This year’s SQA exam results are scheduled to arrive by post on Tuesday 4 August 2020. All pupils have been asked to sign up to MySQA in order to check their address is correct for the delivery of their exam certificate and, if they wish, to receive their results electronically by text and/or email. Anyone who has yet to sign up must do so and activate their account by 5.00PM on Wednesday 15 July 2020. SQA will then temporarily close registration to allow them to prepare the sending of exam results but registration will re-open again at 9.00AM on Wednesday 5 August 2020.
The following information, compiled from SQA documentation, may prove useful for some pupils once the results have been published.
The Exam Certificate
The SQA have a page and a video to help understand the certificate at www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/65952.html
Missing Exam Certificate
Exam certificates that have not arrived on results day could be due to the volume of mail being handled by the postal service or to an incorrect address being held by the SQA. The school makes changes to addresses throughout the year as reported by parents and pupils. A final electronic transfer of all pupil names and addresses in our system is sent to the SQA by the end of term to ensure certificates are issued to the correct address.
If the exam certificate has not arrived by the following day, Wednesday 5 August, pupils may contact the school between 10.00AM and 2.00PM. Note that pupils should not expect to be given exam results over the phone. This is in order to maintain pupil confidentiality and ensure data does not get released to an unauthorised individual. Pupils must be able to provide their candidate number before any communication can be relayed. Note that the school office will not be staffed throughout the school holidays. A member of the office staff will be available on results day, Tuesday 4 August and the following day, Wednesday 5 August, from 10.00AM until 2.00PM. Pupils are also able to contact the SQA.
If pupils have signed up to the aforementioned SQA’s results service, they will still receive their results by text or e-mail even if the certificate has not arrived.
Missing Results
If there are results missing from the certificate, this is likely to be because the candidate has achieved less than the requirement for a grade D and will therefore have been given a ‘no award’ for the course. ‘No awards’ are not displayed on the certificate. Any completed units belonging to this course will be listed in the National Units sections of the certificate (on the Summary of Attainment and Detailed Record of Attainment pages).
It may also be that there are some unit results missing, which has prevented the candidate from receiving the full course award. To get a full course award, candidates need to successfully complete all the units for the course as well as pass the external exam. Note that units are no longer part of the course for National 5 (except Travel & Tourism), Higher or Advanced Higher.
If there are any items missing which candidates have already passed, these may have been certified in a certificate issued previously.
Appeals & Marking Reviews
There is no longer an appeals process for pupils who have failed or not performed as well as they did in their estimate exams. This process was removed by the SQA when the new National Qualifications were introduced in session 2013/2014.
Once the results have been released, if there is clear and compelling evidence that a pupil has been consistently performing at a considerably higher level than that of their final exam result throughout the entire year, and not just in their estimate exam, the Head Teacher may ask the SQA to review all the evidence used to determine the candidate’s grade. A difference of one grade between the estimate and final exam is not normally sufficient for a review and there must be a range of robust evidence throughout the year to prove that the pupil has been performing at a much higher level than the final award. A prelim exam paper from January alone is not enough evidence for a review.
This year, requests for priority marking reviews, i.e. marking reviews for pupils whose grades are required for entry to university in September 2020, have to be submitted to the SQA by 14 August 2020. Pupils must contact the school office on Monday 10 August 2020 by 3.00PM if they wish the school to consider and submit a priority marking review to the SQA.
Any non-priority marking reviews, i.e. those where a place at university in September 2020 is not dependant on a change of result, can be discussed once pupils return to school, week beginning 10 August 2020, and have spoken to subject and Principal Teachers. The SQA deadline for a non-priority marking review is 21 August 2020.
Changes of Course
Any pupils whose results mean they now have to change courses will be able to discuss this with Guidance and Subject teachers on their return to school.