Results Online Press Releases

Like the other 34,000 learners who had registered for the SQA’s Results Online service, five young pupils from St Luke’s High School in Barrhead went online to get their National Qualifications results yesterday (Monday 6 August 2007), a day ahead of the general mail delivery of certificates.

They went into the SQA offices in Glasgow to access the internet there and were met by Fiona Hyslop MSP, Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, and Janet Brown, SQA Chief Executive and Scotland’s Chief Examining Officer.

All five fifth-year pupils voted the service a hit.

Seventeen-year-old Emma Johnston from Neilston said, “This is a much better way to get results, and I would tell everyone to register for this service, because it takes the pressure off you and gives you control over when you want to learn your results”.

Jessica Martin (16), also from Neilston, added, “This is fabulous and it’s good to be in control.  We were encouraged by the school to sign-up”.

Jack Jordon (16) from Barrhead said, “I’m really pleased.  This is much better than last year, waiting for the post to arrive”.

Joe Pettigrew (17), also from Barrhead. said, “Last year lots of my friends had to wait till the postie finally arrived, and for some, it was a long wait”.

Daniel Carlin (16) from Barrhead, commented “I think it’s brilliant.  It’s good to know exactly when you can get your results, and this seems more reliable, your results could always go missing in the post”.

Exam results – Online today (6 August 2007)

Almost 35,000 learners across Scotland will wake up this morning (Monday 6 August 2007), knowing that whenever they are ready, they can go online to find out their results in this year’s Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) National Qualifications Courses and exams, instead of waiting till tomorrow (Tuesday 7 August 2007) for the post to arrive.

This is the first year that SQA have made their Results Online service generally available, and the roll-out comes in the wake of two years of successful pilots involving candidates from Shetland, the Orkneys and the Western Islands.

The final total of  34,683 candidates who registered for the service before the end of the last school term represents more than one in five of the record 155,893 candidates who are receiving SQA certificates this August – a response rate that was better than expectations. 

“We are delighted that so many have signed up for this new service” says Karen McCallum, SQA’s Director of Operations.  “This shows how keen our candidates are in using technology to help them.  We are pleased to offer them a service that they want”.

Using the experience gathered over the two pilots, and feedback from the candidates involved then, SQA have set up the Results Online system so that candidates are given their own unique identification code and can use that to access a secure password-protected area of SQA's website to find out their own information. 

Candidates also have the option of signing up for a text alert, with SQA sending a text message to a designated mobile phone number, telling the candidate his or her results. “Security of information and ease of use have been our key drivers in this project” says McCallum. 

She added, “we view this new online service as an addition to, rather than a replacement for, the familiar scenario of posties across the country dropping the long-awaited white envelopes through thousands of letter-boxes”.

All of the candidates who signed up now have the advantage of being able to view their own results a day earlier than the general Royal Mail delivery of SQA certificates tomorrow (Tuesday 7 August 2007) to all candidates.

The Results Online service is only one of several new moves by SQA in the use of technology. Significant projects have taken place in introducing electronic support in the marking of papers, while, for the second year, on-screen examinations, using computers in the examination room instead of pen and paper, have been offered in a limited number of suitable subjects.

While the annual round of National Qualifications results has been the focus of the Results Online service so far, SQA intends to make this service available to all other candidates too, for example those studying for Higher National Qualifications - HNDs and HNCs - in Scotland’s Colleges and SVQs in the workplace.

Further information available from:

Mike Haggerty
SQA Communications
Telephone: 0845 213 5288
Mobile: 07900 678 426
E-mail: mike.haggerty@sqa.org.uk