The chief executive of the Scottish Qualifications Authority has predicted a bright future for the much-maligned National 4, despite another steep drop in students who take it.

New figures show that N4 entries have fallen by nearly 7,000 (5.6 per cent) since 2016, and by nearly 15,000 (11.3 per cent) since 2015 - in the same two-year period N5 entries have increased slightly - but the SQA’s Janet Brown told Tes Scotland that “it will become a credible qualification [and] it is credible in some spaces now”.

N4’s lack of an external exam and simple pass-or-fail structure has left many teachers and pupils sceptical about the merits of the qualification, which was introduced in 2013-14.

But Dr Brown, who spoke to Tes Scotland as students across Scotland received their SQA exam and course results, made a stout defence of N4; with modifications, and as teachers improved their understanding of the appropriate qualifications for their pupils, uptake might even increase in years to come, she suggested.

“I think there’s a real place for National 4,” said Dr Brown, explaining that it provided a route into colleges and apprenticeships and also “a pathway into the academic National 5 qualification”. She added that “it has value and it’s important to understand why there is a perception that it doesn’t have value”.

Dr Brown said that new and unpublished fieldwork continued to show some educators felt strongly that there should be some form of external assessment at N4, although she added that internal assessment was a “highly valued” approach used in universities.

She said a range of possible changes was being considered by the national Working Group on Assessment and Qualifications (ANQ), including an external exam at N4, which would be a controversial move because N4 was designed as a fairer reflection of the abilities of pupils who might struggle in exams.

“What we have to understand is what is the purpose of National 4 - why are kids taking it?” said Dr Brown.

‘Major achievement’

Seamus Searson, general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association, told Tes Scotland that the falling N4 numbers reflected the status of the qualification.

“What is very sad is that N4 is a major achievement for some pupils but unfortunately it’s not always viewed that way outside of schools,” he said.

He suggested that an external assessment - rather than an exam - might lend it more credibility with parents and employers.

Mr Searson added: “Unless something changes, young people will see N5 as the commodity they want and that there’s no point in N4.” There was “a great deal of uncertainty” around Nationals generally and whether N4 was “just a lesser N5 or something else altogether”.

Mike Corbett, an English teacher and past president of the NASUWT Scotland teaching union, said the steep drop in N4 entries “bears out what we’ve been saying for some time: there is a lack of credibility with National 4 in the eyes of many parents and pupils, which leads to an insistence on some pupils being presented for - and often failing - National 5, despite the warnings of teachers”.

He welcomed the ANQ group’s focus on exploring “how National 4 might regain some credibility”, although he was not yet “filled with confidence”.

Mr Corbett also feared that reform of N5 was “seriously flawed, and is unlikely to lead to a reduction in workload for many teachers and pupils. Indeed, I can only see it leading to a reduction in attainment”.

He was referring to education secretary John Swinney’s move in March to guard against candidates failing N5 and being left without any qualification. These changes included reintroducing unit assessments, which he previously decided to scrap over teaching unions’ workload concerns, on an interim basis, in “exceptional circumstances”.

EIS union general secretary Larry Flanagan said fewer N4 presentations was “actually good news” if it reflected less dual presentation - the practice of pupils taking both N5 and N4 as teachers struggle to decide on the most appropriate level. Overall, said Mr Flanagan, teachers and pupils “should be proud of this strong set of results” as they show schools continuing to “perform well despite teachers having to deliver the new qualifications in extremely challenging circumstances”.

But he warned that teachers were contending with “enormous workload pressures” and that they must see the “promised reduction in the assessment burden on both staff and pupils” materialise in this school year.

“Frankly, the goodwill of teachers has run out,” he said.

Education secretary John Swinney said: “The much greater range of qualifications and skills-based awards [than in the past] demonstrates Curriculum for Excellence is successfully meeting the needs of young people and giving them the best chance of success in further learning, life and work. It is the right reform for Scottish education.”

@Henry_Hepburn