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National 5 exams: Scottish school exams cancelled for 2021
Image source, Getty Images
National 5 exams in Scotland are being cancelled and replaced by coursework and teacher assessments in 2021.
The exams taken by 15 and 16-year-old pupils - the equivalent to GSCEs - have been scrapped by the Scottish government who say going ahead with all exams during the continuing coronavirus pandemic was "too big a risk".
Higher and Advanced Higher exams - more like A-levels - will go ahead as usual - but will start on 13 May, two weeks later than planned.
The move comes as new restrictions were brought in across Scotland in response to a big rise in new coronavirus cases - schools are expected to stay open but students have been warned by the government that they will face further disruption.
Why is this happening?
Image source, PA Media
National 5 qualifications cover over half of the exams taken by school children in Scotland.
Scotland's school exams were cancelled for the first time ever in 2020, with the country in lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, Scottish teenagers were marked by a new system which was based on teacher predictions and the previous test scores of schools.
The results were very controversial as 125,000 students had their predicted grades downgraded.
It was claimed that the marking system - which looked at the previous test scores of schools - unfairly marked students from schools which had historically not performed as well. The government subsequently agreed to accept the original teacher assessments of grades.
An review of the exam marking system has since taken place to try to avoid the same problems in 2021,