Information relating to Exceptional Circumstances

Date published: 09/04/2025

If a pupil misses an exam because of illness an exceptional circumstance appeal can be made based on a mock paper and/or other evidence. My understanding of the process is this: (1) teacher makes a mock exam paper one or two months before the actual exam. (2) candidate sits a mock exam based on the paper made by the teacher. (3) teacher marks the mock exam paper and uses it to predict a grade. (4) teacher stores the marked mock paper at the candidate's school. It is not sent to the SQA at this stage. (5) if the candidate misses the real exam, then the SQA request the mock paper from the school. (6) SQA examine the mock paper, checking that the paper content is acceptable, and that it has been marked fairly. (7) a grade is then awarded to the candidate based on the evidence of the mock exam paper. 

Please send me all mock papers which have been sent to the SQA to make exceptional circumstances appeals for all modern languages for the last two years.

Where learners are absent from an exam, or disadvantaged during an exam, by an unforeseen circumstance such as illness, their school or college can submit an Examination Exceptional Circumstances Consideration Service (EECCS) request.

Under the EECCS, alternative academic evidence gathered by the school or college during the learner's completion of the course is sent to SQA and reviewed be a senior SQA marker, alongside the learner's coursework evidence and any attempted question papers. More information is available on our website: Exceptional Circumstances. The alternative academic evidence provided by schools and colleges may include prelim assessments or mock exams, with this assessment being carried out at any time in the session at the centre’s discretion. However, other types of academic evidence can be submitted by centres. The grade awarded for the learner will be determined holistically by the SQA marker based on the available evidence. 

We are unable to provide the information requested as this is considered exempt under section 38 (1)(b) and section 36 (2) of the Act.

The information you have requested is considered exempt under section 38 (1)(b) as it is the personal data of the learners and would not be provided to them in response to a request for access made under Article 15 (1) of the UK GDPR, or as its more commonly known a subject access request. This information would be withheld in response to such a request by reliance on an exemption within Schedule 2 of the Data Protection Act which relates to Exam scripts and Exam marks.

When this exemption is applied a public interest test must be carried out. We have considered the public interest and whether on balance it is in the public interest to withhold or release the requested information. FOISA does not define the term “public interest” but it is described as “something which is of serious concern and benefit to the public”. Additionally, the public interest does not mean ‘what is of interest to the public, but what is in the interest of the public.

We recognise that there will be an interest in disclosing information as part of being an open, transparent, and accountable public body, and to inform public debate. However, there is no evidence that the information requested would do that or that the public as a whole have a legitimate interest in the requested information. Nor have we been made aware of any public interest in providing this information. Consideration has also been given to the rights and expectations of the learner’s whose information has been requested, who have an expectation that their academic evidence is not disclosed to a third party, which in the case of FOISA places it in the public domain. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption.

In relation to section 36(2) of FOISA, information is exempt if it was obtained by a Scottish public authority from another person (including another such authority) and its disclosure by the obtaining authority would constitute a breach of confidence actionable by that person or any other person.   Section 36(2) contains a two-stage test, both parts of which must be fulfilled before the exemption can be relied upon. The first is that the information must have been obtained by a Scottish public authority from another person. The second part of the test is that disclosure of the information by the public authority would constitute a breach of confidence actionable either by the person from whom the public authority obtained the information or by any other person. 

The withheld information is academic evidence produced by learners which is gathered and provided to SQA by their school or college. As such the first stage of this test is met. 

The second part of the test is that the disclosure of the information by the public authority must constitute a breach of confidence actionable either by the person from whom SQA obtained the information or by any other person. The Scottish Information Commissioner takes the view that "actionable" means that the basic requirements for a successful action must appear to be fulfilled.  There are three main requirements which must be met before a claim for breach of confidence can be established to satisfy the second element to this test. These are: 

• the information must have the necessary quality of confidence 

• the public authority must have received the information in circumstances which imposed an obligation on it to maintain confidentiality 

• there must be a disclosure which has not been authorised by the person who communicated the information, but which would cause detriment

Taking each of these points in turn, for information to have ‘the necessary quality of confidence’, it must not be common knowledge, and a member of the public would have to apply skill and labour to produce the information. Having considered the withheld information, SQA is satisfied that it fulfils the criteria of having the necessary quality of confidence as none of the academic evidence would be generally known, nor could it be obtained through alternative means. 

In terms of the obligation to maintain confidentiality, SQA’s Privacy Statement sets out how personal information is collected and used as part of the provision of our services. We therefore consider that there is a reasonable expectation on the part of learners that their academic evidence would not be disclosed and that the obligation to maintain confidentiality is met. 

In relation to unauthorised disclosure which would cause detriment to learners, the damage need not be substantial and indeed could follow from the fact of unauthorised use or disclosure in breach of confidence.  Additionally, Article 6, Recital 38 of the UK GDPR, states that children merit specific protection with regard to their personal data. SQA considers that disclosure of the information requested would have a detrimental effect on learners on the grounds of the potential loss of control over and confidentiality of their personal data, affecting their right to privacy and the risk of emotional harm.  

In consideration of the above, we are therefore satisfied that disclosure of the information requested would have constituted an actionable breach of confidence.