Please see below the text of a letter from Karen McCallum, Director of Operation of the SQA regarding the introduction of new services to replace the existing Appeals Service for National Qualifications.

16 January 2012

Dear Colleague

Replacing the Appeals Service

Can I take this opportunity to tell you about the introduction of new services to replace the existing Appeals Service for National Qualifications.

The two new services, the result of a wide-ranging consultation and review, will provide better support for candidates and reduce the burden for teachers/lecturers and schools/colleges, enabling them to focus on teaching and learning.

These new services will be introduced in academic year 2013-2014;

• The Exceptional Circumstances Consideration Service

This will ensure that candidates, who their school or college believe have suffered as a result of exceptional circumstances, will be able to submit alternative evidence of demonstrated attainment before results are published.

• The Post-Results Service

This will ensure that if, afterresults day in August, a school or college is concerned by a candidate's result they can request an administrative review of the script and/or a request to have the marking of the script checked. This could result in a candidate's grade going up or down.

There will be no consideration of alternative evidence with this service and, to ensure that costs are covered, there will be a charge to the school or college for an unsuccessful request.

In order to ensure that these new services are fit for purpose, future proof and fully tested 2014 is the first available year to bring the new services in. A project has been established to manage the development and implementation. We will be engaging with schools, colleges and other stakeholders on the supporting guidance that will be required to support these new services.

I will keep you informed of progress, as the systems develop. I would be grateful if you could bring this matter to the attention of your colleagues. In the meantime if you have any questions about these changes, please submit your enquiry by e-mail to mycentre@sqa.org.uk

Kind regards

Yours faithfully

Karen McCallum

Director of Operations