Sturgeon sorry for exams fiasco and admits student outrage a 'bigger problem' than grade inflation

Nicola Sturgeon has issued an apology to teenagers hit by this year’s results day fiasco and promised to fix the "unfair" system. After spending much of last week defending the arbitrary downgrading of 124,000 qualifications, under a “moderation” process put in place following the cancellation of this year's exams, the First Minister on Monday confirmed a government u-turn over results. Opposition parties said the First Minister’s apology did not go far enough, and claimed the reversal was motivated by a desire to keep her under-fire Education Secretary and deputy, John Swinney, in his job. The furious row over school qualifications threatened to overshadow the reopening of Scottish schools, for the first time in almost five months, from Tuesday. Many are welcoming pupils back on a “phased” basis over the coming days ahead of a full-time return next week. The EIS, the country’s largest teaching union, said a major survey of almost 30,000 members showed that only one in five were confident that schools are currently safe, with two thirds believing face coverings should be made mandatory among older pupils. However, on school qualifications, Ms Sturgeon admitted: “We did not get this right and I'm sorry for that.” Details of an overhauled system will be unveiled on Tuesday at Holyrood. It is likely that many, if not all, of the 124,000 downgrades will now be reversed. Ms Sturgeon said she had come to the conclusion that the injustice and disillusionment felt by teenagers was a “bigger problem” that the impact widespread grade inflation would have on the credibility of this year’s results.