Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment - SG response: consumer duty impact assessment

Stage 1, Planning:

Tasks:

• Decide if this is a strategic decision or not. If not, then proceed to stage 5
• Decide if the strategic decision will impact on consumers. If not, then proceed to stage 5.
• If this is a strategic decision, that will have an impact on consumers, then develop a plan for how to complete stages 2-5, including required consumer engagement.
• Understand the aims and outcomes of the proposal and identify alternative options.

Outcome:

• Changes to our qualifications and assessment system including the intention to diversify assessment methods in the senior phase and introduce a leaving certificate constitute ‘strategic’ decisions.
• These decisions will impact consumers. For the purposes of the SG response to the IRQA “consumers” are pupils in the Senior Phase of school or college.
• The definition of a consumer is an individual or small business who buys, uses or receives goods or services in Scotland, or could potentially do so, supplied by a public authority or other public body.
• We believe the changes proposed in the SG response will positively contribute to consumer outcomes by improving the Senior Phase experience and enabling more young people to demonstrate their achievements.
• Significant engagement has been undertaken around the impact on consumers, in this case pupils in the senior phase of education. Engagement was undertaken during the Independent Review itself as well as in the period post-publication. Details of the post publication engagement is referred to in the associated impact assessments (Equality Impact Assessment, Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment, Fairer Scotland Duty Assessment)
• The SG response to the Independent Review has taken into account the feedback and concerns received from stakeholders including consumers and the SG response reflects this feedback. For example, significant concerns were raised by stakeholders during the post publication engagement with the Personal Pathway proposal and the proposal to remove all external assessment up to Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework (SCQF) level 5. The SG response reflects these concerns raised by equalities groups. The SG response indicates that external examinations will remain but that there will be a rebalancing of assessment methods. With regards to the Personal Pathway proposal. We are committed to exploring ways that pupils can receive recognition for their wider achievement but recognise that significant equality issues must be worked through before the Personal Pathway could become a mandatory part of the Senior Phase.