SCOTLAND’S Education Secretary is “open to change” relating to scrapping exams if an independent organisation points to the move – after accepting all 12 recommendations of highly-critical report.

A long-awaited report by the independent Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) concluded the Scottish Government should consider overhauling what have been labelled “19th century” assessment methods and pointed to major weakness in the implementation of the SNP’s Curriculum for Excellence.

Professor Ken Muir, who recently left his role as chief executive of the General Teaching Council, will lead efforts to replace the SQA with a new specialist agency for curriculum and assessment and investigate moving the inspection function away from Education Scotland.

READ MORE: Education reform: 'Writing was on the wall for the SQA'

Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville confirmed to MSPs that the Scottish Government is “accepting the OECD’s 12 recommendations in full”.

Highlighting a potential overhaul of exams, which could even be fully scrapped following the OECD’s comparative analysis, due to be published by the end of August, Ms Somerville stressed she is “open to change if change is indeed recommended”.

But critics have called for the “radical move” to be ruled out by SNP ministers.

The Education Secretary also announced that she is to establish the Children and Young People’s Education Council – saying the new body will “ensure that the voices of those who are most affected by any changes in education are always heard loudly and clearly”.

Ms Somerville herself will personally chair this group, as well as a reconvened Scottish Education Council – which young people will also be represented on.

Ms Somerville pointed to the OECD’s findings, insisting “we need to accelerate the pace of reducing the attainment gap” but stressed “this is not reform for reform’s sake”.

She added: “We know we must simplify our policies and our institutions so that there is maximum coherence.

“This includes the need to clarify the roles and responsibilities of national and local bodies involved in delivering and supporting Scotland’s curriculum.”

The Education Secretary confirmed that the Scottish Government “will move the inspection function out of Education Scotland”.

She added: “This can help to balance the dual need for the local flexibility of provision alongside national consistency in outcomes.

“I’m minded to accept the OECD recommendation to create a new specialist agency responsible for both curriculum and assessment which will replace the SQA. This would help to improve alignment and coherence in these functions.

READ MORE: Scottish education faces overhaul in wake of 'damning' OECD report

“We will progress implementation with pace that it warrants. While change is clearly necessary, I want to move decisively to avoid unnecessary uncertainty.”

Ms Somerville said she expected Professor Muir to start his work investigating how to replace the SQA in August and for it to take around six months.

She added that Professor Muir will have a “dedicated and diverse advisory panel” to support him, adding “there is a clear need for a system-wide response.”

Professor Muir said: “Education systems across the world are changing as the world in which we live changes. I look forward to engaging widely with all stakeholders as part of my work.

“I want to understand fully their needs and listen to their suggestions on how we build on current strengths and how we might re-imagine, design and implement reforms into our education system that will truly respond to the future needs of every community and every child and young person.”

The Education Secretary intends to outline plans for awarding national qualifications in 2022 by the start of the new school term this August, taking into account the most up-to-date position with the pandemic.

But Conservatives have called on the Scottish Government to rule out what they labelled a “radical move” of scrapping exams altogether.

Scottish Conservative education spokesman Oliver Mundell said a strong exam system was a “cornerstone” of Scottish education and should be maintained.

Mr Mundell claimed the issues facing Scotland’s education system was the “SNP’s leadership, not the foundations”, adding that scrapping exams would “further diminish our international standing and remove one of the last hallmarks of Scotland's world-leading system.”

He added: “The exams system has been a disaster in recent years.

“Young people know the SQA have screwed them over and it’s right that the SQA pay the price for their incompetence – but they shouldn’t be used as a scapegoat for 14 years of SNP failure.

“Historically, rigorous exams have been a real strength of Scotland's education system, a cornerstone of how we help young people to succeed in life.

“No government serious about raising standards in our schools can contemplate such a radical move to break with tradition.

“It would further diminish our international standing and remove one of the last hallmarks of Scotland's world-leading system.

READ MORE: OECD Report: Scotland should reform '19th century' pupil assessments

“The SNP must drop the threat of scrapping exams and focus on restoring the strengths of Scottish education, instead of dismantling them.”

But Ms Somerville pointed to the second OECD report to be published by the end of August which will examine specifically the future of qualifications.

She said: “I think it’s fair and reasonable for the Government to say we are open to a discussion about what’s in that report.

“Given the fact that we have said we’ve invited the OECD in to undertake a review, to then open that review out and for somehow for me to say ‘I’m not going to be open to whatever they suggest’ would seem mighty strange.

“I would ask Oliver Mundell, as I do, to have faith in the OECD to come up with reasonable proposals, suggestions of a way forward and then together we can discuss that with young people and with teachers and together we will come up with something which I hope Oliver Mundell and others will truly support as a way forward.”