The Scottish Qualifications Authority has announced that it is removing exams from three National 5 practical courses before the new school year.
At a visit today to Portobello High School in Edinburgh, SQA interim chief executive John Booth and Scotland’s chief examiner, Donna Stewart, confirmed that the awarding body would remove externally marked question papers from its National 5 practical courses in cake craft, metalworking and woodworking.
However, the National 5 practical electronics exam will be retained, and the body has yet to reach a decision on how National 5 and Higher fashion and textile technology, as well as National 5 practical cookery, will be assessed in the future. The SQA says that more research is required.
Concerns over exams in practical subjects
Exams were introduced by the SQA from 2017-18 for some practical subjects after the removal of unit assessments.
At the time, design and technology teachers were among those who objected to the change, saying the move would disadvantage students who could produce beautiful objects but were less likely to perform well in an exam.
Today’s announcement follows a survey and focus groups with teachers and lecturers carried out by the SQA in 2024. The survey involved over 1,000 teachers in total, with the number of respondents for each subject varying from 499 for N5 practical cookery to 53 for N5 practical electronics.
More than 70 per cent of subject teachers surveyed were in favour of removing the exam for N5 practical metalworking (79 per cent); N5 practical woodworking (75 per cent ) and N5 practical cake craft (72 per cent).
However, in N5 practical electronics, the SQA found “support for removing the question paper was much lower” - although the research also says that “few practitioners were involved”. Some 58 per cent were in favour of removing the exam and 32 per cent against.
The subject with least support for the removal of the exam was Higher fashion and textile technology: 53 per cent wanted to scrap the exam, while 40 per cent wished to retain it. In National 5 for the same subject, 67 per cent wanted to scrap the exam and 30 per cent to retain it.
For N5 practical cookery, 61 per cent were in favour of scrapping the exam and 34 per cent against.
This year a second research project will run for both practical cookery and fashion and textile technology, in an attempt to determine the best way forward.
Alternative assessment approaches
In the three subjects where the exam is being removed, other assessment approaches will be taken in 2025-26.
For N5 practical cake craft, the existing course assignment will be expanded to include a section where learners explain the processes and techniques they have used to produce and finish their cake in the linked practical activity.
In N5 practical metalworking and N5 practical woodworking, a new case study will be added to the remaining practical activity, to ensuring that students’ skills and knowledge of course content can be assessed thoroughly.
The SQA says it will provide teachers and lecturers with support to help them prepare for the changes to assessment.
Ms Stewart said that feedback from teachers had been “at the heart” of the SQA’s decisions and had given the body the evidence base to introduce new approaches to assessment.
She added: “This decision will improve the validity of the course assessment, while being mindful of the workload associated with an increase in internal assessment.”
Mr Booth said the decisions aligned with the SQA’s commitment to review the balance of approaches to assessment across national qualifications, and with the recommendations in the Hayward review of qualifications and assessment to reduce the number of exams in S4-S6.
He said that the SQA would now undertake a longer-term programme of work looking at the balance of assessment and the range of assessment methods - including digital opportunities - in other courses.
The final research report and its outcomes can be found on the SQA website.
For the latest in Scottish education delivered directly to your inbox, sign up for Tes’ The Week in Scotland newsletter
