SQA accused of ‘marking its own homework’ and ignoring exam errors

Scotland on Sunday

- Teachers have called for an independent regulator to handle complaints against Scotland’s qualifications body amid allegations of errors in exams. A petition to the Scottish Parliament claims the Scottish Qualifications Authority is “getting away with marking its own homework”.

Food suppliers say sorry for horsemeat in schools

The Scotsman

- A private contractor that supplied horsemeat labelled as beef to six primary schools in Edinburgh has apologised to parents over the incident. Amey Built Environment admitted that there had been an “unacceptable lack of communication” which meant education chiefs were not told about the detection of horse DNA.

Dad in court for slapping son, 11

The Daily Record

- A sheriff told a father who slapped his son for making cheeky comments to his mum and trashing his room that he ended up in court only because he left a visible mark. The father, 45, who has no criminal record, was arrested after a PE teacher noticed the boy had a bruise on his thigh. He was ordered to carry out 60 hours’ unpaid work.

Underage drink fears as supermarket beats ban

The Herald

- The campaign against underage drinking and anti-social behaviour in Scotland has been dealt a heavy blow after the country’s largest local authority lost a landmark ruling at the Court of Session. Lidl won an appeal against Glasgow City Council’s five-day ban on the supermarket selling alcohol after one branch sold wine to a 16-year-old.

Teenage police adviser in tweets row quits

Daily Telegraph

- Britain’s first youth police and crime commissioner has resigned less than a week into the job after disclosures about apparently racist and homophobic comments she made on the internet. Paris Brown, 17, who now faces a possible criminal investigation by the force she was supposed to be supervising, blamed youthful “bravado” for a series of offensive messages she made on Twitter.