After taking a Higher Maths exam that was “totally unrecognisable” from what they had studied for in class, students have expressed concern about their futures.
The exam was “poorly worded, inconsistently structured, and out of step with every previous paper,” according to a petition signed by over 11,000 people demanding a review.
One of the primary grievances is that students were unaware of what was being asked since some “command words”—words that specify how to respond to a question—were different from what they had been taught to anticipate.
Last year, almost 20,000 students took the Higher Maths exam. The GCSEs in England and Wales are comparable to the Higher examinations.
Exams are being administered for the first time under Qualifications Scotland, which took the place of the contentious Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) earlier this year.
Teachers and legislators criticised the SQA’s management of test grading during the COVID-19 pandemic and its handling of the 2024 Higher History exam paper, which led to the organization’s dissolution.
Although the petition solely addresses paper one, students have experienced difficulties with both of the two papers that made up last week’s maths exam.
One S5 student in Aberdeen, which is similar to Year 11 in England and Wales, told the BBC that she was concerned about her prospects of being accepted if she did not receive a high math score. The student wants to study medicine.
The maths test was “poorly worded, inconsistently structured, and out of step with every previous paper,” according to a petition signed by 11,000 students.
Having completed four years’ worth of practice exams, she claimed to feel “well-prepared” for the test and to have received an A in her prelim.
However, she remarked, “It was so different from what I’d done before.”
The student claimed that she was anxious going into the second exam because of how poorly the first one had gone.
According to a different Lanarkshire-based S5 student, the language was “totally unrecognisable” from what he had previously encountered.
“I was extremely stressed, it’s potentially a future-altering exam,” he added, expressing concern that he would not pass the test. He had intended to pursue a career in electrical engineering or law. “People were crying as they read that paper.”
After asking its network of maths teachers about the paper, the EIS teaching union found that the exam was fair.
“All exam papers are created and checked by experienced subject teachers, including the principal assessors, to ensure they are clear, fair, and suitable for learners,” a representative for Qualifications Scotland stated.
Exam and question paper decisions are a “operational matter for Qualifications Scotland,” according to the Scottish Government.
