FOI24/25 028 Assessment Arrangements

1. The number of invigilators used for the SQA exam diets in (a) 2024, (b) 2023 and (c) 2019.
2. The amount of money spent by the SQA on exam invigilators for exam diets in exam diets in (a) 2024, (b) 2023 and (c) 2019.
3. The number of learners requiring special arrangements to sit their exams in (a) 2024, (b) 2023 and (c) 2019.
4. The number of learners requiring special arrangements relating to (i) separate accommodation, (ii) breaks, (iii) additional time, in (a) 2024, (b) 2023 and (c) 2019.

1. The number of invigilators (including Depute Chief Invigilators and Chief Invigilators) contracted by SQA by year*:

1a) number of invigilators (including Depute Chief Invigilators and Chief Invigilators) in 2024: 8,875

1b) number of invigilators (including Depute Chief Invigilators and Chief Invigilators) in 2023: 8,490

1c) number of invigilators (including Depute Chief Invigilators and Chief Invigilators) in 2019: 7,362

*Please note these numbers are the number of invigilators/Depute Chief Invigilators/Chief Invigilators contracted by us each year. However, not all of these invigilators might actually be used as some centres for various reasons.

2) The amount of money spent by the SQA on exam invigilators for exam diets in exam diets in (a) 2024, (b) 2023 and (c) 2019:

2a) Amount spent by the SQA on invigilators for exam diets in 2024: £4,840,678.86**

2b) Amount spent by the SQA on invigilators for exam diets in 2023: £4,326,247.81

2c) Amount spent by the SQA on invigilators for exam diets in 2019: £3,179,681.61 

**Claims received to end Jun 2024.  Further claims are expected.

3)  The number of learners requiring special arrangements to sit their exams in (a) 2024, (b) 2023 and (c) 2019.

a) While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, the information requested is exempt from disclosure under section 27(1) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 as it is held with a view to being published at a future date. The information will be published on our website on 6th August 2024. We consider it to be reasonable that the information be withheld from disclosure until that time.

b) Number of learners requiring special arrangements in 2023:  28,345

c) Number of learners requiring special arrangements in 2019: 20,160

Answers to 3b and 3c have been sourced from the following spreadsheet (table 1): assessment-arrangements2023.xlsx (live.com)

The table linked above may provide information of further interest to your request.

4)  The number of learners requiring special arrangements relating to (i) separate accommodation, (ii) breaks, (iii) additional time, in (a) 2024, (b) 2023 and (c) 2019:

a) While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, the information requested is exempt from disclosure under section 27(1) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 as it is held with a view to being published at a future date. The information will be published on our website on 6th August 2024. We consider it to be reasonable that the information be withheld from disclosure until that time.

b) The number of learners requiring special arrangements in 2023, relating to:

separate accommodation: 19,710
i) Breaks: supervised breaks: 889
ii) Breaks: rest periods: 1,247
additional time: 22,089

c) The number of learners requiring special arrangements in 2019, relating to:

separate accommodation: 13,283
i) Breaks: supervised breaks: 570
ii) Breaks: rest periods: 916
additional time:  15,895