Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment - SG response: child rights and wellbeing impact assessment

Conclusion

7. As a result of the evidence gathered and analysed against all UNCRC requirements, the potential overall impact of this proposal on children’s rights?:

• Programmes of Learning/Assessment – Positive
• Inter-disciplinary Learning – Positive
• Personal Pathway – Positive
• Leaving Certificate – Positive

8. If you have identified a positive impact on children’s rights, please describe below how the proposal will protect, respect, and fulfil children’s rights in Scotland.

Programmes of Learning/Assessment

• Article 23: We believe that diversifying assessment methods has the potential to benefit all young people but that there may be particular benefits for young people with disabilities. A diverse assessment system that relies less heavily on external examinations is more likely to suit a broader range of learning styles.
• Article 28: We believe that diversifying assessment methods has the potential to support Article 28 (Right to Education) by enabling more young people to successfully evidence their learning.
• Article 29: We believe that diversifying assessment methods has the potential to support the realisation of Article 29 (Goals of Education) in particular 1(a), by enabling more young people to successfully evidence their learning.

Inter-disciplinary Learning (IDL)

• Article 28: We believe that the decision to undertake further work in respect of IDL, with a view to better determining the place of IDL in secondary schools, has the potential to support the realisation of Article 28 (Right to Education). In particular we note that the proposal to introduce an IDL element into the Senior Phase has been particularly welcomed by young people. However, we are mindful that there are currently a range of practices in schools and therefore further work is needed to ensure that all young people, regardless of race, gender or disability, can benefit equally.
• Article 29: We believe that the decision to undertake further work in respect of IDL, with a view to better determining the place of IDL in secondary schools, has the potential to support the realisation of Article 29 (Goals of Education), in particular 1(a) and (d) by providing a more diverse Senior Phase experience.

Personal Pathway

• Article 23: We believe that the decision to continue to explore the Personal Pathway proposal with a view to overcoming some of the equity issues identified in this CRWIA, has the potential to support Article 23. Inclusion of the Personal Pathway has the potential, in conjunction with diversifying assessment methods to enable more young people with a disability to successfully evidence their learning, achievements and skills.
• Article 28: We believe that the decision to continue to explore the Personal Pathway proposal with a view to overcoming some of the equity issues identified in this CRWIA, has the potential to support Article 28 (Right to Education) by enabling more young people, regardless of race, gender or disability, to successfully evidence their learning, achievements and skills.
• Article 29: We believe that the decision to continue to explore the Personal Pathway proposal with a view to overcoming some of the equity issues identified in this CRWIA, has the potential to support Article 29 (Goals of Education), in particular 1(a) and (d), by enabling more young people to successfully evidence their learning, wider achievements and skills.

Leaving Certificate

• Article 23: We believe that the introduction of a leaving certificate has the potential to create a more inclusive qualifications system and that this will have particular benefits for young people with disabilities.
• Article 28: We believe that the introduction of a leaving certificate has the potential to create a more inclusive qualifications system which will in turn enable more young people, regardless of race, gender or disability, to evidence their learning.
• Article 29: We believe that the introduction of a leaving certificate has the potential to create a more inclusive qualifications system which will in turn enable more young people to evidence their learning and wider achievements.

9. If a negative impact has been identified please describe it below. Is there a risk this could potentially amount to an incompatibility?

Programmes of Learning/Assessment

The Scottish Government does not anticipate a negative impact as a result of the actions being taken forward further to the final report of the IRQA.

Concerns were voiced that teacher-based assessment is more liable to bias than external examinations and that some pupils could consequently suffer detriment should there be no external examinations. There was concern that Black and Minority Ethnic pupils, in particular, may suffer detriment.

The Scottish Government has decided not to accept the recommendation to remove all external examinations up to National 5 as a matter of course. Although there will be a diversification of assessment methods with continuous assessment contributing to a greater percentage of an overall grade, we will not move to a system based entirely on teacher judgement up to National 5.

Teacher based assessment is already part of our current Senior Phase system as coursework and practical assessments form an important part of overall assessment in most subjects and courses. Teacher based assessment is also commonly used in primary school and in the Broad General Education (BGE) and in many other jurisdictions in their upper secondary. Diversifying assessment methods was a recommendation in the 2021 OECD Review Upper-secondary education student assessment in Scotland: A comparative perspective.

A mixed model of assessment was also the option which most stakeholders favoured, and thought would be the fairest, in terms of giving all pupils the opportunity to demonstrate their achievements. Retaining some form of an external examination was seen as a safeguarding measure against bias/discrimination.

That said, given teacher-based assessment will play a more prominent role in the future, we will ensure that care is taken in the design and implementation of changes to assessment methods to include a robust consideration of ways to minimise the possibility of teacher bias, where teacher-based assessment is used. This will include investigation and implementation of appropriate mitigating actions including moderation processes, supported collaboration between teachers, high-quality professional learning, phased implementation of change, deep involvement of the teaching profession in designing new forms of assessment and the adoption of approaches to assessment relevant to the programme being taught. If the proposed mitigations are implemented in full then we expect the impact to be positive for the purposes of the CRIWA and articles 23, 28 and 29.

Mitigation Record

Issue or risk Identified per article/ Optional Protocol

Risk of teacher bias in assessment (Articles 2 and 30)

Action Taken / To Be Taken

Further work by SQA / Qualifications Scotland, will be undertaken to determine the most appropriate measures to mitigate against teacher bias. Evidence and best practice from other jurisdictions will be considered.

Date action to be taken or was taken

Actions are to be taken in subsequent stages of policy development.

September 2024 action agreed.

10. As a result of the evidence gathered and analysed against all wellbeing indicators, will the proposal contribute to the wellbeing of children and young people in Scotland?

As a result of the evidence gathered and analysed against all wellbeing indicators, we believe the proposal will contribute to the wellbeing of children and young people in Scotland. The proposals taken together have the potential to create a more inclusive system that enables all pupils to demonstrate their achievement. We anticipate there will be particular positive impacts on the following wellbeing indicators:

Safe: No

Healthy: No

Achieving: Yes

Nurtured: No

Active: No

Respected: Yes

Responsible: Yes

Included: Yes

If yes, please provide an explanation below:

• Achieving – the proposals of the review and SG response are designed to allow for a greater range of pupil achievements to be recognised. This diversification is positive and will create a more inclusive approach to qualifications and assessment.
• Respected – the proposals of the review and SG response, notably the commitment to the recognition of wider achievement will place greater responsibility on the individual pupil to select, then reflect upon, a wide range of learning. This will empower a pupil to lead the content of their learning and possibly also the content of a leaving certificate.
• Responsible – recognition of wider achievement alongside the focus on team work and skills development through the IDL will provide new and supported opportunities to play active roles in school and the wider community.
• Included – the proposals of the review and SG response are designed to allow for a greater range of pupil achievements to be recognised. This diversification is positive and will create a more inclusive approach to qualifications and assessment. Changes including rebalancing of assessment will help ensure a wider range of pupils are able to evidence their achievements.

11. How will you communicate to children and young people the impact that the proposal will have on their rights?

Children and young people will continue to be involved in the policy development and delivery process. Child and young people friendly materials explaining the changes and the impacts on children’s rights will be produced before changes take effect. Materials will also be produced in Gaelic.

The CRWIA will be published on the Scottish Government website and shared with the organisations involved in the Review.