91¶¶Òõ

Details of crucial changes toÌýScottish Qualifications Authority (SQA)Ìýcourses and exams will not be published this week after all, 91¶¶Òõ Scotland understands.

The SQA, when announcing on a consultation on proposed changes last month, said itÌýwouldÌýpublish the confirmed changesÌý-Ìýwhich will affect the work and planning of many thousands of teachers -ÌýinÌýthe week beginning Monday 31 August.

However, itÌýwas thenÌýinundated with 23,000 responses to its consultationÌýon 2020-21 courses and exams, which wasÌýopen for about 10 days, closing on 24 August.

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The consultation, which came about following the results debacle last month, wasÌýwidely criticised for not doing enough to mitigate the impact of coronavirus on schools and colleges this year.

Now, at the end of the weekÌýin which the confirmed changesÌýwere due to be published,Ìý91¶¶Òõ ScotlandÌýunderstands that the plan is now to publish sometime next week, although the precise date remains unclear. It had been thoughtÌýthat publication would happen this morning, but by 5pm there had beenÌýno public SQA statement andÌýthe SQA has not tweeted from so far today.

The changes to SQA exams and courses affect secondaryÌýschools and further education colleges throughout Scotland. Schools in Scotland beganÌýreturning from the summer break on 11 August, and exam courses typically start several weeks before the summer.

Some responses to the SQAÌýconsultationÌýcalled for radical long-term change and questioned whether there was a need for exams at all.