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Topic: SQA exams fiasco

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	SSBA about the Exam Fiasco
		As far back as March SQA had identified the possibility that there may be errors on certificates issued to candidates so we knew that major implications could arise.
		Having brought all this to the attention of the public it is ironic that Sam Galbraith on the BBC television programme "Failing the Grade" recently, and Alf Young in the recent columns of ‘The Herald’ newspaper attacked the Chief Executive personally for her involvement in this situation.
		When she was approached by the SQA to become a Board member she explained to them that because of her commitment to the Scottish CCC and the fact that they were currently merging with SCET, she might not be in a position to attend as many of the SQA meetings as she would wish.
	www.schoolboard-scotland.com /responses/sqa_examresults.htm (1151 words)

	Scottish Qualifications Authority - Biocrawler (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		SQA is best known for the delivery of the annual diet of public examinations within Scotland.
		SQA is one of a number of providers of Scottish Vocational Qualifications which are designed by employers and intended to be delivered in the workplace.
		SQA awards are exported to a number of countries including China.
	www.biocrawler.com /encyclopedia/SQA (565 words)

	Higher (Scottish) Encyclopedia Article @ Commenced.org (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		SCE Higher Grade was the historical terminal exam for the majority of Scottish secondary school students, especially those seeking work in skilled industries or progress onto higher education.
		The new system was not entirely successful, however, and 2000 saw a marking fiasco that cost the head of the authority his job and severely damaged the career of the Education Minister, Sam Galbraith.
		A terminal exam which candidates sit once they have achieved sufficiently well in the progress exams - it is the final examination which determines the grade and level of pass.
	www.commenced.org /encyclopedia/Higher_(Scottish) (1058 words)

	Threat to dump SQA in fees rise row - Evening Times (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		The SQA, which sets and administers exams and qualifications, said it needed the rises - 20% next financial year and 15% the one after - to reduce its dependence on government grants.
		The charge is payable according to the subject or qualification being sought by each candidate, and is payable in most cases by the local education authority.
		The SNP said the row was a "farce" and Tories pointed to another exams "fiasco", this time between Labour councils and a government agency.
	www.eveningtimes.co.uk /print/news/5023256.shtml (387 words)

	Gmat Exams (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		In addition, study skills gmat exams and time management essentials are covered, along with guidance on how to register for the test gmat exams and how to prepare for gmat exams and achieve a great GMAT exam score.
		Ordination exams - In the Presbyterian Church (USA) these are the formal exams given to seminary seniors to ensure that a candidate for ministry is adequately prepared.
		SQA exams fiasco - In 2000, the new Higher Grade examination system in Scotland, through a mixture of incompetence and genuine bad luck, ground to a complete halt resulting in administrative chaos and misery for thousands of students.
	gr43.mhilicit.com /gmatexams.html (1203 words)

	SQA - No summer off for staff behind exam marking
		A total of 14,000 SQA staff are involved in the delivery of this year’s diet, ranging from invigilators overseeing the exams to the markers and principal assessors.
		To add to the complexity of the operation, some papers have to be printed in braille, while the SQA also has to make arrangements for some candidates to sit their exams using sign language.
		SQA officials have worked to eradicate the memory of the 2000 exams fiasco when the system was brought to its knees and the organisation’s reputations was left in tatters.
	www.sqa.org.uk /sqa/sqa_nu_display.jsp?pStyle=plain&pContentID=6085&p_applic=CCC&p_service=Content.show (929 words)

	Secondary education and literacy in Scotland (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		David Miller, the Scottish Qualifications Authority chairman revealed that the number of exam certificates containing partial or wrong results could be as high as one in 20, affecting more than 7000 of the 147,000 candidates who sat the exams.
		Mr Miller acknowledged that the combination of the authority's new computer system and the first year of the new National Qualification (as the Higher Still courses are now entitled), coupled with the fact that the technology had not been properly trialled, made the problems worse.
		The fiasco last year was exacerbated, though not caused, by the introduction of Higher Still assessments.
	www.literacytrust.org.uk /update/scotsecondary.html (1236 words)

	SQA board face sack after exams fiasco \| Education \| Telegraph
		The SQA, the body that installed the Higher Still exam and also processes all exam qualifications, has accepted blame for the fiasco, blaming "data management errors", attributed mainly to the fact that pupil's exams were not manually entered into the authority's computer system.
		Referring to his authority to sack the chairman or the board if he felt the SQA was not doing its job, he said: "I had the power of last resort, the nuclear option.
		Mr Galbraith said that in the SQA's case, either the Executive is seen to sit back and do nothing, or is seen to become too involved.
	www.telegraph.co.uk /education/main.jhtml?xml=/education/2000/10/07/texam07.xml (639 words)

	[No title] (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		The organisation, which was at the centre of an exams fiasco in 2000 in which thousands of students got the wrong results, stands to save an estimated 250,000 pounds by the subject cuts.
		The SQA admitted that exams might be scrapped as a result of the review but denied it had any plans to axe Gaelic.
		As a country we are in danger of becoming monolingual." Staging exams is a lengthy and costly process which requires a team to agree the questions and set the papers, people to check and review them and markers to correct them.
	www.asu.edu /educ/epsl/LPRU/newsarchive/art164.txt (580 words)

	HSN.uk.net - Your Results - HSN forum
		Like a couple of years ago during the exams fiasco, people got better grades than they should have gotten, and the SQA weren't allowed to downgrade them despite knowing that their grades should be lower.
		The SQA do not allow grades to be lowered as it suggests errors in their marking/administration processes and that would cause outcry.
		Furthermore, the SQA sends schools lists of pupils who can be appealed for - these are pupils who are likely to have a successful appeal - who missed their predicted grade.
	www.hsn.uk.net /forum/index.php?act=findpost&pid=5354 (2095 words)

	Are exams getting easier or are people geting smarter? - Dragonninja Messageboard (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		I dont know about the exams as the most i've done are mocks but when we were put into sets this years for things like maths the top 5 sets out of 8 were credit sets...aiming to be achieving 1's or 2's in their exams (A's and B's).
		I just think that the whole fiasco is just making the people who take these exams feel stupid and that their achievements mean nothing.
		A-levels are other such exams are still hard but students now have better teaching and access to better resources such as the internet and more study guides.
	www.dragonninja.com /forums/showthread.php?p=86253 (2811 words)

	Scotsman.com Business - Teaching - SQA will work 'every minute' to avoid new results fiasco
		In 2000, the SQA was thrown into crisis when thousands of students received either late or incomplete results.
		Meanwhile, The Scotsman has learned that SQA officials are due to meet council officials in the next two weeks in an attempt to defuse the row over exam charges.
		A spokesman for the SQA said discussions were continuing with a view to ending the row.
	business.scotsman.com /topics.cfm?tid=493&id=509782004 (848 words)

	Independent Online Edition > News (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		As pupils received their results yesterday for Standard Grade exams and the Higher qualifications, which are needed for university admission, the SQA admitted that this year's pass rate in English had been lower than expected.
		The SQA blamed the drop in English passes on schools pushing forward candidates who were not up to standard.
		An SQA spokesman said: "The increase in passes is marginal, but if we had a big fluctuation we could be open to suggestions that we are making the exams more difficult or dumbing down.
	education.independent.co.uk /news/article100053.ece (392 words)

	SQA Exams Fiasco - LearnThis.Info Enclyclopedia (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		The Scottish Executive ignores SNP demands for Sam Galbraith, the Education Minister, to resign.
		The SQA and Scottish Executive claim that the errors are due to the correct results being lost, not exams being marked wrongly in the first place.
		31st October 2000 A leak reveals that the SQA failed to sort out non-urgent Higher Grade exam results within the planned deadline — and the new Chief Executive was not told.
	encyclopedia.learnthis.info /s/sq/sqa_exams_fiasco.html (543 words)

	SQA exams fiasco
		The Scottish Executive ignores demands by the Scottish National Party for Sam Galbraith, the Education Minister, to resign.
		The Scottish Qualifications Authority and Scottish Executive claim that the errors are due to the correct results being lost, not exams being marked wrongly in the first place.
		18 August 2000 UCAS admits in a statement that many of the students whose exam results contained errors will lose out on a university place that they would have received had the results been accurate and on time.
	www.brainyencyclopedia.com /encyclopedia/s/sq/sqa_exams_fiasco.html (636 words)

	'People want me to say the exams will be fine I'm not going to do Sunday Herald, The - Find Articles
		The SQA and its performance this summer has become one of Scotland's political totems on which everybody wants to place a scalp or two.
		There are, he acknowledges, those who will want to mark the SQA down as a failure this year regardless of what the outcome is. "We have to accept that there is a risk of failure," he says.
		For the SQA it proves they are not the only fallible organisation in the educational world.
	www.findarticles.com /p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20010325/ai_n13956614 (976 words)

	Wikinfo \| Higher Grade
		Since the recently-formed Scottish Qualifications Authority quango was mainly made up of staff from the old SCOTVEC, the new system made 'traditional' courses like English and Maths structured in a similar way to the vocational courses previously run by SCOTVEC- a Higher Still course (at any level) is made up of three Units.
		The new system was not entirely successful, however, and 2000 saw a marking fiasco that cost the head of the agency his job- and severely damaged the career of the Minister in charge, Sam Galbraith.
		Thousands of students received incorrect or late results- leading to a nightmare both for the students themselves and UCAS, the quango responsible for university applications- as many students did not receive accurate exam results until after the universities' academic year had started.
	www.wikinfo.org /wiki.php?title=Higher_Grade (307 words)

	Exams - Educational and Examination Resources at ed-u.com - The Colossal Education Mega-Site - Click here...
		New, starred exam grades could be introduced for the brightest pupils as young as seven in England...
		Scotland's exams body is facing its first legal action for damages from a pupil who was given the wrong results in the exams fiasco of 2000.
		Exam boards receive about 150,000 requests for special consideration from A-level and GCSE candidates every summer for reasons including illness, injury or the death of a loved one...
	www.ed-u.com /exams.htm (3002 words)

	Demand for rethink as English passes fall
		THE number of pupils passing their Higher exams has fallen for the first time in three years, as results revealed a significant drop in the proportion of those gaining pass marks in Higher English.
		Brian Boyd, a professor of education at Strathclyde University, urged the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) to consider scrapping changes introduced in the wake of the exams fiasco of 2000, when thousands of students received either late or incomplete results.
		He said he was particularly unhappy that the creative writing element of the exam is now based entirely on classroom performance rather than featuring as part of the end-of-year examination.
	www.enjoymaths.co.uk /educational_news_archive?id=907 (1371 words)

	PC Plus - Your time starts now (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		Individual exam areas will be partitioned so only the candidate can see their screen, while the exam answers will be sent to a secure SQA server for processing.
		While the SQA in particular see the move to online examinations as a natural progression in educational assessment, the real benefactors aren't necessarily the students.
		After last year's exam fiasco, where nearly one thousand papers were lost or had to be repeated, the emphasis for the move online seems to be directed to better administration rather than ease of use for the candidate.
	www.pcplus.co.uk /news/home_news/your_time_starts_now (436 words)

	Higher (Scottish) Encyclopedia Article @ Commenced.net (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		In 1999, a new style of Higher examination system was introduced in Scotland.
		As a result, for a while Revised Highers qualifications were considered superior to the new National Qualifications.
		Three progress exams, commonly referred to as a NAB (for National Assessment Bank, from which these exams are selected by teachers).
	www.commenced.net /encyclopedia/Higher_(Scottish) (1058 words)

	Sqa exam results - Mr Mallon’s Physics Podcast » Blog Archive » SQA Exam results day.
		SQA exams fiasco In 2000, the new Higher Grade examination system in 10 August 2001 Media reports suggest that the exam results disaster cost the
		SQA need to ensure that software development can now cope with next year’s exam results and there must be a way of ensuring that this is externally
		Exam results are issued to pupils and schools around the 12th of August each year from the SQA which is based in Edinburgh.
	bvinfo.info /?q=sqa-exam-results (511 words)

	The Herald (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		Former religious studies teacher, Colella, 45, was seconded to the national body responsible for developing, assessing and accrediting non-degree qualifications after the summer school exams fiasco of 2000.
		He became chief executive of the SQA in 2003 on a salary of £90,000.
		Icas said: "Anton has a strong track record in business and education, delivering growth in income at the SQA, developing the profile of the organisation with the media and politicians and achieving the highest levels of staff and customer satisfaction since the body was formed.
	www.theherald.co.uk /65054.shtml (620 words)

	You've Been Quangoed!
		The SQA is responsible for marking and distributing school examination results to expectant pupils across Scotland.
		The leanness of the private sector and the bloatedness of the public sector in all its glory.
		So far, the SQA has spent an extra £3 million of their budget trying to ensure that this debacle does not happen again in the next few months.
	www.lewrockwell.com /orig/watson4.html (1424 words)

	The Daily Record - NEWS - EX-BEEB BOSS IN EXAMS EARNER
		THE former boss of BBC Scotland has landed a nice little earner as head of the country's exams agency.
		In the new job, McCormick's main task will be to ensure there is no repeat of the fiasco three years ago, when thousands of teenagers were given late or incorrect results.
		SQA chief executive Anton Colella said: 'We at SQA are delighted to have someone of the calibre of John McCormick appointed as chairman.
	www.dailyrecord.co.uk /news/tm_objectid=14576089&method=full&siteid=89488&headline=ex-beeb-boss-in-exams-earner-name_page.html (415 words)

	Higher (Scottish) at AllExperts
		In Scotland the Higher is one of the national school-leaving certificate exams and university entrance qualifications of the Scottish Qualifications Certificate (SQC) offered by the Scottish Qualifications Authority which superseded the old Higher Grade on the Scottish Certificate of Education (SCE).
		SCE Higher Grade was the historic terminal exam for the majority of Scottish secondary school students, especially those seeking work in skilled industries or progress onto higher education.
		The new system was not entirely successful, however, and 2000 saw a marking fiasco that cost the head of the authority his job and severely damaged the career of the Education Minister, Sam Galbraith.
	en.allexperts.com /e/h/hi/higher_(scottish).htm (981 words)

	New Statesman - A sad end for a good brain surgeon
		The exam results fiasco that has blighted the lives and prospects of the class of 2000 has put the career of the brain surgeon turned politician on the critical list.
		He quoted the Education (Scotland) Act 1996, which laid down that the minister had power to give direction "and it shall be the duty of the SQA to comply with such directions".
		Labour has not started gathering the tinder for the "bonfire of the quangos" that it promised at the 1997 general election, but now the overhaul of the status and power of the SQA will lead to calls for a wider-ranging cull.
	www.newstatesman.com /200009180019 (1058 words)

	Biology Regents Exams (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		SQA exams fiasco 20: rs are due to the correct results being lost, not exams being marked wrongly in the first place.
		Architect 12: a multi-year internship process, pass a series of exams, and pay an annual fee to acquire and maintain a 17: ch as California and Hawaii, require supplemental exams in addition to the ARE.
		Brown University 264: day of "reading period", when students study for exams, naked students walk into the Rockefeller and Sci 279: nose of the bust of John Hay for good luck on exams.
	www.vermontreview.com /edge/45657-biology%20regents%20exams.html (510 words)

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