Scotland's exams system in light of 2015 pass marks

• 42 minutes ago
• From the section Scotland politics

A total of 107,295 pupils sat the new Highers

Scottish Labour has called for a review of the exams system because of what it said were large discrepancies between the pass marks in different subjects.

The party's demand for action came in the light of the 34% pass mark for this year's Higher Maths exam.
Labour highlighted that while just a third of correct answers was needed for a pass in Maths, almost two thirds was needed for a pass in Classical Studies.
The Scottish government said it had confidence in the exams body.
Minister for Learning, Alasdair Allan, told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme: "The Scottish qualifications authority listens very carefully after every exam, including Higher Maths.
"There has been an acknowledgment with the SQA, not just with Maths but with all subjects, that you have to have a pass mark and a grade boundary that reflects how difficult the exam is from year to year.
"Pass marks are different from year to year and they are different subject to subject."

'Consistent and fair'

However, Scottish Labour's acting leader Iain Gray said Highers were the "gold standard" of the Scottish exam system so it was important to protect them.
He told Good Morning Scotland: "We have to be sure that they are consistent and fair.
"What is unusual this year is how extreme the process [of changing the pass marks between subjects] is across all subjects.
"How well a pupil does depends on the subjects they choose and that's the thing we have to make sure doesn't happen in future."
Focus on Scottish exams came last week after pupils found out their results for the new-style Highers.
The changes were designed to fit into broader alterations to the country's education system.
More than 140,000 candidates received their results for a wide range of qualifications including National 4s and 5s, Highers and Advanced Highers.