The introduction of the reformed examination system in Scotland in 2000 was criticised in the press and by the Government after a series of administrative and computer errors led to several thousand incorrect Higher and Intermediate certificates being sent out by post. The crisis took several months to resolve, and several management figures including the

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

, Ron Tuck, resigned or lost their jobs as a result.

Timeline

*26 June 2000 The

Scottish Qualifications Authority The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA; Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic: ''Ùghdarras Theisteanas na h-Alba'') is the Scottish public bodies, executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government responsible for accrediting educationa ...

announces 'teething problems' with the marking system, but promises that students will receive their results on time. *9 August 2000 The Scottish Qualifications Authority publicly admits that pupils sitting Higher Grade examinations may not receive the correct results. *10 August 2000 Thousands of students across

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

receive incomplete or inaccurate exam results. Schools are left in disarray as 5% of all schools have not been sent ''any'' results at all, accurate or otherwise. *12 August 2000 Ron Tuck, the Chief Executive of the Scottish Qualifications Authority, resigns, stating his regret and accepting responsibility for "this unfortunate episode". The Labour/

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

coalition

Scottish Executive The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in t ...

ignores demands by the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...

for Sam Galbraith, the Education Minister, to resign. *13 August 2000 The Scottish Qualifications Authority and

claim that the errors are due to the correct results being incorrectly collated, due to a serious fault in the new computer programme, not exams being marked wrongly in the first place. *14 August 2000 Bill Morton is appointed as acting Chief Executive, to replace Ron Tuck, who resigned. *15 August 2000 Students are assured that their marks will not go down. However this leaves a problem for

UCAS The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS ) is a charity and private limited company based in Cheltenham, England, which provides educational support services. Formed on 27 July 1993 by the merger of the former university admis ...

, which has no way of knowing if students with high grades actually earned them or not. UCAS accepted the validity of all results. *18 August 2000

admits in a statement that many of the students whose certificates contained errors could lose out on a university place that they would have received had the results been accurate and on time. *20 August 2000 The Scottish Qualifications Authority claims that over 2,000 students with inaccurate certificates will receive the correct ones the next day, and the rest will be fixed 'in a matter of days.' *22 August 2000 Now realising that 21 August was not a realistic deadline, the Scottish Qualifications Authority vow to sort out the worst affected pupils' results by 20 September 2000. *27 August 2000 The Scottish Qualifications Authority sorts out

Higher Grade In the Scottish secondary education system, 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 Qualification ...

exam results. *28 August 2000 Bill Morton orders an internal investigation at the Scottish Qualifications Authority. *29 August 2000 Over 4,000

Standard Grade Standard Grades were Scotland's educational qualifications for students aged around 14 to 16 years. Introduced in 1986, the Grades were replaced in 2013 with the Scottish Qualifications Authority's National exams in a major shake-up of Scotland's ...

students are discovered to have received incorrect certificates. *29 October 2000

Jack McConnell Jack Wilson McConnell, Baron McConnell of Glenscorrodale, (born 30 June 1960) is a Scottish politician who served as first minister of Scotland and leader of the Labour Party in Scotland from 2001 to 2007. McConnell served as the Minister f ...

becomes the new Education Minister. Sam Galbraith is removed to Environment Minister. *31 October 2000 A leak reveals that the Scottish Qualifications Authority failed to sort out non-urgent

exam results within the planned deadline—and the new Chief Executive was not told. *9 November 2000 Jack McConnell appoints a new Scottish Qualifications Authority board. 16 of the 24 members have been replaced. *25 November 2000 The Scottish Qualifications Authority begins sending out accurate exam certificates to students—three months after they were supposed to be delivered. *10 August 2001 Media reports suggest that the exam results fiasco cost the people of Scotland over £11,000,000. *10 January 2002 It emerged that an eighteen-year-old student has decided to sue the Scottish Qualifications Authority for compensation after she spent her time retaking a subject she had passed in, but wasn't notified about it until nine months later.Girl to sue exam authority over lost university place ''Guardian''
/ref>

References

External links

to the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

of the difficulties experienced in 2000. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sqa Examinations Controversy 2000 in Scotland Education in Scotland Political history of Scotland Political scandals in Scotland History of the Labour Party (UK) History of the Liberal Democrats (UK) Scottish Labour Scottish Liberal Democrats Education controversies in the United Kingdom