If exams are cancelled in 2022, students will be judged on the work they have “already completed throughout the year” and there will be no requirement to carry out any additional assessments, the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) has said.

It has also said that if there is further significant disruption caused by Covid-19 but the exams are able to go ahead, students might receive “advance notice of some topics which will feature in exams”.

The news follows the announcement by the Scottish government earlier today that the exams will go ahead “if safe to do so”.

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There will, however, be two “contingencies” put in place: more modifications to course content and assessment; and the exams could be cancelled again, with teachers expected to grade their pupils.

But this school year, the SQA has said it will take a different approach if the national exam diet - which is scheduled to run next year from 26 April to 1 June, with results day on 9 August - is unable to take place.

In a statement posted on its website this afternoon, the SQA said: “If changes to public health advice mean that large gatherings of people are no longer permitted in April to June, and exams are cancelled, SQA will ask teachers and lecturers to use their professional judgement of assessment evidence to determine learners’ grades.

“Schools, colleges and training providers will not be required to carry out any additional assessments, as they did in 2020-21. Instead, teachers and lecturers will be asked to determine learners’ grades, based on the work that learners have already completed throughout the year.”

The move comes after the body was widely criticised by teachers and pupils for putting huge pressure on students taking qualifications in 2020-21 because of rules around the kind of evidence teachers were allowed to use to support their judgements.

Students said they faced exams in all but name when they returned to school after Easter following the national lockdown and that the stress of the situation was harmful to their mental health.

There were also issues with students sharing SQA assessments on video-sharing site TikTok, because they were sitting them at different times.

In order to be prepared for potential cancellation of the 2022 exams, the SQA said teachers and lecturers should gather examples of their students’ work and keep a record of any assessments “as they would in a normal year”.

It said examples of appropriate evidence included prelims, practical performances or class tests “that provide an appropriate degree of challenge, integration and application of the key knowledge and skills of each National Course”.

The SQA added: “Gathering completed assessments as learners progress through the session will provide a reliable collection of evidence that can be used to determine their grades if exams are cancelled at short notice.

“SQA will provide all schools, colleges and training providers, as well as learners, parents and carers, with more information and appropriate guidance on the arrangements for assessing and awarding National Qualifications at the earliest opportunity.”

The other contingency is that more modifications could be made to courses and assessment if there is “further significant disruption to learning as a result of Covid-19”.

The SQA said: “For some courses this could include, for example, advance notice of some topics which will feature in exams.”

In terms of the modifications to courses to date and more detail on assessment requirements, the SQA said more information on this would begin being published tomorrow, with all details available to staff by the end of the month.

Fiona Robertson, SQA chief executive, said: “SQA understands the need to provide teachers, lecturers, parents, carers and learners with clear and timely information regarding assessments in 2022. Now that the Scottish government has confirmed exams will be held if safe to do so, I look forward to continuing to work in partnership with the whole education system to deliver credible qualifications for Scotland’s learners.”

In a response to the SQA statement this afternoon, EIS teaching union general secretary Larry Flanagan said: “The EIS is very clear that with regard to next year’s qualifications the priority for schools is to focus on teaching and learning and not to simply start gathering assessment evidence in case it is needed for ‘contingency purposes’. Students cannot be assessed before learning and skills development have been enabled.

“The danger in the advice issued by the SQA is that it initiates a dual approach - continuous assessment as a contingency and working towards an exam diet - which will create another workload challenge for teachers and an assessment overload for students. The EIS supports the use of professional judgement if it is required but it should be for teachers, not the SQA, to determine the appropriate evidence base for that.”

Mr Flanagan added: “It remains to be seen whether the reductions in course content for this year as recognition that young people have been adversely affected by the pandemic through no fault of their own, will suffice. It is essential that appropriate and robust contingencies are in place should it be necessary to cancel the exam diet on public health grounds - but this must be without repeating the assessment workload of last session or creating an assessment treadmill.

“We saw earlier this year the damage caused by decisions being made too late without adequate contingencies in place and the huge workload and stress that was placed on students and staff as a result.”

The SQA statement can be read in full here.