'Future-altering' Higher Maths exam leaves thousands in tears in Scotland, 11,000 sign petition
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "'Future-altering' Higher Maths exam leaves thousands in tears in Scotland, 11,000 sign petition")
Higher Maths exam in Scotland turned out to be very different from what pupils expected. Photograph: (Pexels)
The Higher Maths exam in Scotland left nearly 11,000 pupils shocked after its command words turned out to be very different from what they had practised. They have asked for a review, while the maths teachers say there was nothing wrong with the paper.
More than 11,000 people who sat for a Higher Maths exam in Scotland have signed a petition asking for a review of the paper, claiming that it was vastly different from previous years' papers and had unrecognisable wording. They are now afraid that this could have implications for their final results and affect their future course. The exam was held on May 7, and according to the petition, it was "poorly worded, inconsistently structured, and out of step with every previous paper". Pupils said that the "command words", which tell examinees how to answer the question, were different from what they had prepared for and were told to expect. This left them confused about what was being asked, and they feared they had likely done something very different.
Nearly 20,000 people took the Higher Maths exam, which happened for the first time under Qualifications Scotland. The body replaced the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) earlier this year after the latter's grading method during the COVID-19 pandemic was criticised by teachers and politicians, besides its handling of the 2024 Higher history exam paper. SQA was disbanded, and Qualifications Scotland took over. However, the controversy surrounding the Math paper could lead to problems for the new body now.
Two-part paper leaves pupils in tears
The paper was divided into two parts, and both of them have become a source of stress for the thousands of pupils who sat for the Higher Maths exam. The complaint is only linked to the first part, but since the wording of the first one stirred panic, they were stressed while taking the second part as well. An S5 pupil in Aberdeen told the BBC that she was "well-prepared" for the exam and had practised past four years' worth of papers. The poor performance on the first paper meant she was already stressed while doing the second paper.
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Another S5 student told the outlet that "there were people in tears coming out that paper" as it was "potentially a future-altering exam." The petition is likely to yield no results since the maths teachers who are part of the EIS teaching union have said that the exam was fair. "All exam papers are created and checked by experienced subject teachers, including the principal assessors, to make sure they are clear, fair and suitable for learners," a Qualifications Scotland spokesman said.
