National 4 has become the poor relation of Scottish qualifications: unloved by parents, scorned by pupils and unwanted by employers. At least, that’s what we are often told.

But a new report paints a more complicated picture and tellingly reveals a sharp divergence of views between teachers and pupils over how to improve N4, amid alarming signs that every teacher surveyed feels pressure to present pupils at National 5 who are not ready for that level.

Research by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), involving at least one school in every local authority, reveals strikingly different opinions about whether N4 should have an external exam.

The uptake of N4 dropped by more than 11 per cent between 2015 and 2017. One interpretation is that it lacks credibility among parents and employers because it has no external assessment. The result is that many students are pushed towards National 5s (“Attainment rates slide as new courses struggle”, Tes Scotland, 25 August).

The solution appears clear for the “majority” of teachers and senior management teams: they “expressed the opinion that National 4 learners needed an examination at the end of their course”. Teachers talked of “the need for an examination to motivate learners”, the report states. However, that clashes with the consensus among pupils: “The majority of S4 learners took a very different view, and this view was echoed by many learners in S5 and S6. Learners judged that they were working hard or very hard and were motivated.”

The “very strong support” from teachers for an N4 question paper contrasted with the views of S4 pupils in most schools, who wanted no N4 exam. Many students said it would increase their stress levels and put them under greater pressure.

However, views were not uniform among teachers or students. Some pupils favoured an N4 exam and more than a quarter of schools feared an exam would have a negative impact on students who combine N4 and N5 courses. One Fife teacher reacted to the research by tweeting: “If an exam at N4 is the answer, it must have been a really stupid question.”

Meanwhile, many pupils had “the perception that National 5 learners looked down on National 4 learners”, although teachers and pupils found common ground on one issue: both felt N4 needed different grades, rather than its current pass-or-fail model.

‘Unease in many schools’

The knock-on effect of N4’s poor reputation is stark: with N4 “not being valued” by parents and employers, nearly all teachers, to varying degrees, “felt pressure to mis-present learners at National 5, despite learner performance evidence indicating National 4 presentation was more appropriate”. This pressure - which could come from parents, senior management or the local authority - caused “clear staff unease in many schools” that students’ long-term prospects were not being helped.

However, the survey - which includes responses from independent schools, special schools and FE colleges - shows that “no clear view emerged as to the most appropriate assessment arrangements for National 4”.

Mike Corbett, a secondary teacher and executive member of the NASUWT Scotland teaching union, said the suggestion that most teachers want an N4 exam “directly contradicts” a NASUWT survey, in which most teachers supported external assessment of a piece of coursework. On parental pressure, he said that “too often, we experience difficulties with parents simply refusing to accept the clear information given about their child’s progress”.

A recent National Parent Forum of Scotland (NPFS) survey suggested a 50-50 split on the merits of an exam at N4, a qualification that has caused members concern. NPFS chair Joanna Murphy said: “You can’t really blame parents. The communication about N4, in particular, has been appalling and the negative press about it hasn’t been challenged at any level. If it’s described as ‘worthless’, why wouldn’t parents believe that?”

Eileen Prior, executive director of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council, said the SQA’s report “made interesting reading” because it provided pupils’ perspectives - “a viewpoint we don’t hear often enough”.

She added: “Since parents mostly get their information about what is happening for their young person from school, I think we have to reflect on where they are picking up anxiety and messages of a qualification that is not valuable. The SQA’s report demonstrated that in those schools where there is highquality information and a collaborative approach [with families], the sense of pressure from parents is not an issue.”

A Scottish government spokesman said N4 is “a key part of our national qualifications” but that the Assessment and National Qualifications Group is “considering a range of issues linked to enhancing the status of National 4. This [SQA] fieldwork report will undoubtedly help inform those discussions”.

He added that it was “important not to focus solely on the possibility of an external assessment, as there are other factors to consider”.

@Henry_Hepburn