Given the prominence of schools in Scottish politics, the education committee (officially the Education, Children and Young People Committee) at Holyrood should, by all rights, be one of the most powerful voices in our parliament.

In recent years, at least, that hasn’t been the case, but today might have signalled a much-needed change in approach under new convener, Douglas Ross.

Reacting with uncharacteristic urgency, the committee had summoned education secretary Jenny Gilruth and SQA chief executive Fiona Robertson to answer questions about the ongoing “fiasco” with the marking of Higher History.

This is a story that The Herald has covered in significant depth since it first broke back in August. The short version is that teachers, including markers, say the SQA changed the marking standard after the exam, but the SQA says that isn’t true, and that a report carried out by SQA officials, which only interviewed people working for the SQA, proves that the problem is actually with the students, not the exam board.

That report has, unsurprisingly, been dismissed as a “whitewash” and savaged by teachers who have also contacted The Herald and offered brutal assessments of the failures (current and historic) of the SQA.

As was pointed out during the committee session, the SQA report is not going to be the end of this matter, no matter how much Gilruth and Robertson might wish otherwise. The big issue, though, was whether the MSPs in attendance might be able to get any closer to securing some convincing answers to the questions that are still being asked.

Nobody would have been expecting a hugely impressive performance from either party being questioned today, but the way the session played out was still remarkable.

To be clear, I have interacted with, investigated, written about and criticised the SQA for a very, very long time.

As a student teacher in 2010 I heard endless complaints from experienced colleagues, and throughout my own career I found the organisation to be disorganised and unhelpful at best, and a barrier to progress at worst. And none of that, by the way, is remotely controversial in education circles – if anything, I expect a lot of teachers will read this and wonder why I have been so gentle.

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In 2020, while still a college lecturer, I broke the story of the now infamous exam algorithm and then watched as the SQA insisted the approach – which targeted pupils from the poorest areas for grade reductions based on stats rather than actual evidence – was both necessary and fair.

I have sat in various SQA briefings for annual exam results and, like my journalistic colleagues, been left enormously frustrated by the exam board’s inability, or refusal, to answer direct questions.

I have, on numerous occasions, described the SQA as being not fit for purpose, and believe that its leadership has demonstrated a clear lack of competence for years.

And yet, somehow, even I was surprised by just how badly the SQA representatives, especially Fiona Robertson, handled the questions of the committee members.

Of course, education secretary Jenny Gilruth was there as well, but her performance was pretty much exactly what we all expected. As is typically the case, she tried to be assertive, even combative, but for the most part it just came across as defensive.

Ultimately, her position seemed to be that the report produced by the SQA, the one criticised for its weak methodology and dismissed as a whitewash, doesn’t provide her with any evidence that leads her to doubt the SQA. It sounded like a line that had been practiced with advisers beforehand, and maybe it seemed convincing in that context, but it didn't work in the committee room.

She also suggested that this sort of problem might have been avoided if we still had 'continuous assessment' in Higher courses, which is interesting, because the person responsible for ending that approach is now her boss: First Minister John Swinney. I wonder if he agrees with his education secretary's interpretation of events?

However, having sat through the entire session, I don’t think there’s any doubt that the primary focus of attention was Fiona Robertson, whose performance was a long way from impressive or reassuring. In fact, at points it was simply disastrous.

Asked about her organisation blaming students for collapsing performance levels, she claimed that the report does no such thing. Douglas Ross immediately pushed back by telling her which page of her own report does exactly that.

When challenged as to why she did not order a review as soon as results came out, and instead waited for several weeks while pressure built in the media, online and in parliament, she seemed entirely unable to offer an appropriate response.

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And it got worse, because Robertson was forced to admit that the SQA had deliberately set out to ensure that a positive article, written by the very assessment team accused of getting things so wrong this summer, was published the night before her appearance in front of the committee. She seemed shocked that there was any pushback at all on these tactics and certainly wasn’t prepared for it.

Even when far easier questions were teed up, Robertson didn’t seem able to deal with them. Again and again, long, painful, anxiety-filled silences and pained expressions followed relatively straightforward enquiries. It’s possible that she had just been very badly prepared, but that’s no defence for someone in her position.

The truth is that, by the end, it was very difficult not to simply feel sorry for her as she struggled to justify her own actions or the overall behaviour of the SQA.

But this raises a far bigger issue for Robertson, the SQA, the Scottish Government and, ultimately, the rest of the education system.

As was mentioned several times during the session, it is absolutely vital that teachers, students, and the broader public have faith in the actions and operations of Scotland’s only exam board.

By the SQA’s own admission, this is not currently the case, and on today’s evidence, it would stretch credulity to breaking point to argue that Fiona Robertson can be the person to restore that confidence.