Scotland’s chief examiner and chief executive of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) is to step down, the qualifications body has announced.
Fiona Robertson, who has led the SQA since July 2019, will be moving on from her post. SQA said it will announce an interim successor for Ms Robertson shortly.
This comes as the SQA is set to be replaced by a new body to oversee qualifications and assessment in autumn 2025 called Qualifications Scotland.
Ms Robertson will leave the SQA at the end of this week.
The SQA said an open competition for the chief executive of the new body will be held in due course.
Leading SQA ‘a great privilege’
Ms Robertson joined the SQA from the Scottish government, where she was director of learning.
“It has been a great privilege to lead the SQA over the last five years. The development, delivery and oversight of assessment and qualifications is integral to the strength, performance and standing of Scottish education,” she said.
Ms Robertson added: “It is the right time to move on, professionally and personally, and I wish my colleagues every success as they continue to deliver and take forward work to establish Qualifications Scotland following the passage of the Education (Scotland) Bill.”
Shirley Rogers, chair of the SQA, said she was grateful to Ms Robertson for her leadership of the body and contribution to Scottish education.
Under Ms Robertson, the SQA set out its plans in November for transitioning to Qualifications Scotland in “A prospectus for change” (PfC).
Qualifications Scotland to ‘reset relationships’
The SQA has invited teachers, students, and parents to join “partnership panels” to help influence the development of Qualifications Scotland.
A survey last year found that school staff reporting they trusted the SQA had fallen from 2023. Just over half (55 per cent) of staff surveyed said they trusted the body in 2024, compared with 69 per cent the year before.
In the PfC, the SQA promised to “reset its relationship with teachers and students” and “win back their trust”.
The SQA was in the headlines at the end of last year over a controversial review of Higher history after a rise in students failing the exam.
The review found the marking standard was consistent. However, MSPs on the Scottish Parliament’s Education, Children and Young People Committee said at the time that some teachers and students had been dismayed by the results.
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