HC Deb 28 November 1985 vol 87 cc636-7W
Mr. George Robertson

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the number of appeals made to the Scottish Examinations Board against awards made m the 1985 Scottish certificate of education examinations which were submitted because of disruption to teaching prior to 1 April.

Mr. Allan Stewart

The number of appeals submitted on grounds of disruption to teaching prior to 1 April was 9,758.

Mr. George Robertson

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the proportion of A passes in the awards made in 1985, 1984, 1983 and 1982 in the Scottish certificate of higher grade examination.

Mr. Allan Stewart

The information requested is as follows:

Year Percentage of band A passes on higher grade* per cent.
1985 11.2
1984† 11.4
1983† 11.5
1982† 11.1
* Post appeal; all subjects; all candidates.
Source: The Scottish Examination Board's reports for 1982, 1983 and 1984.

Mr. George Robertson

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many appeals were received by the Scottish Examinations Board against the awards in the 1985 Scottish certificate of education examinations; of them how many were successful; and what are the comparable statistics for 1984, 1983, 1982 and 1981.

Mr. Allan Stewart

The information requested is as follows:

Year Total appeals Number of appeals which resulted in upgrading Percentage of success rate per cent.
1985 31,570 9,582 30.35
1984* 23,826 9,027 37.89
1983* 22,360 8,349 37.34
1982* 24,208 8,493 35.08
1981* 22,650 7,981 35.27
* Source: The Scottish Examination Board's reports for 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1984.

The figures for 1985 are not directly comparable with those for 1981 to 1984 because of the extended arrangements which operated in 1985 to help candidates who had lost teaching time as a result of the teachers' dispute, and because in many cases Ex 4 order of merit forms were not submitted by schools in support of appeals which necessarily gave the board a less secure basis of evidence on which to work. The following analysis of the figures for 1985 is therefore relevant:

Total Number of appeals which resulted in upgrading Percentage of success rate per cent.
Normal appeals 21,812 6,836 31.34
Appeals under extended arrangements 9,758 2,746 28.14
Total 31,570 9,582 30.35
Appeals supported by Ex 4 14,600 5,498 37.66
Appeals in which Ex 4 was lacking 16,970 4,084 24.14
Total 31,570 9,582 30.35