Scottish Labour plans no confidence vote in John Swinney following exams fiasco

Education Secretary John Swinney is facing calls to resign and could face a vote of no confidence in Parliament after the exam results "shambles".

Scottish Labour is to table a motion of no confidence in the Deputy First Minister following a suggestion that non-priority pupils could have to wait until May 31 2021 to find out the result of any appeals.

The Scottish Conservatives have said they’ll back the motion.

The SQA has said that date is not correct, but are yet to state when pupils should hear the outcome of challenges.

The Scottish Government has faced widespread criticism over the grading system that replaced exams, which were cancelled in Scotland for the first time ever due to coronavirus.

The system, produced by the SQA and approved by the Government, saw 26.2% of grades changed during the moderation process based on criteria that included schools' historic performances - with a total of 124,564 pupils' results downgraded.

Dozens of pupils took to Glasgow's George Square on Friday morning to protest this year's system of awarding exam results - the methodology of which was only revealed on results day.

The First Minister said the controversial process was “effectively statistical moderation” and argued results would not have been “credible” if the pass rate of the most-deprived pupils had risen by the 19.8% estimated by teachers before moderation.

Both Nicola Sturgeon and Mr Swinney have defended the system, stressing that the appeals process would allow eligible pupils to challenge their results if they were downgraded from teachers' estimates.

But Scottish Labour has now released what it says is a photo of the SQA's intranet that suggested a potential nine-month wait for pupils who had appealed that were not awaiting college or university places.

The May 31 2021 date for appeal outcomes to be released has now been removed from the exam board's internal website and the SQA said it was just to allow their online system to work.

A spokesman said: “There is no nine-month wait for grades. This was a meaningless date set as part of a technical requirement to allow the system to go live.

“We are committed to processing all appeals as quickly as possible. We will provide a date for all other reviews shortly after 21st August.”

The deadline for submitting appeals for 'priority' students waiting on a college or university place is August 14, and August 21 for all other pupils.

Appeal verdicts for “priority” students are due to be sent to schools or colleges by September 4.

Hear all the latest news from across Tayside, Perthshire and Angus on Tay FM. Listen on FM, via our Rayo app, DAB, or smart speaker.