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It is important that we have the correct data. That enables teachers to make informed judgements about how well pupils are progressing and headteachers to assess what is happening in their schools. That data is also useful to local authorities. It is important that the Government has the information to enable it to see whether there is any concern about the variation in outcomes for children. It is important that we gather data so that we can ensure that every child, regardless of where they are in Scotland, has the right opportunities and that there is not variation in outcomes.

To be clear, we collect evidence about curriculum for excellence levels. We do not publish the results of the standardised assessments. Those are two very different things. What matters is the data that is being collected, what it is used for and how useful it is to different parts of the system. There is nothing in the OECD report to say that we should not collect data nationally. The challenge that the OECD has given us is to consider whether we are collecting the right data and doing the right things with it. There is a distinction between the standardised assessments and the data that we collect at a national level and how we use that.

I genuinely do not think that anyone who has followed what I have done since I came into this portfolio would suggest that I have given up on reform. It has been a busy time for reform in the education system.

Previous drafts of the education paper that was published yesterday were shared among members of the education recovery group on numerous occasions. We have shared the document widely with our stakeholders as we have gone through the process.

If Oliver Mundell has proposals for different policies, I would be more than happy to meet him about those, as I said at the start of my tenure as education secretary. We are about to begin the budget process. If he does not like what is in the material that came out yesterday, I look forward to seeing the proposals that the Conservatives will make on the issue.

The document that was published yesterday was a collation of what the Government is doing. Funnily enough, the Government did not start thinking about recovery in education over the past month; it has been at the forefront of our minds since before the election. That is exactly why we have put in place a lot of the measures that we have. The Government was elected on a manifesto that was designed to assist Scotland through recovery from the pandemic, which makes it unsurprising that the recovery programme that we had in our manifesto plays loud and strong.

We have ensured that we have in place policies that turn their full attention to recovery. For example, the Scottish attainment challenge is not new but, of course, it has been examined to ensure that it takes all the lessons from the pandemic so that, when I make more announcements on the Scottish attainment challenge refresh, I will not be announcing the same types of policy and funding streams as in the past, because we are moving on.

Of course we are using the different policy levers that we have had for some time and turning their attention to the pandemic. I do not think that the committee would expect anything less.

The SQA cannot ask for the date to be brought forward if the commission says that a delay is needed. That was the reason behind that.

When it comes to the terms of reference of the review, and the feelings of the unions and staff, I fully appreciate that, given my announcement that the SQA would be replaced, this is a time of great concern for staff. They are exceptionally passionate about their jobs and they are good at their jobs. As we go through the review process, there is clearly a concern about how they can be heard.

Different stakeholders made a number of points when we looked at the draft terms of reference in order for Ken Muir to take up his position. Again, as with all these processes, not all the suggestions of changes to terms of reference can be made. However, I hope that, since Ken Muir came into post, the unions have seen that they will absolutely have an ability to have direct discussions with him. My understanding is that that has happened already, and I am sure that it will continue to happen, although it is for Ken Muir to decide on that process. All staff will be able to feed into the process of the review. It is not the case that senior management will have discussions with Ken Muir, while the staff will be kept separate or that there will be one voice of the SQA that will be assumed to represent all staff. All staff, unions and, as people would expect, senior management on the board will be able to have their say in the review process.

I will certainly undertake to do that and get back to you in writing on that.

I can assure you that I have had very regular conversations with my officials on that.

I assure you that we do have a grasp of the scale of the challenge. As the committee would expect, we speak regularly to the teaching unions, which give us feedback about what is happening in classrooms. We speak directly to young people themselves.

We have a well-established monitoring and evaluation programme on the improvement of attainment and wellbeing. I have mentioned some of the areas involved. That programme will report in due course.

We are not waiting. We are working to support young people with additional teachers and funding. That work has not waited and is already being actioned, because we know that there has been an impact on attainment.

I think so. I am sure that Mr Ewing will correct me if I miss a point. He glitched out during part of his question, but I have no doubt that he will keep me right.

One of the things that I have found refreshing about being education secretary is having discussions with the OECD, taking part in discussions with the international council of education advisers, taking part in some webinars that the OECD organised and discussing with a global audience the successes of Scottish education and, in particular, curriculum for excellence. I do not sit here as education secretary and say that there is nothing that we need to improve or that we cannot do better, but it is refreshing to have a global perspective on Scottish education. The positive points to which Mr Ewing alluded at the start have come through strongly from colleagues around the globe in the webinars that I have attended.

One area on which the OECD has rightly challenged us is how our broad general education fits or does not fit with our senior phase and, within that, our assessment and qualifications set-up. I am giving a great deal of thought to that, and I know that various members of the committee have strongly held opinions on that issue as well. I will make further announcements about what we will do about that when I respond to the OECD in due course. The OECD has given us a challenge that curriculum for excellence needs work to ensure that it is ready for the challenges that are ahead of us as a society, but one of the biggest challenges that the OECD gave us was about how to ensure that curriculum for excellence flows all the way through to the senior phase.

How we do that—which was the bit that I got at the end of Mr Ewing’s question—concerns ensuring that the system is reliable and credible. That absolutely must be the case. Whatever qualifications and assessment process we have, it has to be reliable and credible. There are different ways that we can do that. We can make changes to the current system, but I stress that it is one area on which we will engage in discussions with stakeholders, because there are a variety of views about how it can be done and I would like to build in as much collaboration and consensus about it as possible.

That is one area on which the SQA will need to learn lessons. There are also lessons for all of Government to learn to ensure that such situations never happen.

I should be clear that the issue predates not only my time in post but the time of the current chief examiner in post as well. She is keen to ensure that the SQA fulfils its duties. She knows that people are understandably and rightly concerned about the matter. That is why the SQA is already in a process to complete all the outstanding EQIAs. For example, 28 new equality impact assessments have been published since August.

Work is going on to ensure that the problem is alleviated but, having spoken to the chief examiner, I am sure that she is keen to ensure that the SQA has practices and policies in place so that it never gets into a position where there is even a doubt about whether such obligations are being fulfilled.

One of the strengths of that system is that, once again, it has demonstrated the trust that we can have in our teachers and their professional judgment. It was a difficult time for teachers. The alternative certification model was challenging for them to undertake but, as has been demonstrated, it was the best system that could be in place in an emergency situation.

One of the lessons that I see when I look back on the situation is that our teaching workforce, using its teacher judgment to demonstrate our young people’s success, brought its professionalism to the fore. That has been critical because, at a point when examinations were not possible because of public health measures, we required a system that was credible and fair. Teachers have absolutely delivered on that, and I again take the opportunity to thank them for that.

That works very nicely into what the SQA has done—although, obviously, as Government minister, I have regular discussions with stakeholders on that issue and a variety of others, as do my officials. Last year, the SQA established the national qualifications 2021 group, on which unions, parents and young people were represented. During that time, there was an attempt to achieve consensus, whenever possible, and that was achieved on the vast majority of issues, I think, with the exception of appeals.

There was then a discussion about how the SQA could improve on that process for next year. One of the ways of doing that, about which Fiona Robertson spoke to the committee, was to ensure that young people had a greater voice and a greater capacity to have their say.

That group is exceptionally important. It allows things to be aired at length, and it continues to meet exceptionally regularly to discuss the contingencies that are in place. What was established by the SQA last year was a good example of how stakeholders can work together, and I am pleased that the SQA looked at that and refreshed it with an eye to what more could be done this year—in particular, to bring in young people more. That does not necessarily mean that there will be agreement on all aspects, but I think that the process will allow everyone to have their say.

Of course, as Government minister, as I said, I have a clear line of sight to stakeholders as they input to the discussions on that. For example, we have discussed that issue at various times at the education recovery group, which I co-chair with Councillor Stephen McCabe. Those matters are brought up there and are refreshed and discussed, if stakeholders wish.