Dual Presentation
Renfrewshire Council · 3 September 2024
Back to Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff — 3 September 2024 and its agenda
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Item 10 Renfrewshire Joint Negotiating Committee for Teachers To: Renfrewshire Joint Negotiating Committee for Teachers On: 3rd September 2024 Dual Presentation and Unit Catch-up Report by Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) Background Secondary members have raised concerns regarding the emerging practice of ‘dual entering’ S4 learners for National 4 and National 5 qualifications in the same subject. This is resulting in double the workload for teachers as well as stress for learners and is being done despite the Cabinet Secretary for Education having expressed the view that ‘…under no circumstances should large numbers of candidates be dual presented’ and that dual presentation would only be appropriate in a ‘very limited number of exceptional circumstances’ which should involve dialogue with young people and their parents/carers. In some cases, learners are being asked to attend school during valuable exam leave time to complete National 4 units for a subject where they are already being presented at National 5 level. Unit Catch-ups in May (for persistent non-attenders) Teachers are concerned at the growing expectation that they will cram National 4 and/or 5 units into the month of May for candidates who persistently do not attend throughout the academic session. It has become commonplace, while the SQA exam diet is already underway, to have students
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Item 10 in school to complete unit assessments, despite there being no valid medical reason for their absence. Where valid reasons exist teachers are sympathetic and supportive. Teachers are however expected to ‘teach’ courses which would otherwise take much longer to complete in a truncated period in an effort to capture a cohort of persistent non-attenders and get them a ‘pass at all cost’. The practice is becoming a quick fix for the purpose of simply completing units but causes additional teacher workload and devalues the integrity of qualifications. The emphasis needs to be refocused on ensuring that young people attend regularly, not just for the month of May and it cannot be expected that teachers will continue to simply “pull learners through” units. The practice of allowing young people to complete units without completing normal courses sends the wrong message, that it is permissible to be absent from school for long periods as one-to-one sessions will be available in May. Action • The above concerns be noted. • Teachers, in discussion with learners and parents, should decide, as early as possible, the correct level of study for the learner. • Learners should only be presented for one level of study per qualification eg National 4 or National 5, except in exceptional circumstances • Finalising of unit assessments and reassessments in the month of May should accommodate learners who have already completed some units or parts of units at a particular level and require only limited time to complete the outstanding assessments to achieve a qualification.