Evaluation of the 2024 Access to Marked Exam Paper trial

In 2023, a pilot access to scripts project was undertaken. This involved a free service, which involved nine centres with access to National 5 Geography and Media marked exam papers. While valuable as a proof of concept, the 2023 pilot’s small scale meant that relatively limited information on the functioning of the service was gathered. In 2024, the Access to Marked Exam Papers (AtMEP) trial was expanded to include all centres delivering National Qualifications. The following subjects and levels were included:

Geography: National 5 and Higher
Graphic Communication: National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher
Media: National 5
Music: National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher
Statistics: Advanced Higher (paper/component 1 and 2)

Research Questions

The evaluation of the 2024 AtMEP trial was designed to enable further development of the service and evidence-based policy development. The evaluation gathered the views of stakeholder groups to evaluate the 2024 AtMEP service and an analysis of AtMEP data was also undertaken.

Methodology

The evaluation comprised:

Learner survey – 146 survey responses
Practitioner survey and interviews – 390 survey responses and nine interviews
Senior appointee and Qualification Manager interviews – 11 interviews
Liaison Team feedback from centres and local authorities – one focus group
Data analysis

Key Findings

A majority of both learners and practitioners agreed that they were satisfied with the service.
Learners thought the main benefits of the service were assessing performance, identifying strengths and weaknesses, and learning from mistakes.
Practitioners thought the main benefits were further staff development, particularly around the understanding of standards.
The appeal rate for downloaded papers was higher than for non-downloaded papers, as was the appeal success rate.
Views on the requirement for learners to provide written permission for their centre to access their marked exam paper varied, but there were clear concerns that this increased centre workload.
While workload was generally seen as manageable in 2024, there are still concerns (particularly from SQA co-ordinators) that this will increase substantially if the service is expanded.
Almost all learners and more than two-thirds of practitioners agreed that the service should be expanded to more subjects, but only half of practitioners agreed that this will be manageable.

Implications

In general, the different stakeholder groups were supportive of the AtMEP service and believe it should be scaled up to include more subjects. However, the findings suggest further consideration should be given to issues such as the administration and workload associated with the service. Findings should feed into the development of future policy and practice.

Next Steps

The findings from the evaluation will feed into discussions on the feasibility and advisability of different options for the AtMEP service in future years.