Decision Report 201505278

Summary

Mr C complained on behalf of his daughter (Miss A) that the Scottish Qualifications Authority had acted unreasonably by failing to follow their marking review procedure in relation to elements of Miss A's Higher Drama exam.

Miss A failed her Higher Drama exam. Her school asked the SQA to review her results. The SQA reviewed her written assessment, but Mr C was unhappy that they did not review the performance aspect of the examination too.

Following our investigation, we established that the marking of the question paper of Miss A's Higher Drama exam had been reviewed within the post-results service offered by the SQA, however, the performance elements had only been given a clerical check (the marks were not reviewed). We were satisfied that the SQA procedure was that centres could opt to record the performing exams. This offers pupils the opportunity to enter into the full marking review process in relation to a review of the performance element. However, recording was not mandatory and centres who chose not to record the performing exam could still request a review of the question paper. Miss A's school had not opted to record the performance and, therefore, they were unable to enter into the full marking review process in relation to the performance elements of her assessment. We were satisfied that the SQA had made centres (including schools) aware of this before the exam. In light of this, we did not uphold Mr C's complaint.