Scottish Examination Changes

Fiona Hislop, the Eduction Minister, announced major changes to the Scottish exam system.  Amongst other things she put forward the idea of a national certificate for literacy and numeracy.  I am reminded of the old O Grade Arithmetic exam.  The questions always tested the same basic skills, just the numbers changed.  I know that sounds a little simplistic but unlike some modern exams which seem to be designed to show candidates what they don’t know, this aimed to show them what they did know.

I remember some Computing Studies exams which were designed to catch out teachers who failed to cover every last detail of the syllabus and made only a passing nod to the essence of Computing.

It would be good if this new exam made certain that all candidates who passed had a set of basic skills which did not vary or dumb down from year to year.