NICOLA Sturgeon has signalled an early decision on whether to cancel all school exams next year, saying she is “thinking very carefully” about pulling the plug.

The First Minister said there was a “strong argument” for a decision early in the New Year, and her government was discussing the issue “intensely”.

The Scottish Government has already cancelled the National 5 exams for 2021 because of the Covid pandemic disrupting children’s education.

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However, despite one in four S4 to S6 pupils already experiencing a Covid-related absence, it has yet to say if Higher and Advanced Higher exams will also be scrapped.

Education Secretary and deputy First Minister John Swinney has promised a final decision by mid-February.

The Welsh Government last month announced it was cancelling all GCSE, AS and A-level exams next year and using classroom assessments instead.

At FMQs today, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie cited the Welsh decision, and urged Ms Sturgeon to give pupils, parents and teachers clarity much sooner.

She replied: “The Government is thinking very carefully.

"The deputy first minister had previously said that mid-February would be the last possible date for this.

“I think there is a strong argument that says we should come to a conclusion on this earlier than mid-February, and we are discussing this intensely at the moment.

“We will take account of all of the factors that face young people right now - the desire many young people have to sit the exams they work for, but the understandable concern on the part of many young people that because of self-isolation and the wider disruption of Covid having to sit an exam would not be fair for them to do.

“We will come to a balanced decision as soon as we think that is appropriate, and in the interim contingency plans for the Higher and Advanced Higher courses are bing developed.”

Earlier, Green MSP Patrick Harvie urged Ms Sturgeon to accept exams could not go ahead in 2021.

He said children had experienced “enough stress and anxiety this year to last a lifetime”, and those from the most deprived communities had been hardest hit.

Ms Sturgeon replied: “I recognise everything Patrick Harvie has just said there. These are issues that the Government is continuing to think very carefully about.

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“We have set out before, when we announced our decision on National 5s, that we ideally want Higher and Advanced Higher exams to proceed, but the public health advice must allow that, and it must be not just safe to do so, but it must be safe to all learners.

“We know there is potential for further disruption, which is why contingency plans for Higher and Advanced Higher courses are being developed. 

“The deputy First Minister has made clear that a final decision on Highers and Advanced Highers will be taken no later than mid-February.

"But it will be taken sooner than that if the evidence suggests that that is the right thing to do.”

Last week the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association also urged the Scottish Government to call off all exams to avoid disadvantaging some children.

General Secretary Seamus Searson said: “We need to make sure everyone has a fair chance, and at the moment we don’t think the exams are going to give people a fair chance because of Covid. Our worry is that divide is actually getting wider.

“The downside is you get children disillusioned, thinking ‘I’ve lost so many weeks, I can’t catch up, what’s the point?’ That is a worry.

“We don’t want any youngster to take it too much to heart and do something silly to themselves, serious. If they get stressed and depressed they could do something sad.”

Mr Harvie said later: "It’s long past time the First Minister gave teachers and young people the clarity they need and accepted that Higher and Advanced Higher exams cannot go ahead in the coming year. They deserve to know before they break for the holidays.”