sitting exams, so it was important not to make announcements while they were doing so. However, we will clearly return to the issue, as Margaret Smith has suggested.

The views that came out of the consultation were polarised. We have tried to take on board not only the comments from the teaching profession but the comments from people in the wider community and from young people, particularly on national literacy and numeracy awards.

As far as grading is concerned, the teaching profession produced some strong arguments for having no gradings at all at national 4 and national 5. I have taken the view that it is important that grades are provided, particularly for national 5, as that will help progression and will help employers to understand the qualifications. It will also help colleges and universities to identify the different levels that people have achieved. Having steered a route through this, we have determined that national 4 will be ungraded but that national 5 will be graded.

Photo of Alasdair Morgan Alasdair Morgan Scottish National Party

If even a proportion of the members who want to speak are to be able to do so, questions will need to be very brief.

Photo of Christina McKelvie Christina McKelvie Scottish National Party

The importance of young people being able to sit standard grades at general and foundation levels or at general and credit levels in the current system was raised in the consultation. That allows pupils to aim high while running much less risk of missing out entirely. Will there be flexibility between national 4 and national 5, so that pupils do not have to play it safe and perhaps sell themselves short?

Photo of Fiona Hyslop Fiona Hyslop Scottish National Party

I return to a point that Margaret Smith made. A dialogue currently takes place between pupils, parents and schools about the different levels and courses that pupils will take. Yes, it will be possible to take national 4 and national 5 in combination. For example, a pupil may want to take history at national 4 but maths at national 5. Ensuring that we have a qualifications system that is responsive to the needs of individuals is an important part of the whole direction in which we are heading with the curriculum for excellence.

Photo of Kenneth Macintosh Kenneth Macintosh Labour

My first question is on the same subject. Am I right in thinking that national 4 and national 5 will be taught in common classes? If that is the case, what will pupils who are assessed as achieving national 4 have to do if they want to stay on at school? They will not be able to jump to highers. Will they be expected to repeat the course?

Secondly, how will we manage to teach eight subjects in one year that used to be taught in two years? The cabinet secretary said that pupils should be offered eight subjects. Can she guarantee that they will be offered eight subjects or, at the very least, seven?

Photo of Fiona Hyslop Fiona Hyslop Scottish National Party

A lot of the operational issues around timetabling and common classes that Ken Macintosh is talking about will be addressed in the discussions with teachers and schools to ensure that individual schools are able to respond to the particular needs of their pupils. A big theme in not only the curriculum for excellence but our lifelong learning skills strategy is the ability to progress from one level to another. Part of that will be about ensuring that pupils have the opportunity to study at the level at which they want to study while still being able to take things forward. I cannot determine the timetabling in any particular school. The important thing is to ensure that there is the possibility of progression.

The measures build on the S1 to S3 experience in the curriculum for excellence, so the breadth and depth that will be achieved in S1, S2 and S3 should prepare pupils well going forward into the qualifications. The problem with the current situation is that somehow everything is put to one side after S1 and S2 because everything has to be fixated on the content of the qualification examination over a two-year period, which means that we are losing the continuity between S1, S2, S3 and the qualifications. The new system should build on levels 3 and 4 of the curriculum for excellence to ensure that the breadth and depth can be carried on as the pupil progresses into qualifications. Time and time again in Parliament, we have heard that the qualifications should serve the curriculum, not the other way round. That is something that Peter Peacock said with which I agree.

Photo of Murdo Fraser Murdo Fraser Conservative

There is genuine confusion about some of the details. We need to get more information from the cabinet secretary today, if possible, about what it all means. I seek clarification on one point that I may have misunderstood. It appears that the national 4 qualification, which is intended to be a replacement for standard grade, will be neither graded nor externally tested. Does that mean that somebody will be able to leave school at 16 with a qualification that has not been graded or externally tested? If that is the case, how will employers be able to have confidence in such a qualification?

Photo of Fiona Hyslop Fiona Hyslop Scottish National Party

To help progression, there will be external verification by the SQA of the assessment procedures for the qualifications system, which will give the robustness that Murdo Fraser rightly suggests that employers need. The assessment framework proposals that will be released in the summer will identify how we can ensure that we give pupils, parents and employers confidence that the assessment that takes place in schools meets national standards and has the robustness that we all require.

Photo of Hugh O'Donnell Hugh O'Donnell Liberal Democrat

First, the cabinet secretary said that she wants to encourage uptake of the new qualifications by adult learners. How will she do that?

Secondly, will the professional responsibility of all teaching staff for promoting literacy and numeracy skills cover all subject areas? Will it be included in the SQA marking guidelines?

Photo of Fiona Hyslop Fiona Hyslop Scottish National Party

I have only just announced the framework of the whole system, so I am afraid that I cannot give details of the marking guidelines yet. The member is right to identify that the new qualifications are important for adult learners. If we are to maximise the skills and potential of the workforce as we move forward into recovery, it is essential that we recognise people's achievements in literacy and numeracy in the workplace. We want to ensure that that is supported.

I feel strongly about workplace learning. I met the Scottish Trades Union Congress lifelong learning members this week to discuss how we can take it forward. The recent announcement that we have extended the eligibility criteria for the individual learning account 200 to cover people who earn up to £22,000 rather than £18,000 means that half of the workforce throughout Scottish is now eligible to receive funding support for training. We have a great opportunity to work with trade union learners and colleges to ensure that there are opportunities in the workplace, and that the qualifications become part and parcel of Scotland's lifelong learning strategy.

Photo of Alasdair Allan Alasdair Allan Scottish National Party

Members on all sides of the chamber and many people outside it have welcomed the new certificates in literacy and numeracy. Will the cabinet secretary explain whether the teaching of those units will form part of English and maths or run alongside those subjects?

Photo of Fiona Hyslop Fiona Hyslop Scottish National Party

Maths and English will continue to be taught as separate subjects by specialist teachers. With regard to literacy skills, for example, the study of English will develop deeper understanding of the complexities of language through the study of literature. With regard to maths, the study of algebra will help to build on numeracy skills. That will, if anything, enhance the teaching of English and maths, bearing in mind the fact that literacy and numeracy will become part of the early development support—certainly at primary level—and will continue through the curriculum as the responsibility of every teacher at secondary level.

Photo of Karen Whitefield Karen Whitefield Labour

I am grateful to the cabinet secretary for restating her commitment to improve attainment through early intervention. Which early interventions does she believe must be taken to ensure that our children are functionally literate and numerate? Is she relying solely on smaller class sizes? Is she content that class sizes in primary 1 to primary 3 will not reduce until the turn of the century? What new money is available for the interventions and the implementation of the early years strategy?

Photo of Fiona Hyslop Fiona Hyslop Scottish National Party

Today's statement is about qualifications from S3 onwards, but the member's questions are about literacy in the early years.

Our proposals include the early intervention strategy, which runs from pre-birth to eight as part of the early years framework and ensures that literacy and numeracy skills can be embedded, aided by smaller class sizes. There is a focus throughout the curriculum for excellence on literacy and numeracy. The emphasis on experiences and outcomes from age three to 18 will, for the first time, embed and exemplify the ways in which literacy and numeracy can be developed and supported, which is to be welcomed.

It is clear, however, that my statement today is about the qualifications framework and how we take it forward throughout Scotland.

Photo of Anne McLaughlin Anne McLaughlin Scottish National Party

The cabinet secretary will remember the difficulties that the previous Administration ran into in making the transition from the higher to the higher still system in 2000-01. Will she explain how the transition from the current qualifications system to the new one that she has described will operate in order to avoid the confusion and upset that teachers and pupils faced last time round, at a time when pupils in particular need a stable learning environment?

Photo of Fiona Hyslop Fiona Hyslop Scottish National Party

It is clear that the introduction of any new qualifications system, and the transition, must be carefully managed. The new and revised qualifications will be introduced from 2013 onwards: the revised national access courses and national 4 and national 5 will be introduced in 2013-14; new highers will be introduced in 2014-

15; and advanced highers will be introduced in 2015-16. We will work carefully on and take the SQA's advice in the planning and presentation of those awards. Lessons have been learned from the introduction of previous qualifications systems, and they will be taken on board to ensure that there is smooth progress in implementing the new qualifications system.

Photo of Margo MacDonald Margo MacDonald Independent

I associate myself with many of Margaret Smith's questions to the cabinet secretary. Can we have a full-day debate on education? We need much longer than normal, so that—apart from anything else—members can absorb the new terminology.

I also suggest to the cabinet secretary that, when she is publicising all this to parents, teachers and folk like me who are too old to remember exactly what everything has been called, she uses flow charts and pathways through it using pupils—

Members:

Mind maps!

Photo of Alasdair Morgan Alasdair Morgan Scottish National Party

I think that the question is getting a bit long. We are almost out of time.

Photo of Fiona Hyslop Fiona Hyslop Scottish National Party

Margo MacDonald's point is well made. For example, I took O grades; other people have taken other Scottish certificates, standard grades and so on. In communicating these matters, we must remember that points of reference are different for different generations.

Obviously I cannot present it in a parliamentary statement, but we have produced a table that shows the progression in the Scottish credit qualifications framework from access level through the national, higher and advanced higher grades to the higher national certificate, the higher national diploma and on to degree level. That simple table will help to explain what it all means in old money—if I can use that expression—while setting the reference points for the parents and pupils who are currently in the system.

As for having a full debate on the issue, that is a matter for the Parliamentary Bureau. However, we would welcome the opportunity to discuss this complex area of curriculum reform. This is, after all, the biggest change for a generation and, as some of the issues that I have had to explain in this statement show, it can be quite technical. Indeed, the forthcoming assessment framework could well engender a whole day's debate.