Tories delete tweet criticising Scottish results following English A-Level scandal

The Scottish Conservatives have deleted a tweet criticising the results awarded to students by the Scottish Qualifications Authority after almost 40% of English students had their A-Level results downgraded.

Following a public outcry after pupils in England received estimated results today, with 39.1% of those grades downgraded, a tweet from the Tories in Scotland condemning the way the SNP handled their exams process was deleted.

Figures published on results day for young people in Scotland last week showed that the SQA had revised down 93.1% of the those awards that were moderated by the regulatory body, affecting 124,564 pupils.

The Scottish Conservatives had tweeted in response: “Nicola Sturgeon presided over one of the biggest scandals in the history of devolution, which shattered the life chances of thousands of Scottish pupils.

“Her belated apology is not good enough for the teachers, parents and pupils who were effected by the fiasco.”

Pupils across the UK have now received estimated grades today following the cancellation of the usual end-of-year exams when schools closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Figures show that 39.1% had their result moderated down.

After protests and a call from Scottish Labour to remove Scottish Education Secretary John Swinney from post, the Scottish government announced that its downgrading would be abandoned and initial teacher estimates used.

Green described the downgrading of nearly two in five A-Level grades in England as a “huge injustice” this morning and said that “young people will be opening their results today to find grades which undermine their work and their potential”.

According to the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual), those with a grade C or above in England were downgraded from teacher estimations by over 10% among children from the most disadvantaged background.

The party has this afternoon called on the government to waive fees for schools and colleges appealing A-Level grades after data released has shown that thousands of students have had their results revised down.

Under the current appeals system, schools and colleges are required to pay up-front for appeals and can only claim back the money if successful. Labour has highlighted that private schools are currently twice as likely to submit appeals.

Earlier this week, Labour leader Keir Starmer warned that the Prime Minister risked “robbing a generation of young people of their future” unless he urgently tackled the unfairness in this year’s replacement exam results system.