Maths higher ‘too hard’, SQA admits

This year’s higher maths exam was ‘too hard’, Scotland’s exams chief has admitted.

The pass mark for the new-look Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) exam was lowered to just 34 per cent earlier this year after papers were marked.

In May many students complained the exam was far harder than expected, and contained things which hadn’t been taught in the school year.

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Speaking to the Scottish Parliament’s Education and Culture committee yesterday, the Scottish Qualifications Authority's chief executive Janet Brown said it had become “very obvious” the exam had been “a standard which was over and above what we had anticipated”.

“We will go back and look at next year’s assessment and we will review the level of difficulty and challenge, coverage of the course work associated with that particular assessment and will make changes associated with that. We’ve done that with the new Higher maths, and we’re confident we’re going to see a paper that is on standard next year,” she said.

Each year the SQA reviews the results from each subject and issues corresponding guidance to teachers, she added.