Summary of Appeal Outcomes 2024

 

Headlines

Appeal requests

  • Overall, 44,855 (8.1%) of the 552,695 certificated grades for National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher were appealed in 2024, this is an increase from 2023 (7.3%).
  • At National 5, 20,615 (6.3%) of the 327,950 certificated grades were appealed. This is an increase from 2023 (5.6%).
  • At Higher, 21,980 (11.2%) of the 196,250 certificated grades were appealed. This is an increase from 2023 (10.3%).
  • At Advanced Higher, 2,260 (7.9%) of the 28,495 certificated grades were appealed. This is an increase from 2023 (7.0%).

Priority appeals

  • In 2024, there were 1,100 priority appeal requests (2.5% of all appeal requests). A priority appeal request is when the learner requires the outcome of an appeal for immediate progression to university, college, training or employment.
  • At National 5, there were 105 priority appeal requests (0.5% of all National 5 appeal requests).
  • At Higher, there were 740 priority appeal requests (3.4% of all Higher appeal requests).
  • At Advanced Higher, there were 260 priority appeal requests (11.4% of all Advanced Higher appeal requests).

Result changes

  • 7.6% of appeal requests (3,390) resulted in an upgrade in 2024, a decrease from 10.0% in 2023. There were five appeal requests that resulted in a downgrade in 2024.

Request breakdown

  • Education authority centres accounted for 93.4% of appeal requests (92.3% in 2023), while 6.0% came from independent centres (6.8% in 2023). As a proportion of their entries, education authority centres had the highest number of appeals in 2024 at 8.2%.
  • Of all appeal requests, 52.6% were from female learners (53.9% in 2023) and 47.4% were from male learners (46.1% in 2023). As a proportion of their entries, not known had the highest number of appeals in 2024 at 10.0%.
  • The 20% most deprived areas of Scotland (SIMD 1) accounted for 16.0% of all appeal requests (15.6% in 2023), and the 20% least deprived areas (SIMD 5) accounted for 25.4% (25.7% in 2023).
  • Appeal rates for SIMD quintiles ranged from 7.7% to 8.6%. Appeal outcomes varied significantly by SIMD quintile: upgrade rates were between 5.9% and 8.5% for all known quintiles.

Background

The purpose of Appeals 2024 was to provide learners and centres with the opportunity to review an SQA National Course grade whenever a learner had not achieved the expected result for the SQA-marked assessment components of their course. Appeals 2024 involved a marking review of a learner’s externally-assessed components and checked that:

  • all parts of the assessment have been marked
  • the marking is in line with the national standards
  • the marks given for each answer have been totalled correctly
  • the correct result has been entered on the system

This year, learners, their representatives or their centres could submit appeals. However, as grades could go up, down or stay the same, learners had to consent to the appeal before any requests could be submitted by their centre or representative. Appeals could be prioritised if the learner had a conditional offer at college or university, or if training or employment that depended on their grade.

Learners could apply for an appeal if they had been awarded a final grade based on externally-assessed components that were submitted to SQA for marking. Learners were not able to submit an appeal in the following circumstances:

  • Where a course award had been cancelled as a penalty due to serious candidate malpractice.
  • Where a learner has been certificated at grade A, because a marking review is designed to address situations where the learner expected a higher certificated grade and there is no grade higher than an A. An exception to this rule is where a learner has a conditional offer from university that requires a band A1. These requests should be submitted via the learner’s centre who must then notify SQA of band 1 requests at submission.
  • Where an award has been reached using the Examination Exceptional Circumstances Consideration Service. In these cases, a full review of all learner materials will have been undertaken by SQA senior appointees before certification.

The operation of an appeals system has varied fundamentally in each of the last five years due to the alternative awarding arrangements that were in place to account for the COVID-19 pandemic. Further details of the awarding arrangements are given in the appropriate methodology reports published on the SQA website.

Terms used and rounding

  • ‘Entries’ refers to the number of entries reported in Provisional Attainment Statistics 2024.
  • ‘Upgrade’ refers to an appeal request that resulted in a candidate receiving a higher grade.
  • ‘Downgrade’ refers to an appeal request that resulted in a candidate receiving a lower grade.
  • ‘No Change’ refers to an appeal request that did not result in a change to the grade awarded to the candidate.
  • ‘Upgrade/Downgrade/No Change rate’ refers to the respective outcomes as a proportion of appeal requests.
  • ‘Appeal rate’ refers to the number of appeals as a proportion of applicable entries.
  • In some cases, centre type categories are used in these statistics and result from the grouping of some related centre types. ‘Education Authority - Secondary School’ and ‘Education Authority - Special School’ are grouped as ‘Education Authority’. ‘Independent - Secondary School’ and ‘Independent - Special School’ are grouped as ‘Independent’. ‘Further Education College’ is reported as ‘FE College’. All remaining centre types, including training providers, voluntary sector organisations, HM Armed Forces, prisons and primary schools are reported as ‘Other’.
  • The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) is a relative measure of multiple deprivation which considers income, resources and opportunities to rank small geographical units (datazones) of roughly equal population size in terms of deprivation. SIMD quintiles split the datazones (geographical units) into five groups, each containing 20% of Scotland’s datazones. SIMD 1 contains the 20% most deprived datazones and SIMD 5 contains the 20% least deprived datazones. Alternatively, SIMD deciles split the datazones into 10 groups. There is more information about the SIMD on the Scottish Government website.
  • All figures are rounded to the nearest five. Totals are also rounded, and this may cause the sum of rounded figures to differ from the total reported. Entry numbers between one and four inclusive have been suppressed to protect against the risk of disclosing personal information. Suppressed figures are marked up with the shorthand ‘[c]’ in tables and ‘fewer than five’ in text.
  • Percentages are calculated using figures prior to rounding. Percentages with a value greater than zero and less than 0.05% are marked up with the shorthand ‘[low]’ in tables and ‘less than 0.05%’ in text.

 

Summary of appeal requests

Level

The proportion of entries resulting in an appeal request this year was highest for Higher and lowest for National 5.

  • 20,615 appeal requests were received for National 5 (6.3% of 327,950 entries).
  • 21,980 appeal requests were received for Higher (11.2% of 196,250 entries).
  • 2,260 appeal requests were received for Advanced Higher (7.9% of 28,495 entries).

 

Figure 1: Number of appeal requests as a proportion of entries by qualification level, 2024.

Advanced Higher Higher National 5 0% 3% 6% 9%

 

Table 1: Appeal requests by qualification level, 2024.
Level Entries Appeals Appeal rate
National 5 327,950 20,615 6.3%
Higher 196,250 21,980 11.2%
Advanced Higher 28,495 2,260 7.9%

 

Original certificated grade

Overall, the highest number of appeals came from awards originally awarded at grade B. However, as a proportion, those originally awarded at grade D were most likely to be the subject of an appeal.

Because the purpose of an appeal is to appeal the grade and not a band, A grades could not be appealed based on the band awarded (grades A to C and No Award contain upper and lower bands) unless necessary for a conditional place at university or employment. This year, 15 appeal requests were received for entries originally awarded an A grade.

 

Original certificated grade graphs
Figure 2.1: National 5 appeal requests as a proportion of entries by original certificated grade, 2024

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% A B C D No Award

 

Figure 2.2: Higher appeal requests as a proportion of entries by original certificated grade, 2024

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% A B C D No Award

 

Figure 2.3: Advanced Higher appeal requests as a proportion of entries by original certificated grade, 2024

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% A B C D No Award

 

 

Table 2: Appeal request rates by qualification level for each grade, 2024.
Level Original grade Entries Appeals Appeal rate
National 5 A 124,505 [c] [low]
National 5 B 71,445 6,770 9.5%
National 5 C 57,355 5,350 9.3%
National 5 D 38,745 5,645 14.6%
National 5 No Award 35,905 2,845 7.9%
Higher A 59,470 5 [low]
Higher B 45,915 6,910 15.1%
Higher C 41,545 6,605 15.9%
Higher D 28,690 6,090 21.2%
Higher No Award 20,630 2,365 11.5%
Advanced Higher A 8,540 5 0.1%
Advanced Higher B 6,690 550 8.3%
Advanced Higher C 6,215 705 11.4%
Advanced Higher D 4,160 700 16.8%
Advanced Higher No Award 2,885 295 10.2%

 

Subject grouping

  • Care subjects had the highest appeal rate (15.6%).
  • Languages subjects had the lowest appeal rate (5.2%).
  • Appeal rates for other subject groupings ranged between 6.1% and 9.5%.

 

Figure 3: Appeal requests as a proportion of entries by subject grouping, 2024.

Languages Home Economics Creative PE Business Mathematics Technology Science Social Science English Care 0% 4% 8% 12% 16%

 

Table 3: Appeal requests by subject grouping, 2024.
Subject grouping Entries Appeals Appeal rate
Business 33,525 2,305 6.9%
Care 730 115 15.6%
Creative 50,520 3,280 6.5%
English 91,760 8,690 9.5%
Home Economics 13,195 805 6.1%
Languages 24,255 1,260 5.2%
Mathematics 87,455 6,690 7.7%
PE 33,000 2,150 6.5%
Science 93,180 8,615 9.2%
Social Science 84,670 7,835 9.3%
Technology 40,410 3,100 7.7%

 

Centre type

  • Appeal rates did not vary significantly by centre type.
  • Education authority centres made 41,895 appeals (93.4% of all appeal requests) and 8.2% of all education authority centre entries were appealed. Among the centre types, this represents the highest appeal rate.
  • FE college centres made 245 appeals (0.5% of all appeal requests) and 4.6% of all FE college centre entries were appealed.
  • Independent centres made 2,680 appeals (6.0% of all appeal requests) and 6.9% of all independent centre entries were appealed.
  • Other centres made 35 appeals (0.1% of all appeal requests) and 8.0% of all other centre entries were appealed. However, there were only 460 entries from within this group of centres.

 

Figure 4: Appeal requests as a proportion of entries by centre type, 2024.

Other Independent FE College Education Authority 0.0% 2.5% 5.0% 7.5% 10.0%

 

Table 4: Appeal requests by centre type, 2024.
Centre type Entries Appeals Appeal rate
Education Authority 508,205 41,895 8.2%
FE College 5,335 245 4.6%
Independent 38,690 2,680 6.9%
Other 460 35 8.0%

 

Sex

  • Appeal rates did not vary significantly by sex.
  • The appeal rate was higher for females than males by 0.2 percentage points. There were 23,580 appeals (8.2% of entries) from females, and 21,265 appeals (8.0% of entries) from males.
  • The remaining sex categories had small entry numbers and are not included in analyses as they are unlikely to allow meaningful comparisons to be made.

 

Figure 5: Appeal requests as a proportion of entries by sex, 2024.

Male Female 0.0% 2.5% 5.0% 7.5% 10.0%

 

Table 5: Appeal requests by sex, 2024.
Sex Entries Appeals Appeal rate
Female 286,365 23,580 8.2%
Male 266,205 21,265 8.0%

 

SIMD

  • Appeal rates did not vary significantly between the most and least deprived SIMD areas.
  • 7,185 appeals (16.0% of all appeal requests) came from the most deprived datazone (SIMD 1) and had the highest appeal rate of 8.6%.
  • 11,385 appeals (25.4% of all appeal requests) came from the least deprived datazone (SIMD 5) and had an appeal rate of 7.7%.

A breakdown by SIMD decile and qualification level is included in the data tables accompanying this release.

 

Figure 6: Appeal requests as a proportion of entries by SIMD quintile,2024.

Unknown SIMD 5 SIMD 4 SIMD 3 SIMD 2 SIMD 1 0.0% 2.5% 5.0% 7.5% 10.0%

 

Table 6: Appeal requests by SIMD quintile, 2024.
SIMD quintile Entries Appeals Appeal rate
1 83,830 7,185 8.6%
2 87,605 7,115 8.1%
3 96,295 8,055 8.4%
4 124,805 10,165 8.1%
5 148,150 11,385 7.7%
Unknown 12,015 950 7.9%

 

Summary of appeal request outcomes

Level

At qualification level, the proportion of appeal requests resulting in an upgrade was highest for Advanced Higher and lowest for National 5.

  • For National 5, 1,185 (5.7%) of the 20,615 appeal requests resulted in an upgrade, fewer than five resulted in a downgrade, and 19,425 (94.2%) resulted in no change.
  • For Higher, 1,980 (9.0%) of the 21,980 appeal requests resulted in an upgrade, fewer than five resulted in a downgrade, and 20,005 (91.0%) resulted in no change.
  • For Advanced Higher, 225 (10.0%) of the 2,260 appeal requests resulted in an upgrade, 0 (0.0%) resulted in a downgrade, and 2,035 (90.0%) resulted in no change.

 

Figure 7: Appeal outcomes as a proportion of appeal requests by level, 2024.

Advanced Higher Higher National 5 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% Upgrade No Change Downgrade

 

Table 7: Appeal outcomes by qualification level, 2024.
Level Appeals Upgrade number Upgrade rate Downgrade number Downgrade rate No Change number No Change rate
National 5 20,615 1,185 5.7% [c] [c] 19,425 94.2%
Higher 21,980 1,980 9.0% [c] [c] 20,005 91.0%
Advanced Higher 2,260 225 10.0% 0 0.0% 2,035 90.0%

 

Original certificated grade

Upgrade rates varied across original certified grades and within each qualification level, with Advanced Higher original certified B grade seeing the largest upgrade rate of 13.4%.

  • At National 5, upgrade rates were highest and lowest for original certificated B (6.7%) and No Award (4.7%) grades, respectively.
  • At Higher, upgrade rates were highest and lowest for original certificated B (11.7%) and No Award (5.0%) grades, respectively.
  • At Advanced Higher, upgrade rates were highest and lowest for original certificated B (13.4%) and No Award (5.1%) grades, respectively.

 

Original certificated grade graphs
Figure 8.1: National 5 appeal outcomes as a proportion of appeal requests by original certificated grade, 2024

No Award D C B A 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% Upgrade No Change Downgrade

 

Figure 8.2: Higher appeal outcomes as a proportion of appeal requests by original certificated grade, 2024

No Award D C B A 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% Upgrade No Change Downgrade

 

Figure 8.3: Advanced Higher appeal outcomes as a proportion of appeal requests by original certificated grade, 2024

No Award D C B A 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% Upgrade No Change Downgrade

 

 

Table 8: Appeal outcomes by qualification level for each original certificated grade, 2024.
Level Original grade Appeals Upgrade number Upgrade rate Downgrade number Downgrade rate No Change number No Change rate
National 5 A [c] 0 0.0% 0 0.0% [c] [c]
National 5 B 6,770 455 6.7% [c] [c] 6,315 93.3%
National 5 C 5,350 305 5.7% 0 0.0% 5,050 94.3%
National 5 D 5,645 290 5.2% [c] [c] 5,355 94.8%
National 5 No Award 2,845 135 4.7% 0 0.0% 2,710 95.3%
Higher A 5 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 5 100.0%
Higher B 6,910 805 11.7% [c] [c] 6,105 88.3%
Higher C 6,605 595 9.0% 0 0.0% 6,010 91.0%
Higher D 6,090 460 7.5% 0 0.0% 5,635 92.5%
Higher No Award 2,365 120 5.0% 0 0.0% 2,245 95.0%
Advanced Higher A 5 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 5 100.0%
Advanced Higher B 550 75 13.4% 0 0.0% 480 86.6%
Advanced Higher C 705 70 10.0% 0 0.0% 635 90.0%
Advanced Higher D 700 65 9.6% 0 0.0% 635 90.4%
Advanced Higher No Award 295 15 5.1% 0 0.0% 280 94.9%

 

Subject grouping

There were large differences in upgrade rates between subject groupings.

  • The lowest upgrade rates were found in Science (2.4%) and Technology (5.8%).
  • The highest upgrade rates were found in Care (15.8%) and Social Science (12.3%).

A number of factors are likely to play a part in these differences. Including the nature of the subject and the weighting of question papers (external examinations) versus other assessments (such as coursework completed throughout the academic year) towards the overall grade.

Requests and outcomes for individual subjects are summarised in the data tables accompanying this release.

 

Figure 9: Appeal outcomes as a proportion of appeal requests by subject grouping, 2024.

Science Technology Business Mathematics Languages English PE Creative Home Economics Social Science Care 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% Upgrade No Change Downgrade

 

Table 9: Appeal outcomes by subject grouping, 2024.
Subject grouping Appeals Upgrade number Upgrade rate Downgrade number Downgrade rate No Change number No Change rate
Business 2,305 140 6.1% 0 0.0% 2,165 93.9%
Care 115 20 15.8% 0 0.0% 95 84.2%
Creative 3,280 315 9.5% [c] [c] 2,970 90.4%
English 8,690 775 8.9% 0 0.0% 7,920 91.1%
Home Economics 805 85 10.7% 0 0.0% 720 89.3%
Languages 1,260 100 8.0% 0 0.0% 1,160 92.0%
Mathematics 6,690 420 6.2% 0 0.0% 6,275 93.8%
PE 2,150 190 8.9% 0 0.0% 1,960 91.1%
Science 8,615 205 2.4% [c] [c] 8,410 97.6%
Social Science 7,835 965 12.3% [c] [c] 6,870 87.6%
Technology 3,100 180 5.8% 0 0.0% 2,920 94.2%

 

Centre type

  • Appeal outcomes varied significantly among centre types.
  • The upgrade rate for education authority centres (7.3%) was lower than the upgrade rate for independent centres (11.5%).
  • FE college centres had an upgrade rate of 7.3%.
  • As the number of appeal requests from other centres was small (35), they have been excluded from this analysis.

 

Figure 10: Appeal outcomes as a proportion of appeal requests by centre type, 2024.

Independent FE College Education Authority 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% Upgrade No Change Downgrade

 

Table 10: Appeal outcomes by centre type, 2024.
Centre type Appeals Upgrade number Upgrade rate Downgrade number Downgrade rate No Change number No Change rate
Education Authority 41,895 3,060 7.3% [c] [c] 38,830 92.7%
FE College 245 20 7.3% 0 0.0% 225 92.7%
Independent 2,680 305 11.5% 0 0.0% 2,375 88.5%

 

Sex

  • Appeal outcomes varied significantly by sex.
  • The upgrade rate for females (8.2%) was higher than the upgrade rate for males (6.8%).

 

Figure 11: Appeal outcomes as a proportion of appeal requests by sex, 2024.

Male Female 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% Upgrade No Change Downgrade

 

Table 11: Appeal outcomes by sex, 2024.
Sex Appeals Upgrade number Upgrade rate Downgrade number Downgrade rate No Change number No Change rate
Female 23,580 1,940 8.2% [c] [c] 21,640 91.8%
Male 21,265 1,450 6.8% [c] [c] 19,810 93.2%

 

SIMD

  • The appeal outcomes varied significantly by SIMD.
  • Unknown SIMD datazones, which capture only 2.1% of all appeal requests, are not included in analyses due to these small numbers.
  • The upgrade rate for the most deprived quintile (SIMD 1) was 5.9%, and this was the lowest upgrade rate of the SIMD quintiles.
  • The upgrade rate for the least deprived quintile (SIMD 5) was 8.5%, and this was the highest upgrade rate of the SIMD quintiles.

 

Figure 12: Appeal outcomes as a proportion of appeal requests by SIMD quintile, 2024.

Unknown SIMD 5 SIMD 4 SIMD 3 SIMD 2 SIMD 1 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% Upgrade No Change Downgrade

 

Table 12: Appeal outcomes by SIMD quintile, 2024.
SIMD quintile Appeals Upgrade number Upgrade rate Downgrade number Downgrade rate No Change number No Change rate
1 7,185 425 5.9% 0 0.0% 6,760 94.1%
2 7,115 535 7.5% [c] [c] 6,580 92.5%
3 8,055 600 7.4% 0 0.0% 7,455 92.6%
4 10,165 800 7.8% 0 0.0% 9,370 92.2%
5 11,385 970 8.5% [c] [c] 10,410 91.4%
Unknown 950 65 6.6% 0 0.0% 890 93.4%

 

Magnitude of grade changes

  • 41,460 appeals (92.4%) resulted in no change of grade.
  • 3,395 appeals (7.6%) resulted in a grade change between 1 and 4 grades.
  • Of those appeal requests where a grade change was applied, 3,370 (99.3%) changed by one grade, 20 (0.6%) changed by two grades, fewer than five changed by three grades, and fewer than five changed by four grades.

 

Figure 13: Magnitude of grade changes for appeals requests, 2024.

0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 0 1 2 3 4 Magnitude of Grade Change

 

Table 13: Magnitude of grade changes for appeal requests, 2024.
Magnitude of change in grade Number of appeals Percentage of appeals
0 41,460 92.4%
1 3,370 7.5%
2 20 [low]
3 [c] [c]
4 [c] [c]

 

Data tables accompanying this release

Data tables accompanying this release giving the following summaries are available from the SQA website:

  • appeal requests and outcomes by subject and qualification level
  • appeal requests and outcomes by SIMD decile and qualification level
  • appeal requests and outcomes by centre type and qualification level

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Date of publication: 03 December 2024

Contact name: Chris Boulter

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