Questions raised about whether Scottish exams are "fit for purpose"
Teachers have branded this year's Higher geography paper the "worst ever".
Opposition politicians have questioned whether Scotland's exams board is setting fit for purpose'' tests after some teachers branded this year's Higher geography paper theworst ever''.
MSPs on Holyrood's Education and Skills Committee will question the chief executive and financial director of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) on the concerns raised on Wednesday.
The Scottish Association of Geography Teachers' submission to the committee highlighted its survey on this year's Higher geography exam, which found 54% thought it was poor/shocking/terrible/worst ever and nothing like specimen or previous paper''.
A total of 10% of respondents thought the paper was fair/okay or better''.
The written submission on the survey gave no details on the number of teachers who responded.
The SQA said the exam was set at the appropriate standard''.
The written submission is one of 40 the committee received, and committee papers said the main issues raised were concerns over vague and verbose documentation'', assessments standards being bothunclear and over-prescriptive'', frequent updates and changes and a tendency towards a box-ticking'' approach.
A Parliament survey with 646 responses found two-thirds (67%) do not trust the SQA to get things right, while 48% do not agree the qualifications are comprehensive and high quality'' compared with 34% who agree.
Scottish Conservative shadow education secretary Liz Smith said: This isn't just a case of one or two hacked-off teachers. There is a growing consensus that the SQA is not presiding over a fully fit-for-purpose exam framework.
That is something that will also concern parents and pupils and it's up to the Scottish Government to sort that out.''
Scottish Labour education spokesman Iain Gray said: It is extremely worrying to see this breakdown in the relationship between teachers and the SQA, and clearly there is something going very wrong.
The SQA and the SNP must urgently regain the trust of teachers so that parents, pupils and teachers can all have confidence in the exam system.''
The Liberal Democrats called for the SQA to give a straight explanation'' to the committee.
An SQA spokesman said: We place great importance on the views of all stakeholders. We regularly engage with, and listen to, teachers, lecturers and learners and act upon the feedback they provide, in the pursuit of a high performing Scottish education system which benefits our young people.''
He added: We are in regular dialogue with the Scottish Association of Geography Teachers regarding a number of different aspects of the design of Higher geography. These matters will be considered as we revise the course assessment at Higher level for implementation in the 2018/19 academic year.
The 2016 Higher geography exam was set at the appropriate standard and provided a good opportunity for candidates studying at Higher level to demonstrate their skills and understanding of the subject. It was designed according to our published course assessment specifications and was in line with published specimen question papers.''