2000 SQA examinations controversy

• 26 June 2000

The Scottish Qualifications Authority announces 'teething problems' with the marking system, but promises that students will receive their results on time.

• 9 August 2000

The Scottish Qualifications Authority publicly admits that pupils sitting Higher Grade examinations may not receive the correct results.

• 10 August 2000

Thousands of students across Scotland receive incomplete or inaccurate exam results. Schools are left in disarray as 5% of all schools have not been sent any results at all, accurate or otherwise.^[1]

• 12 August 2000

Ron Tuck, the Chief Executive of the Scottish Qualifications Authority, resigns, stating his regret and accepting responsibility for "this unfortunate episode". The Labour/Liberal Democrat coalition Scottish Executive ignores demands by the Scottish National Party for Sam Galbraith, the Education Minister, to resign.

• 13 August 2000

The Scottish Qualifications Authority and Scottish Executive claim that the errors are due to the correct results being incorrectly collated, due to a serious fault in the new computer programme, not exams being marked wrongly in the first place.

• 14 August 2000

Bill Morton is appointed as acting Chief Executive, to replace Ron Tuck, who resigned.

• 15 August 2000

Students are assured that their marks will not go down. However this leaves a problem for UCAS, which has no way of knowing if students with high grades actually earned them or not. UCAS accepted the validity of all results.

• 18 August 2000

UCAS admits in a statement that many of the students whose certificates contained errors could lose out on a university place that they would have received had the results been accurate and on time.

• 20 August 2000

The Scottish Qualifications Authority claims that over 2,000 students with inaccurate certificates will receive the correct ones the next day, and the rest will be fixed 'in a matter of days.'

• 22 August 2000

Now realising that 21 August was not a realistic deadline, the Scottish Qualifications Authority vow to sort out the worst affected pupils' results by 20 September 2000.

• 27 August 2000

The Scottish Qualifications Authority sorts out Higher Grade exam results.

• 28 August 2000

Bill Morton orders an internal investigation at the Scottish Qualifications Authority.

• 29 August 2000

Over 4,000 Standard Grade students are discovered to have received incorrect certificates.

• 29 October 2000

Jack McConnell becomes the new Education Minister. Sam Galbraith is removed to Environment Minister.

• 31 October 2000

A leak^{[citation needed]} reveals that the Scottish Qualifications Authority failed to sort out non-urgent Higher Grade exam results within the planned deadline—and the new Chief Executive was not told.

• 9 November 2000

Jack McConnell appoints a new Scottish Qualifications Authority board. 16 of the 24 members have been replaced.

• 25 November 2000

The Scottish Qualifications Authority begins sending out accurate exam certificates to students—three months after they were supposed to be delivered.

• 10 August 2001

Media reports suggest that the exam results fiasco cost the people of Scotland over £11,000,000.

• 10 January 2002

It emerged that an eighteen-year-old student has decided to sue the Scottish Qualifications Authority for compensation after she spent her time retaking a subject she had passed in, but wasn't notified about it until nine months later.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

• The full report to the Scottish Parliament of the difficulties experienced in 2000.