Education reform

In 2021, the OECD published an extensive review of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) and a working paper on assessment in the Senior Phase by Prof. Gordon Stobart. SQA provided OECD with the following report to inform their reviews:

• Report examining the history and context of SQA's graded National Qualifications (211.19 MB)

Further work, addressing issues raised by the OECD review in depth underpinned SQA’s response to Professor Muir’s review of education reform (5 KB):

• A comparison of international educational structures (211.19 MB), considering the implications of these findings for reviewing Scotland’s structures.
• Research with education experts and teachers (211.19 MB) examining whether the intentions of CfE align with graded National Courses.

Professor Muir’s subsequent report, Putting Learners at the Centre: Towards a Future Vision for Scottish Education, was published by the Scottish Government in 2022 and references the SQA research.

This research was also shared with Professor Louise Hayward as she began her Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment (IRQA). To further contribute towards the IRQA, SQA then conducted a comparative study which compares internal assessment practices in high-performing jurisdictions and considers the implications of the findings for Scotland in finding a balance between internal and external assessment.

• SQA Internal Assessment Comparative Study Report (211.19 MB)