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When Scotland’s education secretary John Swinney announced he was reinstating over 100,000 exams grades following a furious row that has seen pupils protesting over “classist” downgrades, he apologised directly to the young people affected.
One of those he mentioned by name was 17-year-old Eva Peteranna, who attends high school on the island of Benbecula in the Western Isles and wrote an emotional open letter to Swinney last week. In it, she described how her dreams of a career in the medical field were at risk after her predicted results of three As, a B and a C in her highers were downgraded to three Bs, a D and an F.
“Growing up in the islands we were always told that we needed to work harder than those on the mainland if we want to achieve our goals,” she wrote. “To say I am devastated is an understatement.”
Responding to the Swinney’s statement on Tuesday afternoon, Peteranna revealed that he had since spoken to her in person and said that she was “delighted that the Scottish government listened to young people and overturned the SQA [Scottish Qualifications Authority] moderation”.
“This has been a very difficult week,” she said, acknowledging the toll that the past seven days of uncertainty had taken on her and the thousands of other young Scots in similar positions.
Her mother Joanna put it more plainly: “I would say that the joy has been taken out of receiving results and that is something that will never leave them. How anybody thought that they could apply a statistical model, especially in tiny schools, and not create a set of results that was wholly inaccurate is beyond me”.
Another of those Swinney mentioned by name was Eilidh Breslin,17, who attends Bishopbriggs academy in East Dunbartonshire and emailed him in anguish last week. She said that she was “over the moon” following the dramatic U-turn.
“I’m honestly so happy that he’s done this for young people,” she enthused. “I have dreams of being a dentist so really needed my straight As at higher, so when the text came through revealing I had gotten a B in chemistry I was heartbroken. Now I’m relieved that I’ve got the results I need for university. I was in an utter state when I received my results, so for me personally my mental health has been affected but his apology was well received.”
Crediting Swinney, Breslin said: “For a politician to stand up and admit they are wrong and try and fix their mistake really is remarkable,” but added: “I think more could’ve been done to address the fact that the poorer areas have been hit the hardest. The SNP believe in giving everyone an equal chance in life and this was not the case with the results.”
Social media filled with belated congratulations on Tuesday afternoon following Swinney’s U-turn, less for the results themselves and more for the young people, many of them from Scotland’s poorest communities, who had posted their anger and distress, wrote letters and organised themselves into protest groups – as it became clear that those in deprived areas had had their pass rate reduced by significantly more than those attending schools in wealthier places.
As Kelly Wan, 17, from Eyemouth in the Scottish Borders, who was predicted straight As but then downgraded to only two out of five, tweeted at the time: “Everyone I’ve spoken to at my school is appealing their results. It really does show the classism in the system. Why should the hard work of kids living in deprived areas be undermined bc of the fact the government doesn’t support them as much?”
Maria McGoldrick, also 17, who also attends high school on Benbecula, said that the events of the past week have at least shown what her peers can do when they work together.
“Obviously we didn’t want to be in this position, but people do feel they did band together and managed to get their voices heard.”
McGoldrick, who has an unconditional offer to study politics and philosophy at Stirling University, but was still down-graded from a band 1 A to a C, watched Swinney’s statement live from the Holyrood chamber. “I thought it was good he apologised and that I’m going to get my A, but it doesn’t make up for what happened. I don’t know one person who wasn’t affected, and I know lots of people who didn’t get their conditional offers and are heartbroken. This wouldn’t have happened if they had listened to young people from the start.”
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